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Study Guide
Like Water for Chocolate Freedom/Liberation
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Freedom/Liberation
Each year Tita prepared [quail in rose sauce] in tribute to her sister's liberation […]. (3, 205)
The sister, Gertrudis, breaks free of their mother's tyranny in a spectacular act of lovemaking on a galloping stallion. Talk about an exit.
"Here's what I do with your orders. I'm sick of them. I'm sick of obeying you." (5, 354)
Oh, snap. Tita finally stands up to her mother, and gives her a piece of her mind. It doesn't end well, but we still admire her for speaking up.
Now, seeing [Tita's] hands no longer at her mother's command, she didn't know what to ask them to do, she had never decided for herself before. (6, 373)
With liberation comes mucho responsibility. What to do now? Will Tita come into her own, find true love, or fade away without any guidance?
"Because I don't want to." (6, 412)
This is what Tita writes on the wall when prompted by Dr. Brown to explain why she won't talk. It's both a declaration of free choice, and a "talk to the hand" sign.
For the first time Tita firmly held her gaze, and Mama Elena lowered hers. (7, 440)
Can you feel the power switch? We think this is HUGE and shows that Tita has finally become her own person.
Surely Pedro had died at the moment of ecstasy when he entered the luminous tunnel. (12, 863)
Hmm, this one's a toughie. Is death for Pedro freedom? Freedom from what, exactly? We were so sure he was about to live happily ever after with Tita.
Tita did not hesitate. She let herself go to the encounter, and they wrapped each other in a long embrace. (12, 863)
Double hmm. The two lovebirds are finally free to be together and then both die? What's up with that?
In fact, Tita no longer gave a damn either about what people would say when their love affair was made public. (12.832)
You go girl. And it's about time; at this point in the book, it seems like everyone and their mom know that Tita and Pedro are together.
During the funeral, Tita wept for her mother. (7.483)
Wow. We think this may be the first (and only time) Tita shows sympathy for her mother. All at once she's free of her deeply disturbed relationship, and her feelings of hate toward Mama Elena.