Mehriniso Muhammadieva

CST 2400

10/20/2020

Final Draft-Midterm Essay  

 

Laura Esquirel’s, Like Water for Chocolate, is almost like a modern-day Romeo and Juliet that are filled with appetizing recipes. This novel was published in 1983 and has become one of the valued parts of American literature. The novel’s publicity and fame then brought this movie to life on February 17, 1993, by Alfonso Arau. While the novel, Like Water for Chocolate, is similar to Alfonso Arau’s film version; there are also some distinguishable differences. The use of diegetic and non-diegetic sound makes this translation literal, according to Linda Cahir’s definition. In order to provide this, I will explore the narrators’ description of the scenes. Second, I will use the film’s use of diegetic and non-diegetic sounds to show actions. Lastly, I will discuss what the film has that the book does not. 

The novel and the film is a lateral transition due to the fact that the plot is there and the film does an amazing job recapturing the novel’s description. There are some distinct differences that are hard to recognize. The use of diegetic and non-diegetic sounds in the film and the novel is also the reason the transition is literal, both follow the same concept; which is the use of sound in the film/novel or outside the film/novel throughout the film/novel. From the day Tita was born on the kitchen table her life was planned out for her by Mama Elena. Therefore, Tita was always a rebel, she went against the rules and fell in love. However,  Mama Elena does not allow it by saying, “You know perfectly well that being the youngest daughter means you have to take care of me until the day I die.”(1,22). Tita goes through so much sadness and grief as she loses the people she cares for and cherishes. Tita is shown to have a strong character, no matter what she goes through she always has the will to be kind and forgive and live out her life breaking this tradition her mother passed on for the happiness of her niece.

What makes the film and the movie literal is the use of the plot and a few differences. As a reader/ viewer, we see the similarities throughout the film/ novel. For example, the scene where Tita is leaving with Dr. John and the hand-sewn “wail’ or rather her bedspread is left being dragged for miles. This similarity is iconic due to the fact the reader can clearly picture this and the viewer can see the same exact thing. What Arau does differently in the film is interesting, because it is barely noticeable but it is there. For example, the death of Mama Elena; in the novel, we have her dying of poisoning. What Arau does is add more action to the film by having Mama Elena die earlier during the attack; Mama Elena dies by being pushed off a cliff by the bandits.