Like Water for Chocolate and Master Harold: Oppression In the two novels, Master Harold...and the boys and the boys, and Like Water for Chocolate, there are many symbolic similarities. In both books there are acts where individuals strongly oppressed, or discriminated against. Although the individuals are being oppressed for different reasons their emotions are shattered deeply. In Athol Fugard's book Master Harold and the boys, an older man is discriminated against by a younger child only because the older man is black and the child is white. In Laura Esquivel's book Like water for chocolate, a girl by the name of "Tita" is oppressed by