Cameron Flosi McCallon-3 English 10 (h) 7 October 2014 Bless Me Ultima essay In the book, Bless Me Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya, Antonio Maréz has Ultima come into his life and shape who he grows to be. She watches over him and teaches him many things about life. In this story there are many literary elements and symbols, which help Antonio along the way. The story uses many motifs, symbols and themes. First the motif is Antonio’s dreams. In the beginning of the book his dreams are about what he will become when he grows up; the choice between priest or a vaquero. Later on his dreams change to more important matters, such as family questions and his duty in life. The second motif regards Antonio’s family. He has many family members such
Many people in the world are pressured into a job or marriage that they don't long to be in, and don’t know how to cope or choose what to do. In Bless Me, Ultima Antonio experiences the same concept with his parents; his mother has her heart set on him being a priest, but his dad longs for him to be a cowboy, and Antonio doesn't know what to do. But, Antonio shouldn't be pressured to choose between the occupations or his fate , he should discover what he desires to do and figure out himself. One of the main themes of Bless Me, Ultima is the value of Independence, and Anaya uses juxtaposition to reinforce it.
...ce. In the very last dream, he witnesses three deaths that occur in front of him. This shows that he is losing his innocence because the people that die in the dream were not evil but good. This makes Antonio realize that the world is unfair and unjust. In his dream, “the Golden Carp appeared and Cico struck with his spear and the water ran blood red” (176). The Golden Carp dies which signify his loss of innocence, because only the innocent who have not sin can see the Golden Carp.
Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima is a magical-realism novel about Antonio, a young boy at the mere age of six turning seven, realizing the many cruelties the world has to offer. As he matures, Antonio is conflicted while trying to choose between the career expectations from his two divergent families and attempting to figure out a true religion. Anaya depicts hidden messages to help the reader comprehend a perceptive insight of Antonio’s inner schism through symbolism.
Narciso- An honorable man who tries to protect Ultima from harm. Because of the loss of his young wife, Narciso begins to drink and is known as the town drunk. Through his garden, Narciso makes magic by growing beautiful flowers and plants. He is later killed by Tenorio in cold blood while trying to warn Ultima of harm and is buried as the town drunk instead of the hero that he is.
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.
Although he is always trying to understand new beliefs, the Goddess, the Virgin Mary, remains in the most special part of Antonio’s heart. She represents Meeting the Goddess, as Antonio is now seeing her through mature eyes: “I fastened my eyes on the statue of the Virgin until I thought that I was looking at a real person, the mother of God, the last relief of all sinners” (Anaya 47). As he begins to discover the meaning in both his old and new beliefs, he begins to accept his spiritual questions. By understanding the fact that they cannot always be simply answered, he enters his Apotheosis and ascends as he achieves wisdom and self-acceptance.
In essence, Antonio shows that he is unsure if he truly believes in his religion because of his acceptance of other beliefs, the new ideas that he learns, and the deaths of Narciso and Lupito. Antonio’s experiences lead him to believe that he is in charge of his destiny and he has the ability to choose what he wants, not what his parents want. In the end, Antonio determines his religious values based on what he believes in, so he tells himself to “[t]ake the Ilano and the river valley, the moon and the sea, God and the golden carp and make something new” (247). Antonio’s encounters with religion represent those who follow their religion but are not content with it. All in all, the story suggests that sometimes people want to learn other ideas to discover what fits them best.
Antonio is the main character and narrator of “Bless me, Ultima”, a book written by Rudolfo Anaya. Antonio is a six year old boy who is very curious about many of the mysteries of life such as religion and the world around him. He is often a spectator of terrible things that he doesn’t understand. Antonio is able to find out about his own culture through seeing the cultures of his friends and family, his encounters with good and evil, and his own curiosity.
Antonio also learns to see how powerful Ultima's healing can be for others in the community, even more powerful than the church. "The priest came. It did not help" (239). Antonio learns how much his mother and many others respect and value Ultima in their minds. Ultima learned from the best and therefore, her powers have been seen far and wide. Antonio's mother believes that even though she goes to church and prays like everyone else, sh...
