Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
Understanding
the Different Types of Love
Almost everyone has attempted to describe love in one way or another, whether through writing a story, singing a song or drawing a picture. Still, this abstract emotion is a mystery to mankind. It is difficult to be sure if one is in love because of the various types of love that exist: love between friends, family and lovers respectively. Consequently, people may act in ways that portray wrong messages. In attempt to correct this, feelings of hatred and/or distrust may arise. Loving a friend, a family member or even being in love are extremely similar, but there are some differences between these three situations. By examining the feelings and actions involved within each situation, it will be determined whether Tita and Pedro, the main characters from Laura Esquivel’s Like Water for Chocolate, are truly in love or not.
Friends respect and care for one another; however, the degree of this affection depends on how strong the friendship is. A close friend will carry out selfless deeds for their friend, as the friend’s wellbeing is important to them. For example, in Like Water for Chocolate, even though Tita cancels her wedding with John Brown, her doctor and friend, she feels guilty because she cares about John’s feelings. She is so distraught about having to hurt him that she cries. John shows love (not taking into account the kind of love) towards Tita when he says he does not want to pressure her into marrying him. He respects Tita’s decision and wants her to be happy. However, we can see that Tita and John are not in love because Tita does not feel any romantic or sexual feelings for John. It is unknown whether or not John feels this way towards Tita, though, as the reader is not aware of John’s thoughts. Thus, it can be seen that there are no amorous feelings between friends, no matter how strong the friendship is. Tita is not aware of this fact and so...