A strong maternal bond is fundamental in one's life; However, in both Duong Thu Huong's Paradise of the Blind and Laura Esquivel's Like Water for Chocolate, the authors portray the distant relationship between mother and daughter as a tool to criticize the "inhuman" traditions imposed on family members in their respective societies . Although Houng and Esquivel's novels are set in Vietnam and Mexico respectively, they assert that family traditions are unfair and prohibit family members from pursuing their dreams, ambitions and desires as represented by the two teenage protagonists and their mothers, who are forced to sacrifice themselves. one's life for others. To gain their freedom, the protagonists must detach themselves from their oppressive and domineering mothers to detach themselves from undesirable family traditions in their culture. At the beginning of Like Water for Chocolate, the reader is introduced to the abnormal mother-daughter relationship. away while Nacha, the family cook, “offers to take care of feeding Tita” (Esquivel 6) after “mother Elena's milk runs dry from the shock” (Esquivel 6) of her husband's death. Furthermore, mother Elena arranges a marriage for Rosaura, Tita's sister, to marry Tita's true love, Pedro, which significantly develops Tita's dislike towards her mother. Tita's hatred towards her mother is mainly due to the fact that she is forbidden to marry according to the tradition that the youngest daughter must take care of her mother until she dies; therefore, resulting in a widening of the gap between the two. Describing Tita's domain and kingdom as a kitchen highlights Esquivel's total condemnation of family traditions as she is ordered to cook in the kitchen at all times, preparing meals for him... middle of paper... family traditions because they are innocent and fragile compared to men, thus dramatizing the effects of "inhuman" traditions. The maternal bond is a crucial component of one's life; therefore by upsetting the usual aspect of one's life, the authors send their message in a strong way. Furthermore, the ending of both novels implies the need for social improvement in their societies since the protagonists must detach themselves from their repressive mothers, who represent the authorities of the older generation with their domineering attitudes, to pursue their dreams, whether it is for education, career or love. After the protagonists separate from their mothers, Tita pursues her love for Pedro and Hang leaves the country, abandoning all traditional traditions, to continue his university studies and profession in Russia..