Bless Me Ultima Literary Analysis

1110 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Into the wild character analysis

Dreams can often predict what will happen in the future. In Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya, the protagonist, Antonio, lives in a small town in New Mexico. Written from the point of view of Antonio, the story begins when Ultima, a curandera or traditional healer, comes to live with Antonio’s family. As Ultima constantly teaches Antonio life lessons to satisfy Antonio’s curiosity, their relationship greatly strengthens along with Antonio’s understanding of the world. Antonio also witnesses the deaths of many people throughout the novel, causing Antonio to continuously seek answers relating to morality, which is reflected in his dreams. These dreams are often about events that happened in the past or events that occur when Antonio is older. …show more content…

In Antonio’s first dream, Ultima states that “[she] pulled this baby into the light of life, so [she] will bury the afterbirth and the cord that once linked him to eternity. Only [she] will know his destiny”(Anaya 6). In his dream, Antonio is left wondering what his destiny holds. He only worries about what path he will eventually chose and whether or not it is right. He asks questions only related to himself. Later on in the book, in Antonio’s dream about God and the Virgin Mary, God declares that he will forgive Narciso “if [Antonio] also [asks him] to forgive Tenorio.” Virgin Mary states that “[she] will forgive Tenorio”(Anaya 172). Because God punishes all and Virgin Mary forgives all, Antonio begins to question their morality. Antonio is concerned why Tenorio continues to do evil without being punished and he feels responsible to beg for forgiveness for Narciso. Antonie struggles with understanding how God and Virgin Mary do not forgive and punish based on what is morally correct. His conflicts are no longer about himself but are rather about issues with morality. Since his first dream, one can tell that Antonio has matured greatly based on the conflicts of his

Show More
Related

  • Essay Comparing Bless Me Ultima And Their Eyes Were Watching God

    685 Words  | 2 Pages

    Maria had no authority over her restless family. The source of the conflict between Antonio and Maria originates from her oldest sons taking to going where they please and not caring about their parent’s wishes. The burden of pleasing their parents passes from the eldest sons to the youngest one. With the sole duty of pleasing his parents, Tony internally rebels against their wishes instead seeking to set to rest his churning mind by seeking his own beliefs. His brothers console themselves about abandoning their family by saying that “Tony will be her priest” (Anaya 36) and not knowing that the “dreams of their father and mother [haunt] them” (Anaya 36) also haunted Antonio. Having the responsibilities of his brothers and his family shape the way he grows and thinks. He isn’t just thinking about himself he also has the problems of redeeming his family on his head. Through the story and through Ultima Tony realizes that he is not bound by obligations and can instead shape his own

    Read More

  • TKAM: Literary Analysis Paper

    596 Words  | 2 Pages

    To Kill a Mockingbird is a classic novel written by Harper Lee. The novel is set in the depths of the Great Depression. A lawyer named Atticus Finch is called to defend a black man named Tom Robinson. The story is told from one of Atticus’s children, the mature Scout’s point of view. Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, the Finch Family faces many struggles and difficulties. In To Kill a Mockingbird, theme plays an important role during the course of the novel. Theme is a central idea in a work of literature that contains more than one word. It is usually based off an author’s opinion about a subject. The theme innocence should be protected is found in conflicts, characters, and symbols.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Novel 'Bless Me, Ultima'

    1091 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the novel Bless Me,Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, Antonio’s Parents had an adamant ideal of how they wanted their children to live their lives. Maria, his mother, wanted her children to follow the way of her Luna family. Gabriel, his father, wanted his children to travel to California with him. Maria wanted Antonio to become a priest. “Her own dream was that I should grow up and become a priest” (Anaya 5). His father had a dream to move to California. “My father’s dream was to gather his sons around him and move westward to the land of the the setting sun, to the vineyards of California”(Anaya 14). His parents had two different ideas on what they wanted their children to do which stirred up the pot in the house because of it. As a young child growing up he was very conflicted on how he wanted to live his life especially because he didn't want to disappoint his parents. This made a confliction within Antonio’s Identity. Another dream of his mother is that Antonio gets

