As I read the book Chocolat, by Joanne Harris, I am starting to realize the importance of food in Women's Literature. Up to this point, I knew that food had many different effects on the way a book could be portrayed in whether it was the characters, the plot, or even the tone that was being portrayed. The book Chocolat, really enforced in me the way that food enhances characters personalities and emotions. It not only enhances the characters, but it uses these characters to unravel and convey a plot line that grabs your attention.
I wonder if I am captured by this book from the way the food, which is chocolate, enhances the characters, creates a realistic plot, or if it is even the plot itself that is the basis of my fascination because of how "real life" it is. Harris chose a topic that even if you're not religious or familiar with the old Catholic traditions, you seem to understand them effortlessly. This constant battle between the "perfect" Priest Reynaud and outsider Vianne creates a plot around food and it's effect on religion. But, is it these characters that make you not want to set the book down? Is it the way that Harris seems to create a little suspense at the end of each short chapter to keep you interested in how the next character react? Or is it the way these characters react to the food that is presented in the book?
That is where I started to grab what I was searching for. I believe it is the way that the characters in this book relate their emotions to food. These emotions that are produced seem to create the overall tone for the book. The constant battle back and forth between persistent Reynaud's text and innocent Vianne's gives the reader a sense of the struggle in the book. Vianne, a single mother, looking for a place to call home has a special bond with chocolate and the way people can relate to it. She has a talent that not many have. This talent is that she knows what everyone's favorite novelties. From their personalities and the way they carry themselves, in just a short time, she is able to detect their favorite pleasure. The food here, perceives every single character's personalities. She seems so generous giving away her novelties, many times, on the house. Is this just her way of trying to fit in?
Because of her past, Vianne feels the need to make a permanent home and although she doesn't quite feel accepted at all times, she acts as if she does. I believe she does this for her daughter's sake. She doesn't want her daughter to have to go through the same things she went through in her life. But, I wonder, is this really her destiny? Or, was she meant to be a traveler? To never truly have a place to call home? It seems that this is the constant question Vianna is faced with. She feels as though so many items are working against her to keep her from finalizing a "home". Therefore, I am constantly left with the wonder if Vianne and her daughter, Anouk, will ever find their "true home"? And if they do, where or what will it be?
