Like Water for Chocolate

"For the first time in their lives, Tita and Pedro could make love freely." This quote is fairly simple and straightforward, but that doesn't mean it lacks significance. Tita had been destined since birth for sadness, as she couldn't marry thanks to her family's ridiculous tradition. She and Pedro were in love, but any showing of it would hurt those around them and cause Mama Elena to lose her temper. This moment marked the first instance of true happiness for Tita, for she was finally unrestricted in showing her love for Pedro. Ultimately, it caused her death, or the release of her soul, but it was in this death that she finally achieved happiness.
"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!" Tita screams this tirade to the ghost of Mama Elena, who has come back to haunt her for her affair with Pedro. This quote has been brewing since the beginning of the novel. Mama Elena was horrible to Tita, ruining her life and making her love interest marry her sister, so she could become an old maid and take care of her mother. This quote signifies the rejection of all of the expectations and limitations placed on Tita by her mother. The damage has surely been done already, but Tita at least got the satisfaction putting her mother in her place. However, she also paid for it in pushing Mama Elena to burn Pedro...
"There's one thing for sure. I'm not going to allow you to poison your daughter with those sick ideas you have in your head. I'm not going to let you ruin her life either, forcing her to follow some stupid tradition!" This quote, found in November, shows Tita lashing out against her sister Rosaura the way she did in the last chapter against her mother. Tita lived the hell of being destined to the single life of a care taker, and she wished it upon nobody, especially Esperenza, the niece she loved. It is especially appalling that Rosaura put this fate on her daughter simply to spite Tita, who had an affair with Pedro, her love. It is understandable for Rosaura to spite Tita, but not through the oppression of her own daughter.