In this case, Antonio witnesses the death of Narciso, the town drunk, and later tells his mother and Ultima, “’Beneath our juniper, on the goat path, he shot Narciso” (Anaya 172). This excerpt implies that when a disturbing experience such as death occurs on the goat path it has violated Antonio’s untouched innocence. Even under extreme duress, Antonio confesses that the path makes him feel safe, and Narciso’s death was an opposition to this mental security. This contributes to how his youth is slowly becoming out of his grasp and how he is being pressured into adulthood. Correspondingly, Antonio is in El Puerto when he encounteres Tenorio, his enemy, who had finally figured out how to kill Ultima. Antonio runs back to his home to save Ultima from certain death, yet he wonders, “Would I ever race like a kid again, a wild cabrito rattling the pebbles on the goat path; and would I ever wrestle the crazy Horse and wild Bones again?” (Anaya 257). Even as Antonio races to save a friend’s life, he dwells on his childhood, connecting it to the normality of memories spent with his friends and the goat path. Meanwhile, as Antonio witnesses numerous deaths – like the death of Ultima – he will continue to lose his innocence and youth
Characters in a book are similar to real people, in the sense they change and develop through time. In chapter two of Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez, the character Bayardo San Román was introduced and his character was developed into an attractive yet manipulative man looking for a bride. The book has the habit of introducing new main characters each chapter, there are a few overall main characters which reappear, but each chapter is usually focused on a new character and their part in the crime. Bayardo was thought to be enchanting to some, while others said he reminded them “of the devil” (Márquez, 28). Moreover, Bayardo was an eligible bachelor with deep pockets, any person's dream man. In the song “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)” by Eurythmics, there are many lines which relate to Bayardo’s character..
American author Richard Wright once said, “All literature is protest”. This statement has been criticized or praised by many different people. Not all literature is protest as proven by the memoir A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, the fictional novel Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, and the spoken word poetry “Friends-Spoken Word” by Trent Shelton.
...ogether the pieces of the story. In order to help the reader do so, the book provides many themes and symbols that explain how different themes link events and how it effects the telling of Abel’s story. Abel spoke few words in the novel because he feels that words are powerful. Abel finally understands the traditions of his grandfather running the race and can let go of the things prevent him to go beyond his past. Abel grew up without a father figure and senses the nature around him at age five during his mother’s death; therefore, he appreciate the nature and life during his childhood and does not want to assimilate into the modern world. Although the themes discuss in this paper described the effect of Abel’s story using some theme, there are many of the themes in the novel that will helps the reader know the significance that is happening in Abel’s life.
Federico Garcia Lorca's three plays, "Blood Wedding," "Yerma," and "The House of Bernarda Alba" share many symbolisms. Lorca (Short Biography) wrote about many subjects and objects that often have an unconscious double meaning. These unconscious symbols are known as archetypes, developed by the psychologist, Carl G. Jung. This paper will analyze these symbols using Jung's theory of the archetype. By doing so, the analysis will better explain some of the unconscious meaning and original thoughts behind Lorca's symbols. This is important because a detailed reading will allow the reader to clearly understand each symbol and why it is important to the society in the play, and to Lorca's society.
This haiku is meant to represent the pull from both is mother and father, but Antonio doesn’t want his parents to choose how he goes about his future. He wants to pick for himself, and it frustrates him. As Antonio moves from childhood to adolescence, he tries to reconcile his parents’ and his community’s conflicting cultural traditions; Antonio’s goal is independent thought and action; he strives to make his own moral decisions and to accept responsibility for their consequences. Antonio’s parents, whose frequently conflicting views make it difficult for Antonio to accept either of their belief systems. María, the devoutly Catholic wife, wants Antonio to follow her Luna family tradition by becoming a priest. Gabriel is the son of vaqueros