Chaos: The New Order The will to defy order in society spurs chaos, but eventually, this chaos emerges as the new order. Chaos and order seem to contrast by definition. However, I hypothesize that chaos and order both reinforce each other after analyzing Like Water for Chocolate, by Laura Esquivel, and Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood. Particularly, Like Water for Chocolate tells the life story of Tita de la Garza and her struggle to acquire her love, Pedro Muzquiz.
The diction that Esquivel uses to narrate the preparation of specific Mexican dishes illustrate the emotions that the characters experience, and they reveal the adverse effects of unrequited love on our life. That is to say, each diverse dish represents a particular event of Tita’s life, and the recipes and remedies that the author weaves into the story emanate a feministic tone. The uproars in Tita’s life are tranquilized as the novel approaches an end. On the other hand, in Oryx and Crake, Atwood does not resolve the conflicts that arise in the life of Snowman, the narrator.
Atwood terminates the novel with the destruction of modern day society and the dawn of a new civilization. Moreover, she stresses on the truth that scientific progress, regardless of its benefits, engenders severe consequences that we may not be able to control. Hence, it is best for us to put a halt to the further advancement of science and technology. When I was presented with the question, “To what extent does literature make order out of chaos, and to what extent does it make chaos out of order,” my primary thought was that order and chaos went hand in hand.
The authors of my two novels scrutinize human nature to exhibit the chaos that can result from it. Notably, our misinterpretation of lust for love and unrequited love demolishes all relationships in our life, giving rise to depression. Though, along with our yearning for deeper connections, we also feel a need for scientific advancements. These tendencies are often explored by authors to exhibit how human nature can be turbulent. Our passion for physical intimacy is the cause of instability in relationships as we often misinterpret love and lust to hold the same meaning.
The confusion between these two words questions the genuine characterization of true love. In grade nine, I read Romeo and Juliet, which revealed the differences between love and lust. What Romeo and Juliet thought was “love at first sight,” was merely lust, akin to Pedro and Tita. In particular, Pedro and Tita first catch a glimpse of each other at a family gathering and they instantaneously fall in love. When Tita strolls past Pedro during the party, “The heat that invaded her body was so real she was afraid she would start to bubble- her face, her stomach, her heart, her breasts-like batter” (Esquivel 16).
Tita’s body simmered as Pedro gawked at her, leading to the awakening of her sexuality. The author uses light and sparks to represent a passion and desire for sex, as a majority of the characters feel a dynamic pull towards their partner when they are nearby. I noted that even though fire is advantageous, as it has many practical uses, fire also brings about destruction as it is impossible to control. Tita’s craving for Pedro forces her to defy all order in her life and family because she surpasses all the rules she has established for herself.
It soon becomes apparent that Tita is a dynamic character, as she was courteous before meeting Pedro, though, she becomes courageous and outspoken after meeting him. Particularly, when Mama Elena blames Tita for Roberto’s death, she finally takes a stand against her mother, “Here’s what I do with your orders! I’m sick of them! I’m sick of obeying you! ” (99). Tita had the freedom to oppose her mother to amplify her opinions regarding love and sexuality. However, this deviation in her behaviour resulted in many issues between Mama Elena and her.
Consequently, her new life and her growing desire bred chaos as she struggled to make sense of the spontaneous mutation that occurred in her life due to her affection for Pedro. However, she seems to get accustomed to her “unfamiliar” self as her internal struggle for peace ceases when she in unified with Pedro. Esquivel leads me to believe that after being exposed to chaos for a prolonged period, we often get used to chaos and that eventually becomes the new structure of our life. However, she makes me question the existence of sincere love.
Unrequited love stimulates confusion and unrest in our lives as our consistent battle to forget about or obtain true love makes us delirious. Similarly, our stubborn nature fused together with desire makes it difficult to disregard love. Notably, the plot of Like Water for Chocolate is entirely dependent on Tita’s pursuit to attain Pedro’s love. Moreover, Tita’s life becomes chaotic when the knot between her and Pedro is untied, and she becomes conscious of the truth that Pedro and she can never be unified after his wedding.
For example, after she visualizes the first time Pedro and her met at the gathering, she realizes that, “She had to try to put him out of her mind somehow, so she could get to sleep… But this time it didn’t work. She felt no relief from the hollow sensation in her stomach. Just the opposite, a wave of nausea flowed over her. She realized that the hollow sensation was not hunger but an icy feeling of grief” (Esquivel 21). Tita grieved over the death of the vigorous feeling of love Pedro and her felt for each other, which resulted in bemusement as she was unsure of the cause of the odd feelings she was bearing.
