It’s interesting that the text is presented as both a book and a cookbook but not entirely unexpected. In a cultural anthropology class I took we read an article that argued that women and food complement of each other. Because women are seen as the caretakers of the family and are responsible for feeding everyone, food becomes a vital part of their life. This book reinforces this idea. In a way the recipes make it obvious that Tita doesn’t know how to process her emotions and the events that happen around her. Whenever the emotions and events become too much for her to handle, the focus returns to the recipe.
The story centers on Tita and her interactions with the other characters. I think that from the beginning she has been represented as an inconvenience to her mother. This begins during the description of her birth and continues throughout her life. It seems like many of her family members take her fore granted and wish that she wasn’t around. They don’t realize that she is the only thing keeping the family and ranch intact. I don’t think Tita realizes her importance either.
Mama Elena is an overbearing, controlling mother figure. In many situations her word becomes law. Arguing with her serves no purpose other than to further cement her position of the subject. During the reading I noticed that Tita seems to be her least favorite child although she does the most for the family. I think this is partly because she doesn’t really know Tita. Her husband died shortly after Tita’s birth and she essentially gave the responsibility of raising Tita to Nacha. She is very demanding of other people. She expects people to behave within the standards she has set or to suffer the consequences she decides upon.
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