Contrasting two Literary Novels as to how Sex is used as a tool in Literature - Essay Example

You’re 06 June 2006 Contrasting two Literary Novels as to how Sex is used as a tool in Literature In the novel, “Like Water for Chocolate” there is a great emphasis given as to how powerful sex can be with regard to control and dominance over one person towards another. To introduce this idea, one example that can show validation for this statement is when Tita De La Garza prepares a meal for the family utilizing the rose petals that Pedro gave to her. These rose petals seemingly place a sexual element into this specific part of the story which affects not only the main characters but the secondary ones as well. Tita’s younger sister leaves the ranch in a lustful state, running away with a revolutionary soldier with the idea given that she has done so in the throes of passion. However, what really propelled her to leave was the energy of passion that was ignited by the essence of the rose petal sauce. Furthermore, the experience of cooking with the rose petals greatly affected Tita as, “Tita experienced a strange alchemical process that dissolved her entire being in the rose petal sauce, in the tender flesh of the quails…that was the way she entered Pedro’s body, hot, voluptuous, perfumed, totally sensuous” (52). This gives detail to how powerful the rose petals ignited a sexual charge between all the people that came into contact with it. It also defines the power of love that can be found within this sexual charge, as was pointed out other people were potently affected by it as well. Also, although the quote makes it appear that Tita and Pedro are having a sexual encounter, physically they are not as this is only a mental image or thought that is transpiring due to the powerful essence which emanated from the sauce Tita prepared. It does however give credence to the fact that there will soon be changes in the characters lives which will be filled with sexual power and the feelings of passion and love that transform the actions in the story dramatically. Now in contrasting the introduction between this novel and “House of Spirits” it is found that sex is used as a dominating tool as well but not in the same way as “Like Water for Chocolate is”. For example the idea of Sex in this second novel initially begins with an idea for revenge for Esteban Garcia, an outlet of expression for Esteban Trueba’s secret emotions, self-gratification for Jean de Satigny, and love for Pedro Tercero. Thereby, sex is shown to be able to be utilized in a number of ways in a literary means. However, there is a similarity of ideas between these two novels with the use of sex as a metaphor of power and passion that motivates the characters into engaging in acts that they might otherwise have not been a part of. For example, in this novel sex is shown as a powerful tool just like in the other novel where the rose petals where used as a motivator of hidden sexual desires and passions. However, there are some areas in “House of Secrets” where though sex is used as a tool it is an angry one as when it shows Clara’s true emotions towards her husband. “Because Clara does not love Esteban Trueba, she does not always want to have sex with him. Once their marriage begins to deteriorate, Clara “never let [Esteban Trueba] in her bed again, except when [he] forced [himself] on her when to have said no would have meant the end of [their] marriage” ( 179). This defines the act of sex as not being about the passion of love and wanting each other but rather a bargaining tool to keep an arrangement alive in order to keep the couple together. There is a starked difference here between these two novels in that “Like Water for Chocolate” is more about the passion of love and the consequences of a secret passionate love whereas this novel in some parts expresses it as simply a means to survive, with regard to Esteban and Clara. However, there is a still emphasis of it being a release of pent up emotions as well, as the following example of Esteban with another woman shows the following, “Esteban Trueba visits Transito Soto after he is married when he is having problems in his relationship with Clara. Transito Soto helps Esteban Trueba, “weep out all the misery and loneliness of recent years” after they have sex together” (317). In this regard the metaphor of sex is actually a way of letting go of past emotions of adverse feelings, not necessarily of love but of sadness and regret. It again is a given tool that is needed to help the people in the story move on and try and gain a semblance of life again. Esteban is different yet similar to Tita’s mothers spirit in “Like Water for Chocolate” as both of them have pent up anger and frustrations which are affecting other characters in the story in many adverse ways. A very good idea that gives pause to this statement to show the similarity of anger between these two characters in these two different stories is found when Tita’s mother’s spirit comes back to try and refrain Tita from becoming sexual with Pedro, “A chronic chill kept her from being warmed, even though she was covered with her heavy woolen bedspread” (108). This causes the reader to possibly consider the presence of Tita’s mothers’ spirit as being the causative factor in her discomfort due to her interactions with Pedro which her mother did not approve of when she was living. A similar example of anger that can be given in the “House of Spirits” is due to Estebans sexual dominance over women, for example when the novel gives insight as to how he molested Alba when she was only six years old. “Esteban releases his anger when he ventured beneath her well-starched dress, running his fingers up the child’s leg until