Like Water for Chocolate

Magical realism refers to literature that blends magic and everyday life, exploring the liminal edges of reality while staying grounded in the real world. Magic represents more of a worldview than a fantastical element in itself, and though the reader may view magic as metaphor, the author and characters treat it as part of everyday life. The characters never explain the magical events that occur. Authors often use magical realism to examine complex subjects such as political conflict or strife. By rooting magic in real issues, the element can highlight the struggle of a particular marginalized group. The genre merges reality with the unique way one experiences life in their culture—often that with a history of oppression. Laura Esquivel’s Like Water for Chocolate uses magical realism to tell the story of Tita De la Garza, a young girl living in Northern Mexico during the Mexican Revolution of the early 1900s. Through Tita’s magical cooking and her encounters with ghosts, Esquivel explores the realistic struggles of a teenager at odds with the rules of her mother. The author uses the backdrop of the Mexican Revolution to symbolize Tita’s own rebellion.