Like Water for Chocolate Readers Response

I really enjoyed this book. I felt it was very creative how in each chapter there was a different recipe in each chapter, and the recipe was symbolic for the characters emotions.  I definitely can’t wait to watch the film.

“Like Water for Chocolate” was very relatable to me because just like how in the book Nacha and Tita were very close, and had each others back. That is just like me and my mom, only difference is that Nacha is not Tita’s biological mom. On pg. 30, when Nacha and Tita were crying in each others arms, that was relatable to me and my mom. There have been plenty of times when I and my mom would be having a conversation, and we will just cry while hugging each other.  My Mom would also help me with a lot of things such as, cooking, homework or grocery shopping. She also helped me with issues I had. Just like how Nacha would help Tita. She was always there for me.

“Like Water for Chocolate,” did communicate with me because as I was reading it. I thought about me and my family with all the fights we had and our problems.  My views did change after reading this text. I never realized just how important food is to a family and what it can be symbolic of. For example, on pg. 178, when it talks about the water coming to a boil; then remove it from the heat. I thought that part was very influential, not only because it was talking about Tita but also talking about everyone in the world. Sometimes I don’t like being mad, angry or in a bad mood. I just want to be happy all the time, but in order to be happy I have to reach my boiling point, so I can be relieved of my anger and problems. If I don’t boil up, then I will just be holding all my anger inside, then I will explode. Just like in the book “Like Water for Chocolate” how if the water over boils it will overflow which is not good. After reading that part of the book I now realized that being mad or angry is not necessarily a bad thing, but helps me to relieve my stress and problems.

The thing that’s so amazing about “Like Water for Chocolate “is that it relates to so many families. In every family food is important and represents love. A good example, of how the food represents a memory or love is on pg. 47, when Tita was cooking the quail. She was cooking out of memory and love for Nacha. I didn’t realize until that specific part that food is symbolic of my family’s love for one another, as well. Whenever I, my mom, grandma and everyone else in my family are cooking, or about to eat seafood we always think about my grandpa because he loved seafood so much. He passed away just like Nacha had passed away. The Quail that Tita was cooking represents the love she has for Nacha. That’s what the seafood is to me and my family it represents the love we have for my grandpa. 

Even though, this is an amazing text. There were some parts that bothered me for example, the fact that Tita went with Pedro and not Dr. John. I felt their relationship was based on lust not love. For example, on pg. 154, when Pedro was approaching Tita it mentioned there was “lust” in his eyes. I always thought a woman would chose love over lust but in North America our meaning of “love” must be different from those in Latin America.

I really enjoyed the text as art because it made me look at food in a different way. Whenever me and my family cook certain foods I will know that it is suppose to represent something, and mean something to us. I now know that food brings a family closer together and is symbolic of love.

I would definitely read some more of Laura Esquivel’s work. The way she approaches magical realism in this book, by having all the different recipes be symbolic of every characters feelings was impressive. Once, I read this book I had to continue reading it. It kept me wondering what was going to happen next. I would recommend this text to my entire family.

Isabel Allende's Zorro Readers Response

I really enjoyed Zorro more than I did the other readings we had. Matt Wagner, Isabel Allende, and Francesco Francavilla all did an amazing job on this novel. The graphic novel was so much easier to read and quicker. One of the things that captivated my attention about this book was the images.

The images came off as powerful and I felt some sort of connection to them. One of the images that I felt was powerful and I felt connected to was the image where El Diego saw the woman being beaten with a whipped. The reader can see the emotions in his face and can tell that he is a caring person. It also shows how El Diego felt the woman’s pain, and his eagerness to save the woman.  I can connect to this image because I am a caring person myself and if I saw someone getting abused I would be as eager, as El Diego to save them.  I also felt this image was one of the many reasons, why El Diego became Zorro, so he can help people who were being hurt or abused. Another, image I felt was powerful and meaningful was the image of the Fox. I feel this image was powerful because it was symbolic of how El Diego became Zorro. Looking at the Fox the reader can see that he is glowing with white light, which is also suppose to mean that he is EL Diego’s spirit. I feel that the images gave out so many emotions sad, happiness, angry, etc. The images cause the reader to feel connected to the story more. I think that’s what Matt Wagner wanted to do was have the readers feel connected to the story. Besides the images being powerful I also feel the writing was powerful for example, when the Spanish men cursed, because it kept my interest and it left me into wanting more. I also think the cursing was effective in a way that it gave the novel a dark and mysterious side. Another, thing about the cursing that, I love is how it was being used. I noticed the bad men used bad language while the good men used good language. The cursing helped the reader to indentify who was the good person in the story and who was the bad person in the story. The writing helped to separate the good and the evil.

This book was a very enjoyable to read. It was dark, mysterious and it kept my undivided attention. I would recommend it to my friends, family and anyone else who is familiar with the legendary Zorro.