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Food and Communication

When we research about the Mayans and the Aztecs, we are amazed by the food and the way they worshipped their gods. Why is food important to humans? Why do most gods require humans to sacrifice to get something in return? Food provides the necessary physical needs but it can be used as a form of communication between the Gods, humanity and lovers. The Greeks entertained their family or guest in the dinner table, like the book The Odyssey. Homer begins the book in a feast, were Odysseus is telling the Phaeacians the adventures he had with his men. 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. The Book of J has different food related stories in which the characters use food to show obedience and communication with God. In Like Water for Chocolate, Tita is able to transmit her feelings to Pedro in her cooking. “Short Friday” is the story of a married couple which the narrator describes what they do on Sabbath day.

The story begins in a beautiful garden; the first humans are tempted to eat the forbidden fruit when the snake tells them that God is lying to them. Adam and Hava eat the fruit and are removed from the Garden of Eden. Many people believe in this idea 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, when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and believed Satan, it questioned God’s authority and his power. For the future generations the only way to have some form of communication with their god, they had to offer food as a sacrifice.

One of the stories in The Book of J, Cain and Abel are two brothers who made an offering to their God; Cain offered fruit and Abel from his flock (The Book of J 66). Food is very important to this story because they needed to communicate with their god. In this occasion, God disapproved Cain’s offering and 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 of killing his brother Abel. There are many ideas or reasons that religious people believe why Cain killed his brother. According to the article “Cain and Abel: Gen. 4:3-8”, Ernest W. Altvater he “believes that the answer must be found in the historical situation in which the story grew up (277). Therefore, he assumes that the story was written “before the situation” of the “outgrowth” “struggle which arose between the conservative and the radical tendencies among the Hebrews in regard to the worship of Jehovah”(277).

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. Ernest W. Altvater mentioned in his article that “Jehovah was held to be but one god among many, but he was the greatest of them all, and the only one to whom the Heberw should give his worship” (278).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 offered 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” (Ody.XI.126-130).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 (Ody.IX.104). So they “lit the fire and offer sacrifice” to make the gods happy (Ody.IX.222). 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). He was able to feel through his body, Tita’s feelings and was satisfied physically and sexually since their love was forbidden.

“Short Friday” is a story of important events in the characters’ life. Shmul- Leibele and his wife Shoshe prepared for the Sabbath day to show “gratitude for each other spiritually and physically unites them” (Eppich 358). These God fearing people followed what their belief and enjoyed doing it.During this event, the purpose of the Sabbath it is to praise God. Food is very important in the story because Shumul-Leibele and his wife transmit their love in the food. The husband “pretends to gobble his wife as he eats the letters of her name”. This is very similar to the novel Like Water for Chocolate, when Pedro was able to feel Tita’s desires through his body as he ate the food.

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 emotions when eating her food. She found a new way of communicating her feeling. Shmul-Leibele and his wife show communication to god and themselves on a Sabbath day. Therefore, they are happy with themselves and their god. In these books, food used to transmit a message, feeling, love and obedience.


Works Cited

Eppich, Linda." Isaac Bashevis Singer's Short Friday: Semantic Parralels.." Studies in Short Fiction 27.3(1990).Academic Search Complete.EBSCO.Web.24 May 2010.

The Book of J. Trans. David Rosenberg. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York,NY: Grove, Print.

Esquivel, Laura. Like Water for Chocolate. Trans. Ellen Claire. New York, NY: Double Day, 1989.Print

Homer. Odyssey .Trans. Stanley Lombardo.Ed. Indianapolis,IN:Hacket Publishing. 2000.Print.

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.

leticia

I like the movie “ Tortilla Soup” because many can relate to the characters and have similar problems as them. The movie is about a Mexican- American family who are trying to find their identities. Martin Naranjo is a very strict father and his three daughters Leticia, Carmen and Maribel, each one with their unique personality.
Leticia the oldest, is very conservative and is obedient to his father. She is in her thirties and is chemistry teacher. At the beginning, she only wore dull colors and seems to have a very boring personality. She has no social life and she portrays a depressed face at all times. She was a single women living with her father in her 30s. As the character realizes that it feels good to be bad, she discovers herself.
When Leticia finds the anonymous love letters, and wonders who the admirer is, it makes her change. She thinks her secret admirer is the coach Orlando Castillo. She is more aware of the way she looks and tries better ways of being attractive.She wears make up and wear more colorful clothes. she seems more confident and excited.For the first time, she disobeys her father. She gets married with the coach and later confronts her father.
Her personality changes and becomes who she reality is. At the end of the movie, she becomes a happy and confident person.

