Obligation vs. Desire: Monthly Connection

Like Water for Chocolate and The Awakening both deal with an individual struggling between familial obligations and personal dreams.  In Like Water for Chocolate, Tita desperately wants to marry Pedro even though, as the youngest daughter, she is obligated to stay single and take care of her mother.  When Pedro marries Tita's sister, she is forbidden by her family to show her sadness.  Eventually, Tita forgets all of her obligations.  She begins an affair with Pedro and leaves her mother.  These actions show that Tita has chosen to fulfill her own personal dreams instead of living the life others are telling her to live.  Edna makes the same choice in The Awakening.  She has a husband and children whom she is responsible for, but she leaves them to pursue her own passions.  She ignores all of her wifely and motherly duties to paint and do other things she loves.  She also moves into a house alone to become even more independent.

The internal debate between obligations and desires is seen a lot in society today.  Children want to please their parents, but at the same time be happy with themselves.  Choosing a college is a good example of this.  If everyone in a family went to a certain college, a child may feel obligated to go there, even if it isn't his first choice.  Another example of this would be a family business.  A father might expect that his son take over the family business, even if that isn't what the son wants.

Personally, I think that generally fulfilling personal dreams should win out.  Pleasing your family and friends is great, but in the end it's you who has to live your life, not them.  Doing what makes you happiest will work out best in the long run.  However, that doesn't mean it's okay to shirk all responsibilities.  I don't care how unhappy you are, it is never acceptable to just leave your children like Edna did in The Awakening.  Sending bon-bons to your kids once a month doesn't make up for abandoning them, Edna.