Kung Like Water for Chocolate - Answer

CHAPTERS 1 -3 STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS • Where is Tita born? What does it say about her fate in life? She is born in the kitchen and it shows that she is destined to the kitchen, amongst cooking. • What changes occur in Mama Elena after her husband passes away? She becomes very mean and emotionally blocked off. • Who raises Tita? What does that person teach Tita (besides the obvious)? Nacha raises Tita and teaches her a lot about cooking. • How is Tita different than her sisters, Gertrudis and Rosaura? Provide several examples. Tita is like the mixture between them. Gertrudis is very outgoing and accepts change. She becomes a revolutionary general. Rosaura is very held back and traditional. That leads to her death by her not accepting different foods. • Describe two examples of how Mama Elena suppresses Tita’s freedom. Mama Elena doesn’t allow her to be with Pedro. She also instructs her children (including Tita), on what to call her (Mami). • What did Tita drink after the first time Pedro looked at her with affection during a Christmas dinner? How do you think this beverage represented the circumstances or Tita’s feelings? She drinks a glass of Noyo liquor. I think it represents the burning passion in Tita’s veins that also comes from being around Pedro. • Why does Tita feel grief after Pedro professes his love for her? She feels grief because she will never be able to marry him. Being the youngest daughter, she must take care of Mama Elena until her death. • What does Tita imagine that exists in one of the eggs she is using to make the wedding cake? What does that egg represent for Tita? She believes it is a baby chick. The egg represents Tita’s hope that Mama Elena crushes. • What is Tita’s punishment for faking a headache to avoid Rosaura’s engagement? What does that task say about Mama Elena’s impression of love? She must fatten and castrate 200 roosters. It shows that Mama Elena doesn’t really care for Tita’s feelings. • What is different about Tita’s taste in food compared to Rosaura’s? Rosaura doesn’t like to eat anything exotic or new. Tita, however, does. • What are the ingredients for Rosaura’s wedding cake? What does each ingredient say about the marriage? The ingredients are granulated sugar, sifted flour, eggs, and the peel of a lime. It shows that the wedding is sweet on the outside and great tasting, however, there is a sense of sourness and bitterness underneath it all. • What are Chencha and Gertrudis embroidering for the wedding? How are they able to obtain the fabric for this item? They are embroidering a bridal sheet and they get the fabric from a far away city. • What happens to the guests at Rosaura and Pedro’s wedding after consuming the wedding cake? Why isn’t Tita affected? The guests absorb Tita’s emotion that has poured into the cake. They spend the wedding crying for lost loves. Tita isn’t affected because it’s her emotions that have poured into the cake, she released all of them into the cake so she isn’t affected by them. She can’t awaken feelings that aren’t there. • What effects does Nacha’s death have on Tita, both positive and negative? This event promotes her to head chef which gives her more freedom, but she loses the woman who raised her and taught her to cook. • What does Pedro give Tita as a congratulatory gift on her newfound position on the ranch? How does it represent their secret relationship? He gives her roses and it shows that their relationship is blooming. • Why does Tita realize that one can’t be weak when killing? What is the significance of this? If you are weak, then you won’t finish the job correctly and you will make the animal suffer. This is true for Tita’s situation. She mustn’t be weak, she needs to be strong. • What effect does Tita’s quail dish have on Gertrudis? What happens to Gertrudis after the meal? It ignites a sexual passion in Gertrudis and after the meal Gertrudis goes to take a shower, however, the shower bursts into flames. A revolutionary man smells the rose smell emitting from Gertrudis and he takes her off on his horse while a sexual encounter between them then ensues. • Where does Gertrudis end up working later in life? Why is her leaving the ranch described as “liberation”? She ends up working in a brothel. It is liberation because she is leaving the power of Mama Elena, when she isn’t supposed to. • What does Gertrudis’ escape mean to Tita? How do you think it will affect her? Her escape is basically everything that Tita wants for her and Pedro. She wishes that her and Pedro could go off that easily and be together. I think that this will inspire her for the future if she decides to go against Mama Elena’s wishes. CHAPTERS 4-6 STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS • What entices Pedro about Tita’s preparation for the mole? What is transmitted through the way Pedro looks at Tita (his “scrutiny”)? He is enticed by how when she grinds things in a mortar, he can see her chest down her shirt. It is transmitted that when he scrutinizes her chest, he is turning her flesh into experienced. It’s as if his gaze is his hands and so she and him are then experienced. • Why doesn’t Pedro make comments about Tita’s meals anymore? He doesn’t make comments because he doesn’t want to offend his wife or arise suspicions to Mama Elena. • What does Tita pack for her sister, Gertrudis? List the “items” that are placed in the suitcase. She packs Gertrudis a suitcase of clothes. • How does Tita come to understand the procedure for giving birth? What does her presence during Roberto’s birth represent? She