    Read More

  • Summary of Bless Me, Ultima

    887 Words  | 2 Pages

    Bless Me, Ultima is a story about the maturation of a young Mexican-American boy, Antonio M’arez, struggling with many questions about his destiny, life and death, and good and evil. Ultima who comes to live with Antonio becomes his caretaker and his teacher. Antonio learns there are powers in the world that differ from his beliefs in the Catholic faith. Ultima teaches Antonio “that the tragic consequences of life can be overcome by the magical strength that resides in the human heart”. Ultima shows Antonio how to experience the magic of life with his heart and not with his eyes. For the first time, he sees the river not as something to be feared but as a source of life, “I had been afraid of the awful presence of the river, which was the soul of the river, but through her I learned that my spirit shared in the spirit of all things”. The river is both creative and destructive in nature. It is this new magical way of seeing the river that will help Antonio understand many of the events that occur in the novel.

    Read More

  • A Lesson Before Dying Literary Analysis

    1111 Words  | 3 Pages

    Thomas Paine once said “The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.” Conflict is an obstacle that many characters in books go through. It is what drives the reader to continue reading and make the book enjoyable. Additionally, authors use symbolism to connect their novels to real life, personal experience, or even a life lesson. In “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee and “A Lesson Before Dying” by Ernest J. Gaines, both take place during a time where colored people were being looked down upon and not treated with the same rights as white people. However, both novels portray the conflict and symbolism many ways that are similar and different. Additionally, both of these novels have many similarities and differences that connect as well as differentiate them to one

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis

    1232 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Often fear of one evil leads us into a worse”(Despreaux). Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux is saying that fear consumes oneself and often times results in a worse fate. William Golding shares a similar viewpoint in his novel Lord of the Flies. A group of boys devastatingly land on a deserted island. Ralph and his friend Piggy form a group. Slowly, they become increasingly fearful. Then a boy named Jack rebels and forms his own tribe with a few boys such as Roger and Bill. Many things such as their environment, personalities and their own minds contribute to their change. Eventually, many of the boys revert to their inherently evil nature and become savage and only two boys remain civilized. The boys deal with many trials, including each other, and true colors show. In the end they are being rescued, but too much is lost. Their innocence is forever lost along with the lives Simon, a peaceful boy, and an intelligent boy, Piggy. Throughout the novel, Golding uses symbolism and characterization to show that savagery and evil are a direct effect of fear.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Ultima

    953 Words  | 2 Pages

    Antonio’s dream in Chapter 7, in which his brothers are three giants who ask for his “saving hand,” is open to many metaphorical interpretations, all of which address Antonio’s gradual entrance into adolescence. The dream could mean that Antonio is reluctant to give up his innocent, childish idea that his brothers are infallible and unchanging. It could also mean that they are dying because they have changed too much to settle seamlessly into their old lives. When they do arrive, they are restless and aimless. Finally, León and Eugene decide to build independent lives elsewhere. The dream also reveals Antonio’s awareness that the people he loves can sin despite his attempts to save them.

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis

    685 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Edgar Allan Poe’s story The Fall of the House of Usher, the character Roderick Usher exhibits severe mental illness. Most of Poe’s writings are psychological in nature. The Fall of the House of Usher is a great example of this. Poe’s life was filled with many tragic events. The unpleasant outcome of his early years resulted in a great Gothic Romantic writer. He is a master of writing psychological thrillers, adding suspense and mystery in his stories. The topics of his writings are a concoction of unpleasant, austere, and grotesque things, thus the reader can be left feeling squeamish and susceptible. We are drawn into Poe’s stories by our intrinsic human nature of curiosity and intrigue. This paper gives examples of Poe’s literary style as we examine Roderick’s metal state through his words and appearance.

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis

    1267 Words  | 3 Pages

    Poverty and homelessness are often, intertwined with the idea of gross mentality. illness and innate evil. In urban areas all across the United States, just like that of Seattle. in Sherman Alexie’s New Yorker piece, What You Pawn I Will Redeem, the downtrodden. are stereotyped as vicious addicts who would rob a child of its last penny if it meant a bottle of whiskey.

