Antonio’s mother, Ultima, and the Virgin Mary act as mentors who teach Antonio about faith, tolerance, and forgiveness, all of which allow him to forge his own identity. Through her devotion to Antonio and to her own faith, Antonio’s mother, Maria, helps him find himself. Maria is an involved and caring mother; she wants the best for Antonio. On his first day of school, she was pleased because her son would become a ‘man of learning’; she said, “[a]n education will make him a scholar, like-like the old Luna priest”(54). While Antonio’s mother wants Antonio to grow as a person, Antonio’s father is not as supportive of his education. Maria sent Antonio to school, and in the classroom, Antonio discovers ‘the magic in the letters’. Once introduced …show more content…
Antonio would not have been exposed to school if his mother had not pushed him to attend and become the best that he could be in the process. Not only does Antonio’s mother help him form his identity through pushing him in education, she helps him through persisting that he be religious throughout his lifetime. While reflecting upon the roles of the adults in his life, Antonio notes, “[f]rom my mother I have learned that man is of the earth…and he builds a church to preserve his faith and his soul”(228). Maria wishes Antonio to become a priest of the Luna, because she is a devout Catholic herself. She wishes for him to become a “man…of the earth” because she wants Antonio to be devoted to making the world a better place through spreading the word of God. However, while enforcing her religious beliefs on Antonio, he becomes too overwhelmed by her demands and thus rebels. While Antonio does not reject Catholicism from his life entirely - as seen by his admiration of …show more content…
Through his mother, Antonio is strongly exposed to Catholicism. Antonio admires the Virgin Mary even more than God himself, because he believes God does not forgive. While thinking about the two major religious figures, Antonio reflects on his feelings; “[God] could strike you dead…[the Virgin Mary] was a woman…her voice was sweet and gentle and with the help of her Son They could persuade the powerful Father to change His mind”(44). Antonio sees God as a jealous figure and one that does not always do good. In the eyes of Antonio, “God moved the hands that killed Lupito”(44). Antonio views God as though He may turn His back on anyone at any given moment. On the other hand, the Virgin Mary is “sweet and gentle” to Antonio. Antonio believes in some ways that the Virgin Mary is more powerful than God, because She “could persuade the powerful father to change His mind.” Not only is the Virgin Mary more empathetic than God to Antonio, God even listens to Her. Therefore, Antonio takes in the Virgin Mary’s message of forgiveness and peace, and he acts on it. One day at church, Antonio’s peers nominate him to be ‘the priest’ for the day. One kid, Florence, is an atheist and the other kids want him to suffer the consequences of not believing in God. Unlike the other kids, Antonio intervenes, “’no…there will be no punishment, there will be no penance! His sins are forgiven…go in peace, my
Antonio’s mother, Maria Márez, says that "growing into manhood is a sin" because she believes that the pure quality that is bestowed on to children from god is lost when a boy becomes a man. She fears that Antonio will lose his pureness, so she constantly urges him to become a priest because she believe that God is the only one to “save” him from the destructive ways of manhood.
Doña Guadalupe is a woman of great strength and power, power and strength which she draws from her devout faith and her deep and loving compassion for her family, and power and strength which is passed down to her children. “‘Well, then, come in,’ she said, deciding that she could be handle this innocent-girl-stealing coyote inside. On going into the long tent, Salvador felt like he’d entered the web of a spider, the old woman was eyeing him so deliberately” (360). Doña Guadalupe is a very protective woman, which is extremely speculative when it comes to her children, this is especially true when it comes to boys, because she has not gone this far only for all of her hard work to be ruined by a no good boy. This shows how protective she is, she loves her family, and especially her kids so much that they themselves must pass her test before being able to pass on to her children. “The newborns were moving, squirming, reaching out for life. It was truly a sign from God” (58). Doña Guadalupe is also a very devout and faithful person. She sees God in everything and in everyone and by that fact, what she sees and who she sees is true, and she tries to be a model of clairvoyance for the family. “Doña Guadalupe put the baby’s little feet in a bowel of warm water, and the child clinging to his mother. He never cried, listening to her heartbeat, the same music that he’d heard from inside the womb” (57). Finally, Doña Guadalupe is very passionate which allows for a great model upon which her children follow. This further shows how she is clearly th...
Antonio, the young boy, wants answers to the questions that have been nagging at him since he was introduced to religious ideology. He does not understand why Ultima, a close elderly friend and a healer, can save his dying uncle from the curses of evil while the priest from El Puerto with his holy water and the power of God can not lift the curse from him. He wonders whether God really exists or if the “Cico's” story of the golden carp is true. Bless Me, Ultima, is a compelling story that deals with Antonio's family, beliefs, and dreams.