understands it because Nacha is there to help her. It represents that Nacha will always be there in some ways to guide her. • Who nurtures Roberto after his birth? How does this awkward circumstance arise? Tita nurtures Roberto because Rosaura does not have milk and the wet nurse was shot by a stray revolutionary bullet. • As a result of suspicion, what does Mama Elena propose for Rosaura, Pedro, and Roberto? She proposes that they go and live with her cousin in San Antonio so that Rosaura will be constantly be near medical care and doctors. • What character on the ranch likes to tell stories? Chencha likes to tell stories. • What is Tita’s reaction to Pedro, Rosaura, and Roberto’s trip to San Antonio? She is panicked and becomes very saddened and depressed by this. • How does Mama Elena prepare for the arrival of the revolutionaries? She grabs her shotgun and tells Tita, Chencha, and the pig to hide in the cellar. • What does Mama Elena do when the sergeant of the revolutionaries tries to enter her home after she instructs them that no one is to step foot in it? Mama Elena shoots one of her own chickens. • How does the captain react to Mama Elena’s “daunting” attitude towards the men? He takes it as a joke and laughs it all off. • What is Mama Elena’s response when the captain asks her where her three daughters are? She says that the oldest and youngest live in the United States and that the other died. • Who is the captain? What is his relationship with the De la Garza family? The captain is the man who ran off with Gertrudis. He is Gertrudis’s lover and Gertrudis is Mama Elena’s daughter. • What do the revolutionaries do to the dovecote? What do you think the doves represent in the story? The revolutionaries take all the doves out and steal every one of them. The doves represent the peace within Tita and the little bit of sanctuary she has left at the Ranch. • What ritual must Tita perform for Mama Elena? Describe the ritual. Tita must heat Mama Elena’s bath water with lavender flowers, then strain it all with some drops of aguardiente. Then she must carry buckets of hot water to a tub in the “dark room”. There is also a pitcher of aloe water to wash Mama Elena’s hair. Tita has to wash Mama Elena’s body, then hair and then iron all of Mama Elena’s clothes. Then Tita much help her dry off and put on the clothes, and then Tita must only open the door a small amount. Tita must then brush Mama Elena’s hair until it’s dry, braid it, and that’s the end of the routine. • What is Mama Elena’s genius when it comes to interacting with Tita? She uses a lot of scolding and fear that she instills into Tita. • What is Roberto’s fate? What is Tita’s reaction to it? Where does she go to find solace? Roberto passes away and Tita takes is very hard. She does to the dovecote to find solace. • Where does Mama Elena want to send Tita as a result of her breakdown? She wants to send her to a mental health institution. (As they call it a “crazy house”.) • What hobby does Tita continue in her new home? She continues knitting her huge quilt. • Who is the “Kikapu” and how is she related to John Brown? How has she helped John’s family? She is John Brown’s grandmother and she has brought her ancient medicines to the family. • What is the key ingredient in making matches? How is this substance made? What is the Kikapu’s theory regarding this substance? The key ingredient is phosphorus. It is made by heating the residue from evaporation urine. Her theory is that we each contain the elements needed to produce phosphorus. • What does Tita write on the wall in phosphorescent letters? What does that statement represent for her? John asks her why she doesn’t talk and Tita writes, “Because I don’t want to.” This represents her freedom because she, herself, gets to choose whether she wants to talk or not. CHAPTERS 7 -9 STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS • According to Chencha, what is the special quality of soup? She says that soup can cure any illness whether it be physical or mental. • What memory allows Tita to remember the recipe for ox-tail soup? How does this memory allow her to move on with her life? She remembers when her and Nacha used to make oxtail soup, reliving those memories, laughing and crying at parts, and it cures part of the sadness within her and allows her to start talking. • Why is Chencha nervous about returning back to the ranch after she visits Tita at John Brown’s? She doesn’t want to get in trouble from Mama Elena. • What tactic has Chencha used to help her survive all these years on Mama Elena’s ranch? She has always used lies to help her in any situation. • What tragedy occurs on the ranch one night? Revolutionaries come to the ranch. They rape Chencha and paralyze Mama Elena. • How does Tita treat Mama Elena upon returning to the ranch? How does Mama Elena react to Tita’s attitude? She is nice and caring, but Mama Elena suspects the worst, that Tita is trying to kill her. • What secret does Tita discover about her mother? How does knowing this secret affect her? She discovers that Mama Elena had a secret affair and Rosaura was the illicit child. • What is the fate of Rosaura’s daughter, Esperanza? Esperanza is to have the same fate as Tita, to never marry and to take care of her mother until her mother’s death. • What is Tita’s response to Pedro’s disapproval of her engagement to John Brown? She responds with anger to the way he handled the situation of Tita not being able to marry him (Pedro). She tells him next time not to be such a coward. • What does Alex say when he sees Esperanza for the first time in her cradle? He