In Rudolfo Anaya's novel Bless Me, Ultima, he represents the societal bike wheel in the llano: the unchanging norms of sex and society, disables opportunities for forward thinking or change. Antonio’s summer starts impactfully with Ultima’s arrival and his first time disobeying his family, beginning his journey of individuation: “...there was something strange and fearful in the air. Perhaps this is what drew me out into the night,” (17). That night, Lupito’s shot and consequently killed, marking a catalyst for Antonio’s renewed view of the llano. His understanding evolves with his maturity; similarly, he’s able to comprehend the societal spectrum of good to bad as his moral compass develops. Antonio also narrates emerging patterns of the llano’s …show more content…
A concluding instance is the llano’s attitude towards sex, which is shamed and ridiculed in their society to perpetuate the church. Age groups sustain the ridiculing gossip to those who have sex, sex appeal, or are victims of sexism. This includes Antonio’s father and friend, “. because I remembered the way he (Antonio’s father) and Serrano had whispered jokes about the women here when the bull was humped over the cow,” (164). The ridicule they brand onto women becomes internalized to the future generations who hear them; ie Antonio, whether it be intentional or not, he’ll internalize and subconsciously incorporate the exemplified language into personal bias. This implicit bias is shown by the later mix of Antonio’s expectations of becoming a priest and a direct contradiction of that path when seeing his brother Andrew at Rosie’s (a brothel); “I wondered if the knowledge I sought would destroy me. But it couldn’t, it was God’s knowledge–” (191). The human brain's natural curiosity of sex is jousted against the religious expectations Antonio
In the novel Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, one of the main characters, Ultima is accused many times of being a witch. Ultima is a curandera who uses herbs and medicines to cure people. She goes to live with Antonio Marez, a young boy who lives in the llano with his parents and two sisters due to the fact that she cannot live by herself and had nowhere to stay. Although many people think she is a witch, her use of herbs, medicines, and scapulars show that she is merely just a curandera. With her use of chants and having her spirit in her owl, many are led to believe that she is really a witch.
“From Lieutenant Nun,” a memoir written by doña Catalina de Erauso, tells an intriguing story of a young Spanish female and her advantageous journey through Spain and the New World. Her family intends for her to become a nun but, that is not the life she seeks for herself. Therefore, she breaks away from the convent in hopes of finding somewhere to make her fortune by passing as a male. Catalina’s story is noteworthy because it gives readers another perspective of exploration focusing on self-discovery during the seventeenth century emphasizing how passing as a male is the only thing that secured her ability to explore. In the memoir, Catalina repeatedly reminisces about clothing and, whether she consciously or unconsciously does so, she allows the reader to see that this is an important aspect of her exploration. Throughout Catalina’s journey, clothing plays an increasingly important role not only in her travels but, also her personal life because it symbolized ones status, role, gender and privileges.
In Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima, the author uses Tony’s dreams as a way of displaying various symbols. Three symbols that are used often are weather, water, and the Golden Carp. Weather is used to represent conflict. Water represents cleansing, and rejuvenation. The Golden Carp symbolizes religion and Tony’s beliefs. Because dreams are not an exact mirror of reality, they become the perfect tool for introducing symbolism. The author uses the dream as a way to access the recurring themes of the book.
The figures of Sor Juana and Catalina de Erauso are larger than life. They did things no other women (and most men) during the 17th century could have ever dreamed of. Sor Juana was a nun who, through her confined cloister, produced works of literature and theology that are now part of both the Mexican and Catholic Cannon. De Erauso on the hand roamed free, she abandoned her religious life and instead took up the garb of a man and set out for the New World. Both of these women did not do what women were expected to do. Sor Juana’s life in the covenant should have been one of quiet contemplation and De Erauso should have never left the covenant she was a part of. In addition not only did De Erauso abandon her vows but she attempted, and succeeded, at passing herself off as a man which allowed her to do things that, if her true identity was known, every apparatus available in the Empire would have brought her to swift justice. These women went against the norms of what was expected ...
Sor Juana de la Cruz is born into a wealthy family in 1648 that lived near Mexico City, Mexico. After being a part of the Viceregal court and a lady in waiting, Cruz begins her spiritual journey and joins the convent. Here, Cruz explores both secular and non-secular studies. She is an exceptionally talented writer with a passion for reading, learning, and writing. She is scolded for the information she writes and is told to focus exclusively on religious dogma. Soon after the Bishop of Pubela reads one of her letters, he publishes it (without her knowing), and she responds with a respectful yet sarcastic letter (Lawall and Chinua 155-156). Cruz’s “Reply to Sor Filotea de la Cruz” was written during the period of Enlightenment of Europe (1660- 1770). This era in Europe casted an opaque shadow over women’s rights to educate themselves and self-expression. Sor Juana’s piece however is both inspirational and empoweri...