For many centuries, many people believe these words “Yahweh shaped an earthling from clay of this earth, blew into its nostrils the wind of life. Now look: man becomes a creature of flesh” (The Book of J, 61).This story explains the creation of the first humans and the disobedience of eating the forbidden fruit. Another fascinating book is the Odyssey, Odysseus traveled with his men on his way home. They had many adventures because they had to get food to eat. In this two books, food is very important because is a form of communication and knowledge.

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 because if they did they would die and have knowledge of good and bad. Therefore, this questioned God’s authority and his power. The disobedience led them to suffering and God removed them from the Garden of Eden. In The Book of J, it also 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). Food is communication with God.

Food has been an essential necessary for everyone. If there is no food, we question our provider just like in the case of the Odyssey. When Odysseus traveled through the ocean with his men, at one point they had no food and they questioned him. They had to stop in unknown lands to get food. In relation to The Book of J, Moses led 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. 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).

Food can be a form of communication and knowledge. In The Book of J, God uses food to show his authority, power and knowledge. The forbidden fruit, manna and the offering is a form of communication between God and the people. In the Odyssey, food was necessary for survival. The story relates many adventures Odysseus and his men had when trying to get food.

Works Cited
Homer. Odyssey .Trans. Stanley Lombardo.Ed. Indiana:Hacket Publishing. 2000
The Book of J. Trans. David Rosenberg.Ed. Harold Bloom. New YorkGrove, 1990.

The Day of the Dead

Having an immortal life has been one of the most desired since ancient times. Around the world people celebrate at different times and occasions to honor, worship or remember the dead. Each one has a similar purpose but the way they do it, it is different.
Many traditions on the Day of the Dead it is related to spirits, ghosts and other creatures.
In Mexico, before the Spanish conquistadors arrived in the land, they noticed that the natives had many rituals which they honored the dead instead of fearing them. For “at least 3,000years” ago, people have been practicing the ritual, which now in modern days, we know it as the Day of the Dead or el Dia de los Muertos, according to The Arizona Times. Before Spanish influenced the natives with their own belief, they use to celebrate it in the month of July and August . Many people believe that during this time of the year they are able to have an interaction or communication with the dead.
Therefore, people honor their loved ones by going to the cemetery to visit them and most importantly make special food. From all the festivals and ceremonies, in some places in Mexico, it is important make altars for the dead or visits them in their tombs. Relatives, friends have to place their favorite food and decorate it flowers, usually when it begins on October 31st and ends on November 2nd.
During this time, Mexicans make sugar skulls to make a joke because they assume that the dead will eat themselves. Las calaveras or skulls are decorated with different colors and designs. The aromas of the food make the spirits happy and are able to enjoy what they loved before Not only there is food, but there is music and people dancing and singing to commemorate the dead. The altars have food, candles and colorful flowers to remember or show respect between the two worlds, the living and the dead.

Food

Food can satisfy everyone in different levels. It can provide energy for our bodies to keep on living. Food is a comfort or a dislike to our stomach. People who love to cook can express themselves. They use their talent to enchant or make you sick. For centuries, families use their meal time as an opportunity for each member to communicate and share about their day. People can also be represented as a whole. For example, in different cultures, food can represent or symbolize a belief, celebration or any important occasion. In Mexico, El Dia de los Muertos or the Day of the Dead, people bake human shaped bread and cook other food to remember their beloved ones. This unique celebration reveals their beliefs about the dead.
In literature, food can represent different things .Laura Esquirel uses food to represent Tita’s feeling in the novel Like Water for Chocolate. Tita’s actions are controlled by her mother but in the kitchen, Tita is free. She is able to express her feeling in her cooking. The very first chapter of the book, Tita cooks Christmas rolls. In this occasion it represents the beginning of Tita’s and Pedro’s love. She expresses her love and desires in her cooking. Tita’s food is a way of communicating with Pedro since their love is forbidden.
In conclusion, everyone needs food to survive. We enjoy eating it and spending time with our family. At the same time, reading about food, we can learn about culture. In my opinion, food plays an important role in society and individually. It affects the way the world views our culture and how food makes us feel that day.