During the time of the Mexican Revolution, men, women and children came together to revive democracy. During this time, men were considered the dominant force. In Like Water for Chocolate, Esquivel manipulates these traditions and through the use of literary conventions and techniques such as magical realism, he is able to reverse the roles of men and women in the story he develops. The clearest evidence in the novel is the way the characters develop throughout the story and challenge their social expectations. Esquivel expresses this idea in many other ways within the novel, such as how he subtly uses a title that not only acts as a form of emotion of Tita's love, but also represents the anger and frustration of the women of the era. By studying the text more closely, you can find a lot of evidence for this idea. Every character in the story at some point or throughout the novel demonstrates some characteristic that violates conventional gender roles. For example, Pedro and John share feminine characteristics. John is the one who portrays the most maternal and caring tendencies while caring for Tita, "Next, John's large, loving hands removed her clothes, bathed her, and carefully removed pigeon droppings from her body, leaving her clean and sweet-smelling” (98). In contrast, Mama Elena is perhaps the most obvious character who takes on the role of the dominant male force in the novel, unlike most women of the era who are usually repressed. by the male figures. In this example, "Unquestionably, when it came to dividing, dismantling, dismembering, desolating, detaching, expropriating, destroying or dominating, mother Elena was a professional" (87) the strong use of alliteration by the author describes the cruel personality of mother Elena. This role reversal is accentuated by the contrasting character of Nacha, who acts as a more maternal figure towards Tita reader's perspective on conventional gender norms. For example, the way Pedro demonstrates more feminine traits by always obeying mother Elena's rules. Additionally, Tita's older sister, Gertrudis, lacks some traits that women were expected to master at that time. This is shown when she returns to the ranch as a general, Tita asks her to help in the kitchen making cream pancakes..