    Read More

  • Good and Evil in Bless Me, Ultima

    873 Words  | 2 Pages

    Another example of the evolution of Tony's sense of good and evil through the utilisation of setting is Tony's own home.  To him, his home provided him with warmth and safety.  This was due to the people who lived in the house.  Antonio's father creates a sense of protection in the home.  When Tenorio and his men come to he house to take Ultima away, Tony's father "would let no man invade his home" (pg 123).  This gave Tony faith that as long as his father was around, he would be protected.  Antonio's mother made home a loving and caring place to be.  She would always baby Antonio and give him the affection he needed whenever he needed it.  The morning after Tony had seen Lupito killed, Ultima tells Tony's mother not to be too hard on Antonio; he had a hard night last night.  His mother puts her arms around Tony and holds him saying he "is only a boy, a baby yet" (Pg.28).  The Virgin also makes the atmosphere of Antonio's home peaceful and protected.  Tony loves the Virgin Mary because "she always forgave" (Pg. 42).  Tony thought she was "full of a quiet, peaceful love" (Pg.42) which she filled the home with.  The most important person who contributed to the goodness of Antonio's home was Ultima.  She made Antonio feel as though her presence filled the home with safety, love, and a sense of security.  When Tony saw Lupito get killed, it was Ultima who calmed him.  Whenever he had a nightmare, Ultima was there to comfort Antonio and "[he] could sleep again" (Pg.

    Read More

  • Bless Me Ultima Analysis

    1051 Words  | 3 Pages

    Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya is a coming of age story about a young boy named Antonio Marez. The novel takes place in New Mexico where Antonio tries to fulfill his parent’s expectations while struggling with religion. Through Antonio, Anaya defies the some of the principles in religion and expresses her interpretation on the system of beliefs. Antonio’s religious confusion suggests that man should be able to choose his own religion and destiny. In the Bless me, Ultima, Antonio experiences conflict in his religious beliefs because of the deaths he witnesses, the new ideas that he learns, and his open-minded mentality.

    Read More

  • Antonio's Dreams in Bless me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya

    838 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the novel, Bless me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, a boy goes through many more experiences than any child in the hot summer days in Santa Rosa, New Mexico. He witnesses the deaths of his close friends and family. This boy expresses his emotions and grief through his dreams, only to wake up with fear and confusion in his mind. Antonio’s life is filled with dreams that foreshadow future incidents, as well as influences Antonio’s beliefs of religion and ideas of innocence.

    Read More

  • The Sleeper Literary Analysis Essay

    1056 Words  | 3 Pages

    Death can both be a painful and serious topic, but in the hands of the right poet it can be so natural and eloquently put together. This is the case in The Sleeper by Edgar Allan Poe, as tackles the topic of death in an uncanny way. This poem is important, because it may be about the poet’s feelings towards his mother’s death, as well as a person who is coming to terms with a loved ones passing. In the poem, Poe presents a speaker who uses various literary devices such as couplet, end-stopped line, alliteration, image, consonance, and apostrophe to dramatize coming to terms with the death of a loved one.

    Read More

  • The Analysis of Antonio’s Character

    1589 Words  | 4 Pages

    In response to Sebastian’s question about whether his conscience would bother him after committing fratricide, Antonio replies, “Ay, sir, where lies that? If `twere a kibe / `Twould put me to my slipper…” meaning that if his conscience was a small sore on the heel of his foot (a kibe), it would drive him to wear comfortable shoes but it would certainly not disrupt his life or stop him from doing what he’s doing. This shows Antonio to be a cold-hearted man, one who is able to quiet that little voice inside his head and push it to the back of his brain and continue with his terrible acts. In the next thought, he says, “…but I feel not this deity in my bosom,” admitting he doesn’t feel the tug of a conscience in his heart.

    Read More

  • Never Let Me Go Literary Analysis

    1463 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel Never Let Me Go, Miss Lucy and Miss Emily set up two contrasting perspectives between rigid reality and the luxury of lies. Throughout the novel, there are plenty of examples where both perspectives show positive and negative effects between lying and telling the truth Its hard to say who is right but exploring both point of views will give insight on what’s best for the children. It is clear that Miss Lucy wants to tell the truth because it is immoral to lie about someone’s most important part of their identity and she believes it is humane thing to do; however, Miss Emily feels as if it is better to lie for the sake of a happy childhood and to ultimately figure out if the children have souls. With this, we perceive

    Read More

More about Bless Me Ultima Literary Analysis

Open Document