Sunday, December 12, 2010

Capítulo 12: December/ Deciembre

This months recipe is Chiles in Walnut Sauce, and it is being made for another wedding.  Yes a wedding!  This confused me at first; I was like, who's getting married?!?  And then I figured out that it was Esperanza and Alex's wedding (Pedro and Rosaura's daughter and John's son).  So, Esperanza didn't have the sad fate of being forced not to marry... because Rosaura died.  Kind of sad, yes, but happy that Esperanza was free to live her life and marry Alex.  It was killing me to know whether or not Tita married John, or stayed in her affair with Pedro.  Well...she didn't marry John.  And her, Pedro and Rosaura had decided upon an arrangement that they could all live together in relative peace.  And they all lived that way until the day Rosaura died.  As you can remember what Tita's cooking did to the guests at Pedro and Rosaura's wedding, her food did get a reaction from the guests at this wedding.  Not quite the same reaction though.  This reaction was much more sensual...all the guests suddenly had a strong desire to be 'intimate' with their partners.  So, everyone left the party...hastily...to carry out their 'business'.  This of course left Tita and Pedro alone for the evening.  John had sadly left the wedding alone, knowing that he was still not the one Tita would choose to be with.  With Esperanza grown, married and out of the house; and Rosaura gone as well; Tita and Pedro were free to express their love for one another without shame or fear of getting caught.  The ending scene in this book is quite powerful, and full of magic realism.  At the end of their intimate night, Tita finds Pedro dead on top of her; he died of extreme emotions and love for Tita-he couldn't handle it.  Knowing that Tita will never be happy again, she remembers something that John had said to her long ago about the flame that each person holds inside of them.  If a person's flame were to become too strong or bright, if all their candles were 'lit' at once, they would die.  So, Tita begins eating matches, one by one, and when they are all gone, she clings to Pedro and thinks of all the wonderful moments she had shared with him.  As Tita is remembering, hers and Pedro's bodies catch flame.  Then the bed is engulfed in flame, and then the room, and then the entire ranch is consumed in a massive fire that can be seen for miles.  Tita dies in an embrace with Pedro.  But they are now together in peace.

Capítulo 11: November/ Noviembre

This chapter kind of leaves the reader on edge.  We don't really know how the book is going to turn out, and we don't really know who Tita will ultimately choose in the end: John or Pedro?  John is back and has brought his elderly aunt to meet Tita and to attend their wedding.  Tita is busy in the kitchen as usual, trying to make the perfect meal for John's aunt.  The recipe for this chapter is Beans with Chili Tezcucana-style.  While Tita takes some lunch up to Pedro's room (he has healed nicely by the way, due to the special care Tita has taken with him), she confesses to him that she is not pregnant.  Pedro acts as you would expect him to... like a big baby.  He had thought that for sure Tita would finally be his now that she was pregnant with his child.  He was being selfish as usual.  Tita leaves him to check on the dinner.  She finds that the tamales for the meal aren't cooking.  And then she remembers something Nacha once said to her, that if the tamales aren't cooking because you are sad or quareling, you must sing to them.  So Tita tries to remember her happiest moment...and you can only guess what that happy moment is for Tita...her intimate encounters with Pedro.  All the way back to when they first met and expressed their love for one another.  This is how I know that deep down, Tita has always loved Pedro.  I think that she did love John, but just not in the same way that she loves Pedro.  The meal is finally cooked and served.  During dinner, John knows something is not right with Tita, so he asks her if she's alright.  They excuse themselves from the table and Tita explains to him why she cannot marry him.  She says that she had not been faithful while he was away, and he tells her that it doesn't matter to him and he wants to spend his life with her; if she'll still have him.  She then tells him that she isn't sure whether she loves him or the other man more.  And this is what John says, "If your answer is yes, we will celebrate our wedding in a few days.  If it's no, I will be the first to congratulate Pedro and ask him to give you the respect you deserve".  So John had known the whole time that Tita loved Pedro.  My thing is, if John really wanted to have Tita for his own, why not fight for her a little more forcefully?!  And then, the chapter just ends!... leaves us hanging dry.  Stay tuned for what happens next!  Or... just don't read the last post and read the book for yourself; so I don't ruin the ending for you.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Capítulo 10: October/ Octubre