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.
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
God is Florence. Florence is a friend who is constantly questioning the priest and God. He does
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).
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 in 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 his confusion, but it also causes Antonio to develop an independence that most people do not possess. He sees hope for finding answers from the moment he meets Ultima when he “knew she held the secret of [his] destiny” (Anaya 13). She chooses him and sends him to save as she helps lead him on his path.
Arredondo exposed Luisa as a dynamic character because during the story the readers can see the changes that her personality had over the time. At the beginning of the story the reader can see how Luisa takes care of her uncle with devotion and love, but after they married she considered it as a disgusting duty. Ines Arredondo described Luisa as woman who has the power of “purify everything” (81), but after suffering the physical abuse of her uncle, all her innocence disappear. She was an innocent girl that was reserving herself for marriage. However, after married her uncle, she started seen the things in a different way. Now, she thinks of herself as “the vilest of harlot” (87). The way that the author exposes Luisa is like happy young lady that thanks to the circumstances enter to a deep depression that changes her life and she “was not able to go back to who I [she] was”
In the story, the death of Narciso and Lupito cause Antonio to doubt his religion because he cannot understand why God let them happen. Lupito’s death is significant because it is the first death that Antonio witnesses. The murder of Lupito causes Antonio to wonder about religion, sins, and death. After Lupito dies, Antonio says that “a priest could have saved Lupito” (Anaya 23). Antonio questions his religion and the power of a priest because the priest could not save Lupito. Antonio doubts if he is capable of being a priest and he is unsure of his destiny of becoming a one. When Antonio sees Lupito at the river, he believes that he should have been able to save Lupito’s soul, since he might become a priest. Because Antonio could not save Lupito, he feels regret. Antonio shows that he is feeling guilty when he asks himself, “How would I ever wash away the stain of blood?” (23). Antonio’s guilt implies that his future of being a priest might not be suitable for him because he should not feel guilt in something he is destined to do. In addition, Narciso’s death causes Antonio to lose faith in Cath...
Eager to learn the aspect of reading, writing and achieving basic sums whilst attending an education program, thrills both young girl. When Sofia's birth place was destroyed by The Bandits, resulting in the death of her father Hapakatanda, Muazena and additional relatives, Sofia with her remaining family whom survived the ambush were forced to flee to a new, unharmed township. As their hometown was lacking educational curriculums, Sofia and Maria were initially committed to working in the fields to obtain money for their family. As they become aware of school being for only 3 hours in the afternoon, they convince their mother, Lydia, to approve their wishes of attending school by stating ‘The white priest wants all children to go to school-maybe we should obey him.’ (pg. 37)
While Antonio is able to see the advantages of martyrdom, he must convince Bassanio that as such a gracious and extraordinary friend, he is willing, even happy to die for him. Humility, is the natural and subtle way to impress, so Antonio speaks of how he is not...
...es one forgot she existed.” The daughters she raises are “perfect… any man will be happy with them because they’ve been raised to suffer.” As for marriage, they must do as their family says, not out of love. This means they can’t pick anyone they want to marry, the family does. Most Latin American families want their lady to marry a wealthy man. They know that wealthy man is aggressive, so Angela or her sisters would be perfect since they are raised to deal with harsh situations. So when Angela Vicario is told by her parents that she must marry Bayardo San Román, a wealthy and somewhat mysterious stranger who knows from the instant he sees Angela, that she is the woman he must have. She has no choice but to consent, particularly since her family is of modest means.
This shows how Antonio can be a calm, measured man, capable of carefully thinking things over in order to come to the best conclusion - he can control his natural impulses and uses his intellect to reason. It reflects his attitude to his job and Antonio is evidently a competent and successful businessman. He deliberately fathoms out the cause of his sorrow and is able to comprehend the true meaning of things. Antonio eloquently dismisses his friends' reasoning, ignoring
Antonio is so mesmerized by Sebastian’s beauty that he states, “If you will not murder me for my love, let me be your servant” (2.1.35).Antonio is becoming obsessed with Sebastian and cannot stand the idea of not spending time with him, that he begs him to let him be his servant so he can accompany Sebastian and serve him in any way possible. His desire to serve Sebastian comes from his obsession with him. Antonio extreme obsession for Sebastian stems from the Elizabethan connection between good looks and a good soul. Sebastian tries to prevent this firm devotion but pleads with Antonio: “Crave[s] of [his] leave, that [he] may bear [his] evils alone”(2.1.5-6).(Insert Analysis for the previous quote). Sebastian advises Antonio to “Fare ye well at once”(2.1.39) in an effort to prevent him any injury that Sebastian’s venture might bring. After hearing this Antonio is still adamant about attending Orsino’s court as well; “B...