revision

What is more important food or obedience? Why do most gods require humans to sacrifice to get something in return? For many centuries, food has been important in literature; for example we see it in The Book of J, the Odyssey and Like Water for Chocolate. The Book of J has different food related stories and food can be important symbol of obedience and communication with the Gods. Around the same time period, Homer the author of the Odyssey, writes about Odysseus who is at a feast with the Phaeacians telling them the adventures he had with his men on the way home. In these events, Odysseus and his men had to find food for survival and had to communicate with the gods in order to reach their destination. In Like Water for Chocolate, the author Laura Esquivel uses Tita’s talent in her cooking as a way of communicating with Pedro. Through these books, food is used as a form of communication between the Gods, humanity and love.
The story begins in a beautiful garden; the first humans are tempted to eat the forbidden fruit. Adam and Hava eat the fruit and are removed from the Garden of Eden. Many people believe in these words which has created many religions and sects. But why do people make a big deal of this event? God had forbidden them to eat from only one tree because it would show respect but as a punishment they did they would die. Therefore, this questioned God’s authority and his power. The disobedience led Adam and Hava to suffer and for the future generations, the only way to have some form of communication with their god, they had to offer food as a sacrifice. For example, in The Book of J, it mentions the story of Cain and Abel. These two brothers made an offering to their God; Cain offered fruit and Abel from his flock (The Book of J 66).In this occasion, God disapproved Cain’s offering that led him killing Abel. Yahweh said to Cain “if you conceive good it is moving; if not good, sin is an open door, the demon crouching there” (The Book of J 66). After god said these words to him he committed the crime and it showed his true personality.
Food is necessary for everyone. If there is no food, we question our provider just like in the case of The Book of J. Moses had to lead the Israelites to freedom into the promise land. But before they reached their destiny, the Israelites encountered many obstacles. Yahweh provided them with sufficient food: manna. The Israelites complained about the manna saying “But now our spirit dries up from looking at nothing-nothing but manna” (The Book of J 164). They were craving for the food they had eaten in Egypt but forgetting they had been slaves. Instead of being thankful, they began to weep and criticize Yahweh and Moses. The Israelites began to worship another god that they had created. Hearing the Israelites Yahweh spoke to Moses and he said to the people “who will feed us meat as good as we ate in Egypt [...] Yahweh will deliver your flesh, for you to eat” (The Book of J 165). In this story, when the people felt insecure and were not satisfied with the food they ate, it caused them to seek another provider.
In the Odyssey, Odysseus traveled through the ocean with his men, asking for guidance of the gods or magical beings. In order for them to receive help, they had offer a sacrifice. On their journey, Odysseys has to go to the underworld, to seek for guidance. The ghost of Theban Tiresias says to “offer sacrifice to Lord Poseidon a ram,a bull and a boar” and “then return to your home and offer perfect sacrifice to the immortal gods” (Homer 161). Odysseus had to own life was at risk. The similarities of these two books are based on the communication with their gods and the sacrifices. A similar event happened to Odysseus and Moses, when they left to pray to their god. When they came back, the people made a shelter for their gods. When the ship arrived “to the land of the Cyclopes”, they noticed that strangers are not welcomed and they are protected by the gods. So they “lit the fire and offer sacrifice” to make the gods happy. The communication of their gods played an important role, because each character seeks for their guidance. In return the gods wanted their worship, which was to offer sacrifices to them.
The book Like Water for Chocolate, Tita expresses her feeling on her cooking. She has a unique and powerful way of communicating with Pedro and other people. Through out the years, Tita’s cooking had a tremendous affect on people. The day Rosaura got married; Tita cried making the wedding cake. When people ate the cake in the party, everyone except Tita began to cry, remembering their sadness and pain. The food is able to transmit the passion and love. When Tita makes the “quail in rose petal”, something magical happens to the people eating it (Esquivel 42). The book mentions “it seemed they had discovered a new system of communication, in which Tita was transmitter and Pedro the receiver” (Esquivel 52). Pedro “let Tita penetrate to the farthest corners of his being” (Esquivel 53).
In The Book of J, people had to communicate with their god by offering what was sacred to them, which was food. It was a form of communication to let the people know, they had a provider. Odysseus needed the gods to help him, in order to return home safe. These books show how the people were devoted and trusted their gods because of they wanted survival. For the gods, they wanted to be worshiped and offered sacrifices. Tita was able to make people feel her sexual desires and emotion when eating her food. She found a new way of communicating her feeling.
Works Cited
Esquivel, Laura. Like Water for Chocolate. Trans. New York: Double Day, 1989.
Homer. Odyssey .Trans. Stanley Lombardo.Ed. Indiana:Hacket Publishing. 2000.
The Book of J. Trans. David Rosenberg.Ed. Harold Bloom. New YorkGrove, 1990.