Topic > Magical Realism Perspective in Water for Chocolate

Magical realism is the art of infusing the supernatural into the mundane. Many Latin American authors harness the power of magical realism in their novels, in which characters have regular encounters with the spiritual world. This ability endows them with a "sixth sense" so that they have superhuman vision, discern apparitions invisible to natural eyes, or communicate with spirits or spirits of the deceased. Laura Esquivel are Latin American authors who have used "lo real maravilloso" or magical realism in literature, pervasive in her best-selling book Como Agua Para Chocolate. This method serves to intertwine legend, religion, and spiritualism with reality (Jameson 1986). The reader realizes that magical realism is not simply magic, but is an inextricable part of human life and experience. Even in Native American tradition, as seen in Monkey Beach, authors describe their deep religious heritage in literature, incorporating religious beliefs, rituals, and supernatural events. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende is a text populated by characters with magical abilities. Characters, like Clara, are gifted with extraordinary spiritual abilities such as clairvoyance, dream interpretation, and telekinesis (moving objects with the mind). In the novel, writing is not a simple activity. It becomes a spiritual affair in which the writer undergoes an internal catharsis or purge, exercising the power of the pen. Clara records her dreams and spiritual encounters to pass down to future generations. In this world, “conventional resources were not everything” (Conniff 1990). Spirits help man in a mutually beneficial relationship. She relates well to good spirits and they dwell in her home, giving her a contentment that nothing material could give her. The characters can see the appearance of ghosts and experience the participation of comforting spirits in everyday life, so much so that the residents of the house accept them as normal. The paranormal is constantly present in the novel. For example, Clara miraculously finds the lost head of her mother who is accidentally decapitated. The spirits reveal to her the exact location of the head when no one could retrieve it. Punctuating the novel with magical and surreal events imprints on the mind the intersection between the spiritual world (embodied as Clara) and the material world (embodied as Esteban). In Monkey Beach, Lisa, the protagonist equally has a phenomenal spiritual ability to predict events. through dreams before they come true. In the Haisla culture in Canada, native Indians value the culture of supernatural consciousness and communication with deceased ancestors. Ma-Ma-Oo, Lisa's grandmother, appreciates Lisa's unusual gift and teaches her how to refine and control it. In magical realist novels, the presence of older generations is indispensable because the work “is the simultaneous impulse of atavism and modernism” (Gish 1990). Lisa discovers her sixth sense and later "sees" a vision of her dead brother that conveys an urgent message to her. Lisa also receives a vision that her best friend is dead. Magical realism is woven into Monkey Beach not only through Lisa, but also through the old witch, Screwy Ruby, Sasquatch (a legendary animal from another world), and a strange little man who appears to Lisa whenever something bad is about to happen imminent. These characters are equipped with premonitions and predictions. Some of Lisa's family members also have traces of her spiritual gift but choose to deny it.The setting is fundamental to structuring a text with magical realism. In One Hundred Years of Solitude the setting is a fantastic timeless village called Macondo, whose inhabitants are immortal. Setting does not only mean space, but also time. The laws of time in works of magical realism operate outside the normal sphere. “Time is curved echoincident in an entire moment that is outside of clock time” (Rabassa 1973). Marquez's title emphasizes a timelessness that also indicates an otherworldly experience. Gabriel Garcia Márquez describes the village of Macondo as a place pristine and uncorrupted by modern civilization and technology. Comparable to the Eden paradise of Genesis, the city has never seen disease. While not a pristine picture of perfection, the interaction of the gypsies gives the plot a surreal feel. Science and invention are unknown in this idyllic world, and the magic of pastoral life seeps into history. The novel, The House of the Spirits, is set in an unnamed town. In literature, anonymity gives the idea of ​​mystery and otherworldliness. From the title we know that the main scenes take place within the confines of a haunted house whose inhabitants regularly communicate with spirits or ghosts. Inside the house, disturbing events unfold as the landlady, Clara, takes pleasure in worshiping spirits. In Monkey Beach, Monkey Beach takes on new meaning as it becomes the setting/place of his brother's death. Monkey Beach is a bleak environment where crows and hawks infest and where drownings occur. At Monkey Beach, Lisa observes a Sasquatch (B'gwus) when others cannot see it and hears voices that others cannot hear. These spiritual beings offer help to Lisa if she performs a ceremony and makes an offering to them. Due to these supernatural events, Monkey Beach evolves into another world full of supernatural powers. Religion is at the heart of magical realism in literature. Religion promotes belief in the otherworldly and the reality of a spiritual world. In Latin America, where over 90% of the population professes Catholicism, the novels The House of the Spirits and One Hundred Years of Solitude are pervaded by religious references, characters or myths. In The House of the Spirits, Clara is reported as demon-possessed by the village priest. After their deaths, Clara and Ferula become ghosts who haunt the large house on the corner, thus making it "The House of Spirits", thus conveying the popular spiritual concept of life after death and spiritualism (the belief in spirits and communication with the spirits of the dead through mediums). References to priests, nuns, churches, convents and masses reinforce the general presence of religion and its role in inculcating spiritual teachings in the masses. Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel imbues the domestic environment with magical realism. Tita's visions of her dead mother, Mama Elena in the bedroom. The culinary miracles that unfolded in the kitchen as she prepared meals and the wondrous effects on the participants lend credence to the power of magical realism in the homes and hearts of Mexican and Native American cultures. The sexual powers unleashed in this novel through the impact of food on the bodies, minds and spirits of all the characters. For the wedding scene, the wedding guests are magically ignited with passion as they consume Tita's quail in rose petal sauce. As an aphrodisiac represented in Tita's repressed sexual desire for Pedro, a supernatural transference of passions occurs. Mama Elena, her tyrannical mother, is also portrayed as a witch whose dictatorial spell controls her entire life. The magic blanket that Tita knits also comforts her in hers>.