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Simile Metaphors- Like Water For Chocolate


            The novel Like Water For Chocolate is filled with many metaphors and similes. One that is important to the plot and the theme is the simile "She could pick up the watermelon and give it a single blow against a stone, in a particular stop, and like magic the watermelon rind would open like the petals of a flower leaving the heart intact on the table" (97). This sentence is describing Mama Elena and how she cuts watermelon for people who get hot during the night. This is symbolism showing how Mama Elena treats Tita in the story.
             This simile is important to the plot because it's not only describing Mama Elena cutting watermelon, but also how she's "cutting" up Tita in the novel. An example of this is when the author compared Mama Elena killing a quail and the torturing Tita. The author describes the mother hurting her daughter as "For Tita she had made an exception; she had been killing her a little at a time since she was a child, and she still hadn't quite finished her off" (49). This relates to the plot because Mama Elena has been torturing Tita by keeping the tradition of the youngest daughter having to take care of her mother till she dies and not letting her marry the one she loves. The tradition and refusal for Tita to marry Pedro is apart of the conflict. .
             The theme of the story is the battle between women for power and the traditions kept by families. The simile ties to the theme because by keeping the tradition, Mama Elena is cutting up Tita like the watermelon. Also, because of the mother's role as the head of household, Tita has to obey her mother and respect the traditions kept by her mother. An example that supports this is when Pedro comes to ask for Tita's hand and Mama Elena refuses to give Tita, explains the tradition, and offers Pedro her second daughter, Rosaura, instead. Mama Elena exercises her power over Tita by refusing Tita to marry the one she loves and forcing her to obey the rules or else throwing the girl out of the house and disowning her.


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