Importance Of Food And Kitchen In Books

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Two novels "Kitchen" and "Like Water for Chocolate" have lots of thing in the book in common, they both share the theme of love, and one of the big similarities is symbols, in both books the kitchen is seen as a center of emotions for both protagonists for both books. Symbolism or symbol that is used throughout the book help develop in lots of ways, one of them is it helps understanding of the emotions. This is one of the literacy techniques that are use in this book to express ideas; even though the writer came from different culture and different places in the world. In this essay I will compare how symbolisms are use throughout both books.

Clearly both books show the important aspect of kitchen, as one of the novel is title as the kitchen and at the beginning of "Kitchen" it start with ‘My favorite place in the whole world’ and the beginning of ‘Like water for Chocolate’ starts with ‘Tita made her entrance into this world, right there on kitchen table’. This immediately give a ideas or a imagery to the reader that kitchen will be essential to both novels, not just at the beginning kitchen throughout both book constantly keep showing up to tell the reader how important it is to both Tita and Mikage.

Food equals memory and memory equals immortality the recipes in Like water for chocolate are pass from generation through generation until it reaches to Mama Elena and then to Tita as Tita is the youngest daughter in the family, which she can’t marry anyone yet she falls in love with Pedro, and this shows how food is a major role in ‘Like Water for chocolate’

In Like Water for Chocolate you can see the use of food for symbol after reading the first chapter, because the each chapter are named Like Water for Chocolate is a Mexican expression which means a person in a state of sexual stimulation, which is a symbol because the heat express the, while in the "Like Water for Chocolate" the use of kitchen is more often than ‘Kitchen’ however the writer uses it differently where ‘Like Water for Chocolate’ uses more for physical action that happen in the book, For example: when Pedro staring at Tita’s breasts while raising their relationship but in ‘Kitchen’ kitchen is more use at a psychological actions, few example would be like in the beginning of the novel when Mikage’s grandmother passes; she feels that she is ‘alone in the world’, she sits in her kitchen and broke out all the sadness within her.

Food is a dominant symbol in ‘Like Water for Chocolate’, the title (Like Water for (hot) chocolate is a Mexican saying or expression says that water at boiling point, but symbolically it means intense emotion on the verge of exploding into expressions. We can describe as Tita’s love or passion to Pedro that is shown throughout the book can be described as ‘like water for chocolate’. Food can also uses as a medium to symbolizes emotions, because in the novel Tita prepare most of the meals, she use food to express her emotions because she have no opportunity to do as her cultural status or the lowest where she is the youngest in the family. Great example would be when the vomiting and moroseness happens in Rosaura’s wedding when the all the guest have eating the wedding cake that Tita’s prepared for the wedding. While preparations Tita’s cried all along when she was making the cake, all the tears when down to the cake. The reason that everybody vomit is that the cake is salty from the tears. However, in ‘Kitchen’ the main characters are mainly developed in Kitchen, Yoshimoto uses cooking as a symbol to developed Mikage’s new life. She starts a new life because of her passion to cooking; it is clearly show in how she covers the sadness of when two of beloved one passed out, and cover it with peace and happiness that she could find.

But only the main characters that are developed in the Kitchen, but in ‘Like Water for chocolate ‘the kitchen is use to develop less important or antagonist of the novel as well, in ‘Like Water for Chocolate’ character like Rosuara and Mama Elena, Rosuara we can clearly sees that she hates or dislike kitchen but she could she how kitchen is worth for a perso like Tita, and Mama Elena is develop by the way she treated Tita while they both in the Kitchen that she wanted Tita to follow the Mexican tradition that the youngest daughter shouldn’t get married but looking after her parents until they dies. But in ‘Kitchen’ Yoshimoto didn’t use ‘kitchen’ very subtle, it is not the main way, for example: Yuichi respects Mikage while she was working in her kitchen but still the happiness still come out from her, especially after Eriko’s death. In Japanese culture chefs are very high esteem, the need of precision, care in the preparations of the food because Japanese food are very focus on the their aesthetics and the taste, so the preparation is important moreover the characters like Nori and Kuri are shown as kind and supportive ‘take no notice of her’.

Even though the cultures in both books are different but there are still some elements, both Tita and Mikage think is a way to get away from the real world. In ‘Kitchen’ the kitchen is describe as a short window into life of a young Japanese woman and the breakthrough about love and food as one. In ‘Like Water for Chocolate’ you can see how Tita enjoys the food preparation process in each chapter with different foods and it is shown that while Tita is cooking.

In some parts food doesn’t play a role in the both novel but still food is abundant throughout both books, but you can see that clearly in "like water for chocolate’. Food has carried different emotions in both books, it plays a shadow for the characters who prepare it, It all depending on where food is oringinated and or the emotion of the chef preparing it, both Tita, and Mikage communicates her emotion through food, and literally transform them by their taste and their looks.

In conclusion, Kitchen and food have played a big role in both books, they are both key element for both books. Kitchen and food also illustrate and helps the reader to understand the culture between two books, and the importance of food and kitchen in both books. Kitchen and food helps the reader to understand not just the main character emotions it also helps the reader understand minor character as well or what is means to the main character like Tita in ‘Like Water For Chocolate’ and lastly food is also a significant symbol for both novel as well as kitchen, it help the reader to understand Tita’s and Mikage’s emotion throughout the whole book and understand the culture of Japan and Mexico the way that food is very precise and important in their culture.