Like Water for Chocolate Lesson Plan

Why does Tita return to the family ranch? What is the new power dynamic there? How do the characters deal with this change?

The night that Tita begins speaking again, a group of bandits attack the family ranch. They rape Chencha, and when Mama Elena tries to defend her, they hit her so hard in the spine that she's paralyzed from the waist down. When Tita hears about the event, she immediately returns to the ranch. The power dynamics have reversed, and Tita is now the one in control - "For the first time Tita firmly held her gaze, and Mama Elena lowered hers." Mama Elena is humiliated that the daughter she disowned is now the person she must depend upon. Tita, for her...