The dominating parental figure in Like Water for Chocolate is Mama Elena, Titas mother. Mama Elena destroys many of Titas hopes and dreams. The hope of marriage to her love, Pedro, is shattered by Mama Elena's unrelenting declaration that she will never be allowed to marry due to her "being the youngest daughter [meaning she has] to take care of [Mama Elena] until the day [she] dies" (10). This crushes Tita's spirit as well as her happiness. However, Mama Elena manages to further crush her child's spirit by announcing that Pedro will marry Tita's older sister, Rosaura, instead. This threw Tita into an intense deep state of depression accompanied by an "icy feeling of grief ... [that] for as long as she lived [she could not] free herself from that cold" (19).
Mama Elena continues to destroy Tita's characters by her frequent physical attacks upon her. Every time Tita, even remotely, tries to stand up for herself Mama Elena beats her. On one such occasion Mama Elena accused Tita of deliberately ruining her sister's wedding cake which had sickened everyone who ate it and gave Tita a "tremendous hiding ... like no beating before or since. [Tita] spent two weeks in bed recovering from her bruises" (41). Physical abuse can destroy anyone's character, especially, when done by a parent. Mama Elena verbally attacks her as well, stating that Tita has "no opinion" to support that she is the one in control and will not "stand for [any] disobedience" (11,27). These are examples of the verbal, as well as physical, abuse Tita had to withstand from her mother. This type of relationship, which has suffocating effects upon Tita, can also be found in Isabel Allende's novel: The House of the Spirits.
The dominating parental figure in The House of the Spirits is Esteban Trueba. One of the main characters whom he suffocates with his demanding and authoritative personality is his daughter, Blanca. He is enraged with the fact that Blanca is secretly dating one of his most hated tenants, Pedro. He does not understand that his daughter is in love; he only feels anger that she has disobeyed him. Instead of trying to reason with his madness that he instantly feels, he sets out to find her and "[beats] her mercilessly, lash upon lash, until [she falls] flat" with a whip (199). His actions further increase the friction between the two characters. As in Like Water for Chocolate, any physical abuse is detrimental to one's spirit, especially when the abuser is the victim's parent.
Esteban also lies to Blanca by telling her he killed her love, Pedro. This threw Blanca into a deep state of depression in which she "[weeps] inconsolably in the days to come" and of which Esteban feels no remorse for (215). Thus, he is suffocating his child's spirit by not trying to understand that she is deeply in love, but, instead, attacking her any possible way he can. Esteban does not realize that his actions are just repressing Blanca's spirit and forcing her to fear him, thus, damaging her spirit little by little. He justifies his relationship with her, not of fatherly love, but of his superiority over her. Likewise with Mama Elena in Like Water for Chocolate. This is evident throughout the text, especially when he forces her to marry against her will to Count Jean de Satigny, demanding that "Blanca ... remain locked up until her wedding day" (214). Such suffocation of one's child will lead to destruction of their spirit. This suffocation seen here is the cause of the intense tension between Esteban and Blanca. The intense friction between these two characters turns out to be a major issue in the text and is one of the main components of the plot. However, the negative aspects imposed upon the characters resulting from these similar relationships are balanced by the presence of a motherly, nurturing character.
The negative aspects imposed on Tita's life by Mama Elena are somewhat balanced by Nacha, the ranch cook. Nacha is Tita's closest friend and has cared for her since the day she was born. Due to the inability of Mama Elena to breast-feed Tita Nacha took charge of her feeding, thus, becoming Tita's surrogate mother. As a result, Tita grew up in the kitchen alongside Nacha where her love for food and cooking, which turns out to be an outlet for Tita's repressed emotions later on, was fostered and nurtured by the old woman.
Nacha also did anything she could to ease the pain "[her] child," which she so frequently calls Tita, was going through (29). Nacha was "wise enough to realize that Tita could not go on" with making the wedding cake and tried" everything she could to spare her pain" (29,30). So she "covered Tita with kisses and pushed her out of the kitchen" to get some rest (35). And, thus, by giving Tita motherly affection, she has reduced the tension in her life caused by Mama Elena.
Nacha's death "left Tita in a very deep depression" (48). This shows that Tita mourned Nacha's death as if she were her mother. However, when Mama Elena dies, Tita "[doesn't] feel any sorrow" (135). Nacha becomes a spiritual guide for Tita; giving her advice and appearing when she is most needed. For example, Tita sees Nacha "[lighting] the last candle, [raising] her finger to her lips as if asking for silence, and [fading] away" when Pedro and Tita were consummating their love for the last time. This shows the evident close relationship that existed between Nacha and Tita because it continued to strive even after Nacha's death. This kind of nurturing relationship can also be found in The House of the Spirits.
Clara, Blanca's mother, is the understanding mother figure in The House of the Spirits. She balances the negative aspects imposed on Blanca by Esteban by providing her with comfort and understanding that only a mother or mother-like figure could offer. When Blanca was upset Clara "caressed her till she calmed down" (144). After Clara saw Blanca "covered in mud and blood" from Esteban's beating, she "washed her daughter, applied cold compresses to her bruises, and rocked her until she [calmed] down" (200). This shows how loving and dedicated Clara was towards her daughter when she was needed.
Clara sided alongside her daughter and "objected to the idea of marrying Blanca off against her will" when Esteban announced the engagement of Blanca to Jean (216). Clara understood the intensity and pureness of Blanca's dedication to Pedro and was willing to stand up against her husband to preserve it.
Clara also understands her daughter and her emotions. This is evident throughout the text because every time Blanca is upset or mysteriously ill, Clara seems to know exactly how to reassure her or what is the true reason for her ailment. After Esteban had coldly attempted to hurt his daughter by telling her that he had killed her Pedro, Clara took her aside and told her that he "'was alive ... because she dreamt it ... [this] was enough to reassure Blanca completely'" (217). Also, when "Blanca appeared in the doorway" to be brought home by Clara "she [had] looked thinner and paler, with violent rings around her eyes [which] would have been enough to startle any mother, but Clara quickly understood that her daughter's illness was not in her body, but in her soul" (167). This shows how well Clara understood Blanca and how she knew exactly what to do to comfort her daughter in times of need.
In conclusion, there is a certain character in each text that is, in some way, being suffocated by a dominating parental figure in the story. However, both authors balances out this negative aspect with a mother-like figure that both loves unconditionally and understands the certain character's nature and situation. Each text is centered on friction between characters, and without this vital balancing act between differing characters (mother-like figures and dominating parental figures) the nature of each text, in its entirety, would be negative and not as impressionable on the reader.
