What Is The Role Of The Owl In Bless Me Ultima

Essay 1: Bless Me Ultima Rudolfo Anaya, the author of Bless Me, Ultima, writes an empowering coming of age novel. A 7-year-old boy, Antonio Márez, is the protagonist, and the novel revolves around the idea of whether or not Antonio will follow in the steps of his mother or father’s side of the family. Both families are exceptionally different, and ultimately cause Antonio a great deal of misperception in many aspects of his life. Due to this, Ultima and her owl play an important role for Antonio because they guide and protect him in a way that his parents cannot. After Ultima and her owl arrive, Antonio dreams of the owl, instead of angels, lift La Virgen de Guadalupe to heaven, which conveys his fondness for the owl. Rudolfo Anaya portrays

At first Antonio was wary of Ultima’s owl because he had heard that witches come in disguise in the form of an owl, and their hooting would cause fear. This is not the case for Antonio with Ultima’s owl because when he hears the hooting it is very comforting, similar to a lullaby. The owl’s role in protection is foreshadowed when Antonio says, “Its song seemed to say that it had come to watch over us”. In many religions, angels are used as a form of protection; however in many scenarios Antonio’s views the owl as the form of an angel or spiritual presence, which is very contradictory to the beliefs he has been taught. This is shown immediately in Antonio’s dream when he sees Ultima’s owl lifting La Virgen de Guadalupe to heaven. This passage in particular is very contradictory to the Christian belief because it should really be the angels lifting The Virgen to heaven, because The Virgen is the “patron saint of our town” and angels are good whereas owls are seen as evil. However in Antonio’s dream he says, “The Virgen smiled at the goodness of the owl”, foreshadowing that the owl is good and not