says, “Papa, I want to get married too, just like you. With this little girl” (150). • Who is Jesus and what does he mean to Chencha? Jesus is Tita’s husband and he is Chencha’s childhood sweetheart who accepted her even after she wasn’t a virgin. • What happens to Tita when she is arranging pots and pans in the storage room? She is confronted by Pedro and they have sexual intercourse, losing Tita’s virginity in the process. • How does Chencha interpret the plumes of phosphorescent colors that are ascending into the sky? She takes them as being Mama Elena’s dead spirit haunting them. • Why do Pedro and Rosaura end up sleeping in different rooms? The sleep in separate rooms because Rosaura has a flatulence and bad breath problem and it smells terrible and she doesn’t want her husband to deal with that. • What surprising worry does Rosaura tell Tita? Rosaura is worried that Pedro doesn’t want her anymore because he hasn’t approached her with amorous- intentions in a while. • As Tita is making the King’s Day bread, who does she see and what does this person tell her? She sees Mama Elena and Mama Elena tells Tita that her baby is cursed. • Who arrives at the ranch for a cup of hot chocolate? What position does this person hold in the revolutionary army? Gertrudis arrives and she is a general in the revolutionary army. • Why does Juan threaten to leave Gertrudis after she has a baby? How is that problem resolved? He threatens to leave her because the baby comes out as a mulatto, but the problem is resolved when he finds out that Gertrudis is part mulatto. The truth about Mama Elena’s secret affair comes to light. CHAPTERS 10 – 12 STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS • What is Gertrudis’ favorite dessert? Her favorite dessert is Cream Fritters. • What does Gertrudis reveal to Tita about the nature of “ truth”? She reveals that truth does not exist, everything, the “truth”, depends on a persons point of view. • Why does Tita have a hard time telling Pedro that she is pregnant with his child? She has a hard time because she wanted to decide what to do first before she told him. • How has Sergeant Trevino proven to be one of Gertrudis’ strongest members of her troop? He never fails in any task that Gertrudis gives to him. • What does Mama Elena’s presence in Tita’s mind represent? What does Tita say to get rid of Mama Elena forever? It represents the illicit baby in her stomach. She says, “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, and I’ve always hated you!” (199) • What happens to Pedro that prompts Tita to express her feelings? Pedro is hit by a fireball and his whole body is burned. • Who is Aunt Mary? How does she treat Tita? She is John Brown’s aunt from America and she is very, very nice to Tita. She loves Tita’s cooking and her perfect English. • How does Tita help Pedro recover from his wounds? She takes a special mixture of eggs, oil, and potatoes and puts it on his wounds. Then, to prevent scarring she places the bark from a special tree onto his burns. • How does Pedro treat Tita out of envy? He gets angry and takes it out on Tita, giving her a huge dose of attitude. • About what two subjects does Tita confront Rosaura? She addresses her about Rosaura marrying Pedro and about allowing Esperanza to marry. • What is Tita’s relationship with Esperanza? She is Esperanza’s best friend and almost like her mother. Tita raises Esperanza in the kitchen and they become very close. • What strategy does Tita use to cook the beans that are still raw even after hours of cooking? She sings to the beans a song of love, which makes the beans happy and the water began boiling madly. • Who is Jovita? Why doesn’t Tita want to become “another Jovita”? Jovita is a widowed teacher who slowly went crazy over the years of being celibate and without a man. Tita doesn’t want to become like her, essentially a “mess”. • What does Tita reveal to John Brown upon his return to the ranch? How does he respond to her confession? She confesses to him that while he was gone she lost her virginity. He responds with kindness and saying that he just wants her to be happy. Her losing her virginity doesn’t change how he feels. • What does John give Tita as a present? What does this present represent? He gives her a box of matches and this represents him egging her on to light the matches inside her. He’s supporting her in whatever makes her happy. • How does Rosaura die? Why do you think she dies this way? She dies to digestive problems because her body doesn’t react well to the new foods entering her system. Rosaura is very traditional and doesn’t really like change, so the food is the change that kills her. • For whose wedding is Tita preparing the “Chiles in Walnut Sauce” dish? She is preparing it for Esperanza's and Alex’s wedding. • What is the name of the waltz to which Pedro and Tita dance? What do you think is the significance of the name? The song is called, “The Eyes of Youth”. It is the song Tita and Pedro hear when they first meet. • How do all the guests at the wedding react to Tita’s “Chiles in Walnut Sauce” dish? They all become very passionate and want to have sexual intercourse and so everyone leaves the wedding so that they can do that. • How does Tita reunite with Pedro after his death? She eats candles and with each candle she remembers a different amazing memory they shared. Eventually, the tunnel appears before her eyes and she joins Pedro. • What happens to the ranch after Tita’s reunification with Pedro? The ranch burst in flames due to the fiery bodies of Tita and Pedro. The whole ranch burnt down and was covered in a layer of ash.