Like Water For Chocolate

AnaMarie Mehmel

Professor Benander

World Literature II

21 February 2011

Laura Esquivel’s Like Water for Chocolate was interesting. I liked reading it even though some parts, like the ending, were slightly weird. Nacha, the cook, was my favorite because she was so loving and nurturing, like my own mother. I liked Gertrudis as well because she left the restricting home to do want she wanted. This rings a cord in me because it reminds me of myself. I left my friends, family, and the only home I had ever known to do what I wanted; which was to come to Ohio to go to UC. The recipes were also a wonderful touch to the story; however, what they did to people was really unbelievable and sometimes gross. Like the wedding scene where everyone who eats part of the wedding cake starts vomiting. That was so gross that when I read it I almost vomited myself. Also the scene where Gerturdis runs away with Juan was unbelievable. That was so weird and intense. Mama Elena was a character I did not like because I hated how she treated people. She was a mean, cruel, lonely woman. She took out all her pent up frustration out on those around her instead of finding some other outlet for her anger. She made Tita’s life miserable. I do not understand how a mother could treat her daughter so horribly. After reading this book I am so grateful to my mother for treating me with unconditional love. Love is very important. I am so glad that Pedro and Tita got to be with each other. They suffered so much because of external forces. They way they were together was wrong seeing as Pedro was married to Tita’s sister, but as it has been said “love conquers all.” I must admit, though, that at first I wanted Tita to go with John, but after later reflection I realized Tita could never have been truly happy without the love of her life. No one should ever have to endure the pain that Tita and Pedro did.

Zorro

AnaMarie Mehmel

Professor Benander

World Literature II

14 February 2011

Reading Zorro was an interesting experience. It took probably an hour or so to read, which is pretty good. Zorro was not what I expected. I had never read a graphic novel before, preferring to read regular novels. It surprised me because it gave a whole different perspective to the story of Zorro than I would have gotten reading the traditional novel. The graphics done by Francavilla are so potent. It’s a story with in a story, and it grabs at a person. Reading the words on the page gives one reality that is so vivid; and tells the story of Diego de la Vega. He fight for justice against oppression and his need to be able to protect his family from harm show that there are people out there willing to stand up for those who cannot do so for themselves. Diego has to become El Zorro and become someone other than himself to do that. I think that was foreshadowed by his mother. His mother was a warrior woman from the Tongva tribe who became an upstanding Spanish lady named Regina. She had to hide her true self. She was a warrior, and she died as one. Francavilla shows the two sides of Regina wonderfully in the images of the attack of the pirates. S

he is dressed as a Spanish lady, but she fights as the warrior she is. Francavilla’s graphics of her fighting are always big and centered on her fight. She is so important to the development of El Zorro. Diego follows in her footsteps. He is a dandy by day and El Zorro by night. This is actually something people do all the time, probably without even realizing it. I know that until the idea of having two identities came up in Zorro I had never thought of how that happens in my own life. In school people see a carefree, happy, “cute” me. I’m fun and make people laugh, but at home it’s a little different. It is not all fun and games. At home I am with people who really know me and with whom I am not afraid to show my true emotions. I can be angry or sad or just plain crazy with my family. Showing that side of me to strangers is not acceptable. Diego does that by being a dandy than being Zorro. I have realized as I have gotten older that books really can describe a person’s life, even if it is fiction.