Heather Armstrong How is the presentation of food used in LWFC and The Elephant Vanishes to comment upon the

characters feelings and reactions towards tradition? In the Novels Like Water for Chocolate and The Elephant Vanishes by Laura Esquivel and Haruki Murakami, food imagery is used to comment upon the characters rejections of tradition in society. This is presented specifically through the use of literary devices such as symbols and metaphor and also through culinary diction. Murakami uses the peeling of imaginary mandarin oranges to represent the conflict between Eastern and Western traditions and he analyses the consumption of MacDonalds food to show how Japanese citizens are not always at ease with rejecting their own culinary traditions. Metaphor is used equally powerfully by Esquivel to present the central female character of Tita as an outsider who seeks love despite the traditional restrictions placed on her by society. Firstly, Murakami uses diction and symbolism associated with food to emphasize how his main characters reject elements that threaten tradition in society. In order for this to come through, he concentrates on using food symbolism. McDonalds is used in the story, The Second Bakery Attack, to represent Western culture overtaking Eastern traditions. In the 1980s westernization of Japan was evident in many social areas and also in town and social planning.1 Western consumerism was also much more prominent in Japan. McDonalds is a clear illustration of how consumerism of Western products was appealing to the Japanese population and features in the story prominently. The act of eating at McDonalds also associates meal times with being a utilitarian, functional process that needs to be carried out quickly. The fact that there is no

community or tradition in eating opposes the traditional Japanese view of the

12meal.

In Japanese culture, good food and a good meal in general was seen as

being food of high quality, prepared at length. This traditional approach is not seen in western fast food. Any food that lacks quality lacks shun, the Japanese word for quality food.2 In The Second Bakery Attack, the author has his characters attack McDonalds as it conflicts with Japanese traditions that once existed. Ironically, eating stolen hamburgers shows that the concept of McDonalds is being attacked. The strength of the attack increases as the number of hamburgers eaten increases. After robbing the bakery of 30 burgers, the central characters pull into a parking lot and [send] six Big Macs down. The verb send suggests that food is being gulped down without appreciation of taste and is designed only to produce a filled stomach. Eating not just one but a few burgers satirizes the effect of the western view of consumption now being imprinted on the once traditional, Japanese society. Significantly, once theyve carried out this satirical act, their hunger vanished as the dawn was breaking. They reject the opening of a McDonalds because McDonalds gnaws away at their traditional ways of having a long, home-cooked meal with their family at meal times.3 They are concerned that the Japanese population has now been introduced to the convenience of fast food and take it for granted without knowing the impact. This dangerous change
1

See the following article for more information on Westernization of Japan in towns during the 1980s- Ginza District (as it appeared in the 1980s) http://www.orientalarchitecture.com/japan/tokyo/ginza.php
2

See the following article for more information on Japanese traditional meals http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_cuisine
3

See the following article for more information on the influence of McDonalds on various traditional culinary cultures http://rw303.wetpaint.com/page/McDonald's,+globalization+and+culture.

of events is recognized when they strike back during the robbery. By refusing to pay for the McDonalds they are refusing to accept Western culture. They are refusing to accept it because it threatens Japanese culture. Similarly, in Like Water for Chocolate, the importance of diction connected to food in Esquivels writing is used to accentuate the characters rejection of tradition and traditional rules that insist women arent allowed to marry a person of choice but rather someone chosen by their family for them.4 Tita, the central character is prevented from marrying Pedro because tradition dictates that she must take care of her mother. Titas dissatisfaction is seen when as she waits in vain for Pedro to take her away. Esquivel presents her as feeling like the last chili in walnut sauces left on the platter after a fancy dinner. In this simile, the word last makes Tita seem like a lonely person who isnt wanted or loved: she is rejected because she must follow tradition. The idea of a chili suggests a comparison with an item that is fiery and not liked by people. This symbolizes Titas rebelliousness. Walnut sauce, the solution that the lone chili is in, refers to society as a whole. Esquivel draws attention to how incongruous the single chili looks. It symbolizes Titas desperation to break away. Food metaphors also play a significant part in the way characters break from tradition. In the story The Second Bakery Attack, Murakami draws attention to the way the hamburgers are actually eaten and the imagery that is actually used to describe it. The travelling of meat down and through the characters digestive system is used as a metaphor that presents the smell of the meat as an infection. The comparison is designed to exaggerate how Western

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food and culture should be seen as something that needs to be rejected and fought against. The sweet smell of grilling meat drifts and spreads through the body and burrowed. into every pore. The action of burrowing creates an image of the western food as a poisonous virus eating through a persons system. This poisoning of the body symbolically represents the poisoning of the Japanese state by the imprinting and establishment of western culture. The damage is significant because of its [circulation] to the farthest corners. The damage caused in this altering of society is shown by an image suggesting the food is aggressive and damaging as it is massing together inside the hermetically sealed hunger cavern. As a result, the food from McDonalds is seen as invasive. By attacking McDonalds, the protagonist recognizes and confronts the danger of western food and the consumerism it symbolizes. The attack is carried out to register a protest against the break in the tradition that has occurred. The idea of characters reacting to Western tradition and Eastern tradition is also raised in the story Barn Burning through food imagery. In Barn Burning the protagonist peels an imaginary orange in the opening section of the story. The event is loaded with symbolism as presents immediately the power of Western ideals over Eastern tradition. As the orange is peeled, Murakami focuses on the separation of peels from the actual orange. Firstly, the word mandarin brings out the Asian characteristic of the orange and makes it representative of Asian society.5 This symbolism is developed as the mandarin orange is peeled. The peeling of the skin represents the protective layer of traditional Asian culture being removed by the protagonist. The freshly peeled orange is now
See the following article for more information on the representation of mandarin oranges in Asian societies http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_205_2005-01-28.html
5

vulnerable to any attacker, which, in this case, is the ideas presented by Western society. The peel being set aside from the actual meat of the orange also shows the segregation and rejection of traditional ways. This shows the breaking of tradition, although the whole orange was merely imaginary. Unlike the woman in the story The Second Bakery Attack, this protagonist seems to want to discard Asian tradition in favor of western values. This is symbolically reinforced later in the story when she becomes romantically involved with the man who drives a German BMW. Finally, Esquivel in Like Water for Chocolate links the presentation of food to the breaking of tradition in the character of Rosaura who is the sister of the main protagonist, Tita. Symbolically, Rosaura rejects her food by retching and casting food out. The violent imagery as she [spews] out great noisy mouthfuls of vomit show how forceful the symbolic rejection is. The vomit comes out like an erupting volcano. Such is her desire to be rid of it. This simile brings life to the vomit and compares it to the outburst of magma from a volcano. A break free from tradition is more clearly portrayed through this simile. The accumulation and withholding of everything held back in the eruption echoes her own desperation not to accept tradition anymore, but rather to break free and find happiness in marriage. To conclude, in the short stories, some protagonists embrace the breaking of tradition whilst others seem to support opposing traditional change. The role of food in presenting their views is crucial as it enables us to see the complexities of the characters more clearly because of the metaphorical commentary food imagery provides when presenting how the characters react to tradition. It

provides not only a symbolic insight to the society in general, but also provides a deeper insight into the feelings of the protagonist. Word count: 1488