he found the lace of her batiste petticoats and her woolen drawers with their elastic bands. Esteban Garcia took her hand and placed it on his stiffened sex” (286). This explicitly shows that this man will take his sexual anger and frustration out on all female genders regardless of age or how they are related to him. It demonstrates the control that the power of sex can give on over another just as in the novel of “Like Water for Chocolate” but the differentiating here is the fact that Estebans is with cruel and heartless intent while with Pedro and Tita it is driven by love and want of one another. However, in “Like Water for Chocolate” Tita’s mother’s presence while alive and then deceased attempts to bring discord and fear just as Esteban does to the females that he rapes in the novel “House of Spirits”. An example of this fact of when she was alive is when Tita suffers a mental breakdown due to her mother’s harsh way of trying to control the sexual tension between Tita and Pedro and the secret love that she is aware that they have for one another. She has Pedro and Tita’s sister leave the house with Roberto, her nephew with whom she has been like a mother too, even having the ability to nurse and care for him when her sister could not. Because of this Roberto dies and Tita mentally collapses with her mother isolating her in a mental asylum. However, the power of love within the metaphor of sex helps Tita become rehabilitated through the hands of a patient and loving doctor named John Brown. Tita does develop feelings for John but when Pedro enters into the scenario again the feelings of unquenched sexual desire and passion fill the novel’s pages again as Tita and Pedro seem unable to control the desire they have for each other with the yearning of sexual intimacy seemingly controlling them, “suddenly the water started to get warmer, and it kept getting warmer and warmer until it began to burn her skin, caused by Pedro, watching her intently” (153). This goes to show that even though another individual entered Tita’s life and helped her, her feelings for Pedro took over her abilities to control her sexual urges, however for awhile she tried to ward these feelings off by, “suppressing her sexual desires through crocheting a section of bedspread every night” (59). Nevertheless, in the novel it is find that despite Tita’s mothers’ spirit trying to create havoc and despite the many ways in which Tita try’s to avoid any sexual contact with Pedro it eventually comes about due to the death of her sister. This shows that the death of Tita’s sister, intertwined with desire for one another leads to the story getting closer to the sexual consummation of the relationship that has been brewing between the two of them. The power of sex is greatly emphasized in their actions when they are alone as the following defines, “While she was receiving a kiss on the lips, Pedro took her hand in his and invited her to explore his body. Tita timidly touched the hard muscles on Pedro’s arms and chest, lower down, she felt a red-hot coal that throbbed through his clothes” (98). Also the next following passage later on in the story finally gives the evidence that consummation of their feelings is in fact inevitable as the power of sex in the story finally takes over them, “Tita looked up without stopping her grinding and her eyes met Pedro’s. At once their passionate glances fused so perfectly that whoever saw them would have seen but a single look, a single rhythmic and sensual motion, a single trembling breath, a single desire” (66). As has been stated there are many similarities of the power of sex in the novel, “House of Spirits” as well. Although the difference is highly obvious it does not change the fact that the power that sex represents in a literary way defines who characters behave and act with others as Estebans actions can provide irrefutable proof too. The identity of Esteban is actually revealed through his sexual encounters, although not in a public way. It is because he can not tell his true identity that he uses sex as a tool for an outlet of expression for his frustration and anger, raping women repeatedly during the novel. For example his sexual escapades with Alba are only due to the hatred he has of her position and of what he can not have, “he stripped her violently, pulling off her slacks despite her kicking. She struggled against him until they got tired of beating her” (409). This clearly displays that sex is only meant for the expression of anger in much of the novel, although as has been said it has been intertwined with the idea of love for some characters also. The main point however is how both of these novels are able to utilize the idea of sex to demonstrate how characters actions are carried out due to the intensity of sexual power as an emotional trigger. In conclusion, although both of these novels lean different ways in utilizing sex as a literary tool, it is still clearly seen how the idea of sex in a novel affects the actions that take place. True identity of characters can be verified due to how they act in the face of the power of sex, as it can be a manipulator of emotions, such as both these novels show. The research has emphasized how both of these stories portray sex as a motivator of characters interactions and how the whole idea can change certain outcomes in the characters lives. In finality, some people view sex as an emotional concept that sparks passion and love more fluidly while others are so devoured by anger and hate in their life that it takes on a more brutal form, with a lack of love at all. In any regard, the power of sex affects lives in many different ways as both of these novels specifically emphasize. Word count: 2,041 Read More