Well... get ready for a bumpy ride, because alot goes down in this chapter.  The next day, while making Gertrudis' favorite dish, Cream Fritters (which is this month's recipe), Tita summons the courage to tell her secret.  It just so happens that right after Tita tells Gertrudis her 'problem', Pedro walks into the kitchen and hears Gertrudis loudly proclaim that Tita needs to tell him her news.  As you can probably guess, Pedro is extatic about the news.  This gives him even more sway in convincing Tita she can no longer marry John.  And now Tita herself is convinced that she will not be able to marry John.  This kind of makes me mad.  Part of me wants her to stay with John, because he's been so kind and noble to her.  But then there is also a part of me that is glad she's happy in love with Pedro, however bad the timing their affair is.  But for the most part, I'm mad at Pedro.  He knew how Tita felt about him, and even though Tita was taking the high road and rightfully staying out of his and Rosaura's marriage, Pedro kept egging her on and then finally he surprise love-attacked her!  Two pretty awesome things happen at the end of this chapter, both great examples of Magic Realism.  First, Tita runs to her room to escape the busy nightly happenings of the night (now that the entire rebellion is at the ranch, it's very crowded and hectic).  All of a sudden an extremely drunk Pedro starts singing love songs to Tita outside her window.  This brings about the ghost of Mama Elena!  Mama goes into this huge speech about how Tita is indecent and that the baby inside her is destined to be cursed, and how Tita has ruined the family name forever.  Tita delivers a great line here, after taking a brutal verbal assault from her mother..."I know who I am!  A person who has a perfect right to live her life as she pleases.  Once and for all, leave me alone; I won't put up with you!  I hate you, I've always hated you!"  And with those last words the figure of Mama Elena began to shrink, until it was a tiny light.  As Mama Elena was shrinking, a huge sense of relief grew inside of Tita.  Then, all of a sudden she released a violent menstrual flow (that's magic realism for ya).  She hadn't been pregnant all along!  The act of her finally standing up to her mother had released all the tension from her body.  Let's not forget about that little ball of light that Mama Elena had turned into...all of a sudden that ball of light shoots out of Tita's window and hits Pedro as he is still singing outside.  His whole body bursts into flames as Mama Elena gets her last bit of revenge on Tita.  Pedro is now badly burned and is calling for Tita to remain at his side.  Rosaura hears this and finally realizes what has been growing between Tita and Pedro.  I think she just hadn't let herself believe it before, even though she had initially known of their love for eachother.  Tita takes up the role of Pedro's constant care provider, diligently helping him with home remedies for his burns.  She never leaves his side.  And what could happen next you ask?  Well... John comes home.  And, poor John, as soon as he and Tita embrace, he knows that something has changed in Tita.  Little does he know!!

Capítulo 9: September/ Septiembre

So, I guess I have to kind of give away the 'steamy scene' from the last chapter, between Pedro and Tita.  There is a big question hanging in Tita's mind throughout this chapter, a question that is giving her lots and lots of stress.  Can you guess it?... Well, she thinks she's pregnant.  I know I know... Come on Tita!  So, add this to her growing doubts about marrying John.  The recipe for this chapter is Chocolate y Rosca de Reyes; or Chocolate and Three King's Day Bread.  Making, and eating, the Three King's Day Bread had been a tradition on the ranch for Tita and her sisters.  Gertrudis (the sister who made her romantic and sensual getaway in Ch. 3) came back to the ranch with the militia.  Oh yeah, by the way, Gertrudis is a general for the rebellion now.. crazy huh?  Anyway... Tita finally feels there is someone in the house with whom she can confide her news with.  That day, while Tita was in the kitchen preparing the King's Day Bread, the ghost of Mama Elena came to her and tells Tita how worthless and indecent she is for her relations with Pedro.  Mama Elena even goes so far as to curse the unborn baby that Tita is carrying.  The ghost disappears with the entrance of Chencha into the kitchen.  That night at the party, Tita is preocuppied with thinking of the baby and also thinking of how she will tell Gertrudis about it the next day...