Robert Laurence Moore has written a delightful, enlightening, and provocative survey of American church history centered around the theme of "mixing" the "sacred" with the "secular" and vice versa. The major points of conversation covered include the polarization caused by the public display of religious symbols, the important contribution that women and Africans have made to the American religious mosaic, the harmony and friction that has existed between science and religion, the impact of immigration on religious pluralism, and the twin push toward the union and separation of religion and politics.
much about many of the local native beliefs. But he has also learned of death, hatred,
The antagonistic nature of man verses woman is illustrated through Allende’s description and reactions of Clara and Esteban. Men and women are at the opposite ends of the spectrum of human nature, women know that men like to think they are in charge, because it gives them power, so women give into this little whim for the peace of mind and happiness that are essential in any relationship. Their instincts make their influence much more threatening and rebellious than the rage of one man who does not get his way. The women of Allende’s world are vibrant, spiritual, sensible and loving, the men are volatile, strong, and passionate, while they may be stereotypical, they help portray the true nature of man verses woman. Women may be physically weaker than men but they can match wits and daring with them any time.
Antonio Márez, or Tony as he is often called, is the main character in Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me Ultima. He is the youngest of all of his siblings, but in him is pinned the hopes of both of his parents. All of the events that he goes through in the short time Ultima is with his family makes it so that he grows well beyond his years, and his notions of the peaceful, unchanging world are shattered forever. Once sheltered from everything, Antonio’s experiences cause him to question all that happens around him. He spends a long time pondering the meaning of justice and is forever torn between the different worlds he is exposed to. Throughout the book, Antonio is forced to face the different paths his future may hold, that of being a farmer or priest or a man of the llano, or his own man. Antonio is exposed to the grown up world and is forced to choose between maintaining his innocence or to face the answers to all questions the world around him leaves him asking. On his journey, Antonio is torn between the worlds of the Catholic Church he was raised in and that of the Golden Carp and the world of Ultima that he is introduced to. All of these inner conflicts and outward realizations transform Tony from a young boy, to a young man more aware of the world around him then most adults are.
Antonio’s dream of Rosie’s house, a local brothel, reveals his conflicting thoughts in becoming a priest and forebodes the sinful ways of his brothers. From the beginning of the novel, there has always been a certain assumption that Antonio will become a priest and follow in the footsteps of his mother’s family. His mother, who is a continual source of guidance and support, relentlessly reminds him that his future lies in priesthood. “You will be like my brothers. You will be a Luna, Antonio. You will be a man of the people, and perhaps a priest” (9). Furthermore, when the family goes to visit El Puerto, the town of his mother’s relatives, Antonio is reminded again of this family duty. Uncle Juan comments...
In the first verse of “La casada infiel”, the reader is introduced quickly to the sexist narrative voice and Lorca’s criticism of societal values surrounding female sexuality and sex at the time:
Family is one of the most important institutions in society. Family influences different aspects of a person’s life, such as their religion, values, morals and behavior. Unfortunately, problems may arise when an individual’s belief system or behavior does not coincide with that of family standards. Consequently, individuals may be forced to repress their emotions or avoid acting in ways that that are not acceptable to the family. In the novel The Rain God, written by Arturo Islas, we are presented with a story about a matriarchal family that deals with various conflicts. One major internal conflict is repression. Throughout the novel the characters act in strange ways and many of the family members have internal “monsters” that represent the past that they are repressing. In his article, “The Historical Imagination in Arturo Islas’s The Rain God and Migrant Souls”, Antonio C. Marquez’s implicitly asserts a true idea that The Rain God is a story about repression. Marquez’s idea can be supported from an analysis of secondary sources and a reading of the primary text.
In America, many have come to recognize Iran as a terrorist nation, but in reality, many Americans stereotype Iranians because they misunderstand the country and how it got to that point. In Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel Persepolis, she gives her readers an inside look of Iran by writing about her childhood during the Iranian Revolution and the changes in her life during that time. The frames in Satrapi’s graphic novel draw similarities and differences between advertisements and the Iranian culture. After analyzing the Satrapi’s graphic novel to advertisements we will look at the similarities and differences of how graphic novels and advertisements use words and images to establish the visual rhetoric.
Women in Latin America were expected to adhere to extreme cultural and social traditions and there were few women who managed to escape the burden of upholding these ridiculous duties, as clearly shown in “Chronicle of a Death Foretold”. First, Latin American women were expected to uphold their honor, as well as their family's honor, through maintaining virtue and purity; secondly, women were expected to be submissive to their parents and especially their husbands; and lastly, women were expected to remain excellent homemakers. One of the most prominent expectations of women in Latin America, and certainly the main idea surrounding “Chronicle of a Death Foretold”, is the idea that women should be pure, maintaining their virginity, prior to marriage. In the novel, Angela Vicario was forced by her parents and family into accepting a proposal from Bayardo San Roman, none of whom knew she was no longer a virgin. Knowing that her future husband would expect to spend their wedding night with a virgin, Angela scrambled to find ways to reinstate her virginity and deceive San Roman so he would not detect her impurity.
The novel Tsotsi, by Athol Fugard, is a story of redemption and reconciliation, facing the past, and confronts the core elements of human nature. The character going through this journey, who the novel is named after, is a young man who is part of the lowest level of society in a poor shanty town in South Africa. Tsotsi is a thug, someone who kills for money and suffers no remorse. But he starts changing when circumstance finds him in possession of a baby, which acts as a catalyst in his life. A chain of events leads him to regain memories of his childhood and discover why he is the way he is. The novel sets parameters of being “human” and brings these to the consideration of the reader. The reader’s limits of redemption are challenged as Tsotsi comes from a life lacking what the novel suggests are base human emotions.