Like Water for Chocolate

1. Like Water for Chocolate Introductory Notes English II

2. Author • Laura Esquivel • From Mexico City • Wrote the novel • Wrote the screenplay • Published first in Spanish in 1989 • Translated into English in 1992

3. Background • the English-subtitled film became one of the most popular foreign-language films in American film history • largest grossing foreign film ever released in the United States

4. Magical Realism • Like Water For Chocolate belongs to the genre of magical realism. • A style of telling a story by infusing magical elements into mundane everydaysituations, conditions and practices. • The idea is to reveal essential aspects of human relations imbedded in everyday activities.

5. Allegory • An allegory is a symbolic representation of truths or generalizations about human existence; also: an instance (as in a story or painting) of such expression

6. Metaphor

7. Brief Synopsis • Reportedly, "Esquivel used an episode from her own family to write her book. She had a great-aunt named Tita, who was forbidden to wed. Tita never did anything but care for her own mother. Soon after her mother died, so did Tita. The book has been a tremendous international success: The No. 1 best-selling book in Mexico for three years, it's also been translated into 23 languages.”

8. Mexican Revolution of 1910 • For most of Mexico's developing history, a small minority of the people were in control of most of the country's power and wealth, while the majority of the population worked in poverty. As the rift between the poor and rich grew under the leadership of General Díaz, the political voice of the lower classes was also declining. Opposition of Díaz did surface, when Francisco I. Madero, educated in Europe and at the University of California, led a series of strikes throughout the country.

9. Continued… • Díaz was pressured into holding an election in 1910, in which Madero was able to gather a significant number of the votes. Although Díaz was at one time a strong supporter of the one-term limit, he seemed to have changed his mind and had Madero imprisoned, feeling that the people of Mexico just weren't ready for democracy.

10. Continued… • Once Madero was released from prison, he continued his battle against Díaz in an attempt to have him overthrown. During this time, several other Mexican folk heros began to emerge, including the well known Pancho Villa in the north, and the peasant Emiliano Zapata in the south, who were able to harass the Mexican army and wrest control of their respective regions.

11. Continued… • Madero was elected president, but received opposition from Emiliano Zapata who didn't wish to wait for the orderly implementation of Madero's desired land reforms. In November of the same year Zapata denounced Madero as president and took the position for himself. He controlled the state of Morelos, where he chased out the estate owners and divided their lands to the peasants. Later, in 1919, Zapata was assassinated by Jesus Guajardo acting under orders from General Pablo Gonzalez.

12. Continued… • It was during this time that the country broke into many different factions, and guerilla units roamed across the country destroying and burning down many large haciendas and ranchos. Madero was later taken prisoner and executed and the entire country existed in a state of disorder for several years, while Pancho Villa rampaged through the north, and different factions fought for presidential control.