In all the novels provided throughout the history of man are aspects which they must follow. These aspects include characters, symbols, central themes, subthemes etc. Rodolfo Anaya’s novel “Bless Me, Ultima,” is one of the many novels that includes these characteristics. While reading this novel, one is able to put forth the depth and significance of these literary features.
The structure of this novel can be divided in two types- internal and external. The external view of the novel can be seen by the composure of twenty-two chapters. The internal structure of this novel can be seen with a first person narrative; the narrator being Antonio. The italics in the novel represent Antonio’s dreams which are also narrated through first person.
The
…show more content…
One of these symbols is Ultima’s owl. The owl is seen to be taking care of Tony and of Ultima throughout the novel. Ultima’s owl can be seen not only as her own spirit but more of the wicked side of Ultima. When Ultima was trying to cure the soul of Tony’s uncle, the owl scratches and tears into the flesh of the wolves which are also the witches that casted the spell on the uncle. Another instance is when Tenorio is outside the house of the Marez and he mentions that the owl is the spirit of Ultima, the owl then proceeds to attack Tenorio and scratch his eye. Lastly, towards the end of the book, when the owl passes away and shortly after, so does Ultima; this further reassures the idea that Ultima’s owl is in fact her own spirit. The second major symbol in this novel is the Golden Carp. The Golden Carp is said to be a God who was transformed into a fish. When Samuel began to tell Tony about thus mythical creature, Tony began to become very curious about it. Finally, he is able to see the Golden Carp when Cico, Tony’s friend, takes him to the river where it is said to be seen. After this occurrence, Tony has a dream about it. He sees the Golden Carp and all the lives it has been said that it saved from the crying mermaid, in the middle of the hidden lakes up in the mountains. Tony had seen two men die and his close friend and …show more content…
Antonio is in a constant battle of finding his identity due to the opposing cultures within his blood. The blood of the Marez and the blood of the Luna’s run through his veins yet he finds himself unlike any of them. He is able to find his identity through learning Ultima’s ways and truly knowing what he loves to do and what he aspires to be. Next is the conflict within his town between its religious and native cultures. There is evidence of this conflict in the distinct tension between Ultima’s mystical witchcraft and the Catholic Church. This can be seen when Maria’s brother was in his deathbed due to the curse that was put on him by the sister witches in the novel. In the beginning Antonio’s grandfather asked the church to lift the curse but the priest was not able to do such a thing because he did not want to fight against their witchcraft. The last resort was Ultima, which ultimately was able to lift the curse and save the life of Antonio’s uncle. As seen above, the Catholic Church is prejudice against the use of witchcraft even when it includes a life of a devoted catholic. After the work of Ultima, many people in town called her a “bruja” in a negative context but one of Antonio’s aunt’s defended her. The tension of the Catholic Church and witchcraft is seen throughout the novel, whether the witch has evil intensions or has good intensions. Another theme that is seen
This comes to show that Antonio now realized that Gods power was not absolute, that there were things that the power of God cannot fix. This can be fortified by the fact that Antonio wonders whether the power in Ultima’s magic was greater than that of the priest back on page 99. After all the events that have occurred, you better believe that Antonio was one curious child with tons of questions. Questions that could not be answered, questions not even the great Ultima knew the answers.
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.
With these two concepts of religion, Antonio battles and organizes his thoughts through questions and observation. At certain points he believes that he will be sent to hell for believing in the stories of the King of the Fish. After all, the golden carp is a natural, pagan deity compared to the Christian God Antonio is used to worshipping. But in the end, that too is the teachings of Ultima’s wisdom, Antonio realizes he must learn to live in a world in which Catholicism and the golden carp can coexist, and he must grow to impart knowledge and enlightenment from all the spiritual forces in his life.
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
The novel is nurtured with a very soft but sophisticated diction. The essay itself portrays the author’s style of sarcasm and explains his points in a very clear manner. In addition, the author has used vocabulary that is very easy to understand and manages to relate the readers with his simplistic words. The author is able to convey a strong and provoc...
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.
On two separate occasions, the magic of Ultima prevailed where God’s power failed. Once when Antonio’s Uncle Lucas was under the curse of the Trementina sisters’ and a second time when brujas from a long time ago put a curse on a bulto, a ghost, and forces it to haunt the Tellez house. This further causes Antonio to question the Christian God. “Why can’t the power of God work against the evils that beset the family of Tellez…” (226).
In the novel, Bless Me Ultima, written by Rudolfo Anaya, two different religions are introduced. The religion of Catholicism is the religion originally practiced by the novel’s main character, Antonio. Throughout the novel, the religion of the Golden Carp is introduced and causes a crisis of faith for Antonio. Antonio must learn to choose between the conventional values of the Church and the modern beliefs of the Golden Carp by comparing and contrasting the two religions.
As Antonio struggles with the confusion of his own persona, one of his overall struggle is choosing an identity of one of either of his parents, Marez or Luna. As the novel, Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya, portrays this character going through many internal conflicts and stress, he fails to realize sooner that he is both and will always be a part of both identities. By the end Antonio decides to embrace both identities for they are both a contribution and aspect to his character. it is important because it depicts the sense that that one's identity may be difficult to decipher; however, in the end you cannot deny the fact the both sides run through your veins.
Throughout all works of world literature, certain passages will have special significance to the plot progression of that novel. This key passage must provide insight upon the overall theme of that work through characterization, symbolism, and imagery. In Gabriel García Márquez's novel One Hundred Years of Solitude, the passage selected for commentary uses the literary techniques of archetype, foreshadow, and symbolism to inform characterization. The concept of consanguineous love affairs is also reinforced in this passage along with the idea of the necessity of outside influence on a family. These concepts inform the characterization of all of the characters presented and provides insight on the cyclic nature of the Buendía family history.
A young boy of Hispanic decent is torn between two worlds. Both his adventures and experiences serving to be guides for interpersonal awareness. This boy is the star of a bildungsroman themed novel entitled Bless Me, Ultima. As the reader follows Antonio Juan Marez y Luna on his journey for existential understanding, they witness him transition from a young carefree adolescent to a self-content child.
Antonio Márez, the main character of Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, begins the Departure element of Joseph Campbell’s Hero Cycle when he initiates his journey to adulthood. He questions whether he belongs to his mother’s family, the Lunas, who live as farmers, or his father’s family, the Márezes, who freely wander the land. His care for his family demonstrates his maturity at attempting to always do the best he can for everyone. Although his parents each want him to follow their families’ paths, they remain absent from Antonio’s true journey of understanding his own thoughts and beliefs, leaving him “frightened to be alone” (Anaya 7); the lack of parental support through his personal conflict leads him to have trouble knowing how to address
In Rodolfo Anaya's novel, Bless Me, Ultima the author uses different settings in order to develop Antonio's sense of good and evil.
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.
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.