Throughout the blog and in in-class discussions, a very hot topic has been the debate about Mama Elena and her true intentions – if she was a cruel or good parent. However, let us disregard this argument for a while. In a way, Mama Elena may have actually positively helped Tita in her personal character development. Is it not because of Mama Elena’s strict and harsh treatment on Tita that Tita has such an angry and determined will? Or happenings such as Tita being forced to resew her stitches because she did not baste it (page 12)?. It is also reasonable to say that Tita’s mental and physical strength against suffering was improved with the beatings that she got. In addition, by “getting hit in the face with a wooden spoon”, as discussed in Kelvin’s earlier post, Tita suffered a lot but even resulted in a better place. Because of the torture inflicted on Tita, she developed an extremely strong spirit as an adult. Do you agree? Please understand, however, that I am not saying that I support Mama Elena’s actions. I am just saying that Mama Elena’s actions, which we mostly regard as cruel, may have had an indirect positive effect on Tita.