My Rxn To LWFC

If this book ended midway through chapter 12, it would have been my dream school reading book! The language is cultural, but I could understand all of it unlike the pure dialect of the South or Shakespeare. The whole plot revolves around food (a big plus for me!) and a Korean soap opera worthy love triangle (super duper huge plus!). When I first picked up the novel, I wondered how a story could actually be formed from recipes. I remember thinking to myself that this would be a stilted book at best because how could that be the backbone, the foundation for a book? However, Esquivel not only proved me wrong but shoved my nose in it. I couldn’t imagine the significance food can have on a culture, or the different tangents one can take with it. It is like a whole new form of grammar or sentence structure I did not think possible! But, I did mention the twelfth chapter. I am and will always be a helpless, unrealistic, and definitely unreasonable romantic, and the ending killed me. John Brown, the “love” of Tita’s life, is left alone and yet still smiling on for Tita’s sake as she’s swept off into lust’s embrace a.k.a. Pedro. First, Pedro is a jerk. Not only does he use Rosaura to get to Tita, but then he expects somehow to love both of them (in different ways). Then, he gets mad when Tita finally has a chance for happiness, and lastly, even after he knows Tita turns John down, he has to get jealous and braggart-like when dancing at Esperanza and Alex’s wedding. The bad guy is not supposed to get the girl! To be honest, I did want Tita and Pedro together, but I don’t know why. It’s as if Esquivel makes us root for the two because the whole book is about them pining away for each other from across the hall. That’s drama; the real twitch in my conscience is that Pedro=lust and John=love, but Tita chooses lust over love, is happier in lust than love, and the “love” character is left out of luck with no wife of his own or anything. I wonder if Esquivel is trying to make a point about the true weighings of lust vs love. Overall, I love that this story is a romance (a non-literary, real romance with realistic ups and downs not including the magic) novel which automatically makes it wonderful, and on top of that, it had meaning, symbolism, a hint of the fantastic (!), and a (somewhat) happy ending.

Thinking Out Loud for a LWFC Essay

First, I just have to say that I L O V E this book because it has romance and korean soap opera-esque drama in it!

For possible paper topics, I think my favorite themes are:
-LOVE definetly
-independence (the motive of the main character)
or maybe a motif:
-crying
-matches/fire (this one is very confusing yet interesting to me)
-the overall technique Esquivel uses recipes to move the story along- a feat in itself

I really want to use matches, but I don't know if I fully understand it yet. I'm not even sure what kind of a theme it supports. Just in general, I love inspirational, metaphorical/philosophical advice so this one hits home!

However, I still am not sure how to make an 11th grade/12th grade worthy thesis out of it so...

Some other brainstorming...

Tita's lack of independence is her main obstacle to obtaining true happiness.

or something about that irritating Pedro...

The unfortunate circumstances concerning Pedro reveal his true character and flaws that Tita may not have seen until married otherwise.

Those are my main interests: hating Pedro, matches, and independence. Hopefully, we can discuss in class, and I can for something concrete or more certain at least!

Love Vs. Lust

Love, everybody knows about love. “Love is patient, love is kind…” says the Bible. “Love is a battlefield” bemoans Pat Benetar. It’s found in “a moment” insists Kelly Clarkson over and over and over again. But seriously, you can ask anyone, love is complicated. However, what people won’t always tell you is love does not equal lust. Lust is another species entirely, but it is mistaken for love everyday.
Love is about or should be about internal qualities a.k.a. personality. If he/she makes you laugh, understands you, sees you for your personality. It is this indescribable bond between two people (and technically places, things, animals, etc. for the purpose of simplicity, people) that keeps them together through good and bad. Love is some crazy magic that makes people overlook flaws and want to stay together. There are so many different takes on love because love is never the same for any two people, but the main idea stays universal. Love is powerful, odds-beating stuff.
Lust, on the other hand, is all about the outside, the physical, the biological even. It’s about how chemically two people are attracted to each other. If people are in lust, they like how the other looks, dresses, etc. and basically are set up for a future of passion and separation in the long run unless love springs from said lust, not typical but not impossible. There is nothing wrong with lust; it’s in our chemical make up. We as humans want to procreate, but it doesn’t carry the same substance love does. Lust is what people think of as “love at first sight.” Many believe in it; I personally don’t. No one knows a person’s thoughts, actions, or disposition by looking at them. What really happens when someone falls in love at first sight is that one human finds another pleasing to the eye.
However, my definitions are from the perspective of a helplessly romantic female. A man could have quite a different sense of the two words. The stereotypical man will only lust after women, telling them whatever need be to get them to bed. The stereotypical woman will love foolishly and blindly after all the lustful men having their hearts broken. I, as all brainwashed society children, tend to lean towards these assumptions because I read that it is so, my parents tell me it is so, and movies/media/friends scream its existence. However, I love searching for the silver lining, cheering for the ignored underdog. I would say men and women can interchangeably have my definitions of love and lust. There is many a woman who would scorn my happy unrealistic take on love or live their lives lustfully calling it love. There are many men who will say my definition of lust is all wrong or that their love is more physical but they love all the same. Definitions are all with perspective, experience, and knowledge. I think men and women have different opinions as well as women have different thoughts than other women and men from other men.