Her forsaken love was the catalyst that made her life chaotic since it stimulated unrest between her and her mother which lead to multiple deaths. Nevertheless, the author made order out of this issue by eventually eradicating any hindrances that stood between the two lovers, which was evident when Rosaura and Mama Elena died. The deaths of these two characters united Tita and Pedro because the fear of society and family no longer repressed their love for each other. Hence, the deaths were a sacrifice and they ere essential for the revival of order in Tita’s life. Nevertheless, Esquivel remarked that unrequited love, in spite of its concerns, gave direction to Tita’s life, as everything she did was to acquire Pedro. Nonetheless, her chase for Pedro’s love demolished the ties she had with other prominent people in her life resulting in distress. Depression that emerges from the absence of love and wretched relationships often breeds tumult. Relationships are a significant component of my life, and my loved ones are my first concern.
If the one I love deceives me and shatters my trust, would find it virtually impossible to forgive and forget, hence, my inability to reconcile will drive me into depression, similar to Tita. It is apparent that Like Water for Chocolate illustrates the disintegration of the threads that hold strong relationships together as breakups and unrequited love seem to rupture Tita’s mental and emotional stability, resulting in depression. Her failure to acquire Pedro’s love shatters all connections she has with society, inducing solitude and prolonged lamentation.
After Pedro was prohibited from marrying Tita upon arriving at her house with the proposal, she”… wept furiously, weeping and working until dawn … for as long as she lived, could she free herself from that cold” (Esquivel 19). Tita’s love for Pedro had manifested for many months before being dismissed by her mother in mere seconds. She was forced to neglect Pedro, a vital person in her life, which resulted in hysteria as she struggled to live blissfully with a family that overlooked her suffering.
She was like a chicken because when a chicken’s head is cut off, the chicken runs recklessly before it succumbs, similar to how she impulsively strives for Pedro’s love, though, she relinquishes this idea after she is struck by the realization that she and Pedro can never be one. Being forced to forget something that is substantial in our life is like forgetting how to breathe, thus, leading to chaos, as we are not accustomed to life without breathing. Life is an ocean waiting to be explored, and everyone has the rge to discover and learn, resulting in the thirst for scientific and technological advancements as demonstrated in Oryx and Crake. This novel illustrates the life story of Snowman, also known as Jimmy, who is the only human left on earth after a breakthrough of a viral disease which abolishes numerous people. Snowman spends his time in the wilderness grieving over his friends and family who die as a result of the lethal disease that Crake, his best friend, deliberately spread.
Crake is described as an astute character with a passion for science and technology, and he eventually comes up with the Blysspuss Pills which are designed to diminish aging, protect against sexually transmitted diseases, and grant the user “sexual powers”. While waiting for Oryx, Crake’s partner, to return from the pizza store, Jimmy receives a phone call from her, “It was in the pills. It was in those pills I was giving away, the ones I was selling. It’s all the same cities, I went there.
Those pills were supposed to help people… ” (Atwood 389). The pills were assumed to have many advantages, however, they induced hysteria as the user acquired a fatal disease which spread internationally. This plague resulted in frantic behavior as, everyone desperately wished to be spared from it. Upon reading this novel, my conjecture is that Crake represents God as, he created a new and “improved” species of humans, Crakers, to terminate the “flawed” humans from the modern world.
In my eyes, Crake does not have the authority to take on the role of God as he cannot decide when one will die. Hence, the invention of the pill is immoral since it resulted in the extinction of the human race and the savagery of the survivors. For instance, Snowman behaves akin to a wild animal, which is made apparent when Snowman shoots a woman in an attempt to save himself and the Crakers from the epidemic. Snowman defies all the morals of a human which, in my perspective, is turbulent.
Atwood does not bring about harmony in the novel, signifying that both the creation and annihilation of the world were chaotic. Consequently, I speculate that chaos is eternal and ubiquitous, and I wonder if the world will ever be tranquil. Literature is a mode of expressing the vividness of the human mind. Our imagination is boundless, though, if we convert all of our thoughts to reality, it would result in chaos. Thus, literature is where writers can articulate their ideas freely, but sometimes, their stories confuse me.
Oryx and Crake and my book clubs for Like Water for Chocolate have reinforced the notion that anarchy is innate, and it is a significant part of human nature. However, we try to eliminate it because we prefer order. The destruction of chaos from our lives leads us to believe that our life is harmonious. Yet, we fail to remember that order is temporary because lust, unrequited love, depression, and the urge for scientific advancements are all elements that our seemingly “perfect” and systemic lives. Therefore, we are the creators and destroyers of both chaos and order.