Capítulo 8: August/ Agosto

This chapter is what I like to call the "Oh no she didn't!!" chapter.  You can only imagine what this chapter has in store for Tita... DRAMA.  It starts off fairly happy.  Pedro and Rosaura have a new little baby girl named Esperanza, and John and Tita throw a dinner party at the ranch in order for John to ask Pedro (since Pedro is the man of the house) for Tita's hand in marriage.  Not wanting to cause a scene, Pedro of course says yes.  Everything is fine and dandy... that is until John leaves on a long trip to the United States to bring his aunt to the ranch for the wedding.  For Tita, this meant staying at the ranch longer... with Pedro nearby.  This was not good for her willpower.  There is alot of sexual tension between Pedro and Tita throughout this chapter.  Pedro showcases his annoying persistent behavior toward Tita by telling her she must refuse to marry John; because she should be with him instead.  Tita delivers some of the best lines toward Pedro in this chapter..."I entreat you, never bother me again for the rest of my life, and don't ever dare to repeat what you've just said to me, my sister might hear it and we don't need one more unhappy person in this house.  Excuse me!...Ah, and let me suggest, next time you fall in love, don't be such a coward!"  Love that line.  You see, I do think that Tita's true and oldest love is Pedro... but seriously... Pedro is such a pansy!  He should have fought for Tita when he had the chance.  As not to give everything away, but I will say that at the end of the chapter Tita does have a steamy encounter with you know who... while her fiance is away.  A nice little bit of magic realism shows up at the end of the chapter, during the steamy scene, the image of the "ghost" of Mama Elena appears as a storm.  Chencha and Rosaura see it, and don't know how to explain it... just that it is her sould dead and walking about.

Capítulo 7: July/ Julio

This chapter focuses on the return of Tita!  After her long period of silence, Tita was 'brought back to life with some homeade Ox-Tail soup from her home.  A few key things happen in this chapter, Tita started talking again.  John asks for Tita's hand in marriage, and Tita accepts.  The ranch back home is attacked by a group of bandits and Mama Elena, while trying to defend herself and the workers, becomes a paraplegic due to being hit in the spine.  All of this culminates in Tita returning to the ranch to care for Mama Elena.  This does not help their relationship; not one bit.  Tita is brought back into her old ways of cooking and taking care of her mother.  However this time, Mama Elena wants nothing to do with her daughter who has changed so much with  her new found independence.  Mama Elena refuses Tita's cooking and subsecuently (with a little help from some emetics she had been taking every night), Mama Elena dies in her bed at the end of the chapter.  After her mother's death, Tita uncovers a dark secret of Mama Elena's past.  This secret, which I won't give away, makes almost everything Mama Elena does throughout the novella very hypocritical.  The reader can easily pick up on the pent up feelings that Mama Elena herself carries around in her life.  If Mama Elena has been un-happy her whole life, why would she force the same love-less future on her own daughter?  For me, Mama Elena is an interesting character to study.  Not to say that I like her at all... because I don't; I think she's awful to Tita.  I would hate to have her as a mother.  But what I am saying is that maybe Mama Elena has her own reasons as to why she is the way she is.  It makes me feel sorry for her.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Capítulo 6: June/junio

This chapter was very fun to read.  Very sweet.  Tita is recooperating at Dr. Brown's house in the village, and he is the best caretaker Tita could have asked for.  He gives her her space and allows her to be her own person as well.  Since her breakdown episode, Tita has taken an oath of silence.  She had many things to sort out in her mind about her life: about Mama Elena, Pedro, her sisters, and now Dr. Brown.  This chapter is fun, because you start to see a change in Tita.  She's feeling grateful to finally be away from her mother, and to start becoming her own person again.  She still is holding on to her vow of silence, but she has a independent breakthrough at the end of the chapter.  All this while, Dr. Brown has been talking and teaching Tita about his love for medicine, and how he uses a mixture of science and ancient techniques to try and discover cures for illnesses.  Dr. Brown gives Tita a rag soaked in phosphorous, and tells her that if she writes her thoughts on the wall with the phosphorous, no one would be able to see it, because it is an invisible ink.  Tita thinks that this is a way to express her feelings in a way where she is getting them off her chest, but still technically keeping them to herself, because the ink is invisible.  What Dr. Brown fails to tell her is that the ink becomes visible in the dark.  So he asks Tita, "why won't you talk?" and he gives her the night to ponder over her answer.  Late that night, after Tita had gone to bed, Dr. Brown goes to see what she had written, and she had written simply, "Because I don't want to". 
I really like that she said that, she is acting according to her own will and ability now.  She is excercising her own control by not speaking.  She has been controlled for so many years in her life, and now she is has control over something.  It's probably a verly liberating feeling for her.  Let's see what the next chapter has in store for Tita.