Like Water for Chocolate

by

Laura Esquivel

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Water for Chocolate makes teaching easy.

Nacha Character Analysis

Nacha is the elderly cook at the De la Garza ranch. She begins working there as a young woman, when Mama Elena is still a child. She becomes engaged, but the mother of Mama Elena sends her fiancée away for unknown reasons. Nacha never marries or has her own children. She feeds and raises Tita, and Tita comes to see her as her “real mother.” Nacha dies early in the novel, just after Rosaura and Pedro’s wedding. After her death, however, her spirit continues to mentor Tita, whispering recipes and remedies in her ear. Nacha is empathetic, wise, and quietly subversive.

Nacha Quotes in Like Water for Chocolate

The Like Water for Chocolate quotes below are all either spoken by Nacha or refer to Nacha. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Tradition vs. Revolution Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1: January Quotes

Sometimes she would cry for no reason at all, like when Nacha chopped onions, but since they both knew the cause of those tears, they didn’t pay them much mind. They made them a source of entertainment, so that during her childhood Tita didn’t distinguish between tears of laughter and tears of sorrow. For her laughter was a form of crying. Likewise for Tita the joy of living was wrapped up in the delights of food.

Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker), Tita de la Garza, Nacha
Related Symbols: Crying/ Tears
Page Number: 7
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Water for Chocolate LitChart as a printable PDF.
Like Water for Chocolate PDF

Nacha Quotes in Like Water for Chocolate

The Like Water for Chocolate quotes below are all either spoken by Nacha or refer to Nacha. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Tradition vs. Revolution Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1: January Quotes

Sometimes she would cry for no reason at all, like when Nacha chopped onions, but since they both knew the cause of those tears, they didn’t pay them much mind. They made them a source of entertainment, so that during her childhood Tita didn’t distinguish between tears of laughter and tears of sorrow. For her laughter was a form of crying. Likewise for Tita the joy of living was wrapped up in the delights of food.

Related Characters: The Narrator (speaker), Tita de la Garza, Nacha
Related Symbols: Crying/ Tears
Page Number: 7
Explanation and Analysis: