Bless Me Ultima
Children in many cultures are forced into awkward situations, such as they are expected to make life long decision. Some children (usually boys) are forced to chose a bride at the very early ages. Others are to rule kingdoms, and palaces, and some even countries. In the novel Bless Me Ultima, Antonio experiences many difficult situations that are beyond his years and force him to mature much faster then other children his age.
For example Antonio is the cause of many of his parents fights that occur. They quarrel over what Antonio would be when he is older. Antonio’s mother wanted Antonio to be extremely intelligent, and she wanted him to grow up to be a priest. His mother once said “An education will make him a scholar, like–like the old Luna priest.”(54) His mother was not very educated, and tried to live her life through Antonio. She also talked a lot about bringing honor to the family. This is where the priest part comes in. Due to Tony’s mother being very religious she wanted Antonio to become a priest to bring honor to the family, and for him to have more of a relationship with “god”. Antonio’s father on the other hand did not agree with education, or Antonio becoming a priest. He thinks education is a waste of time and money. Antonio’s father grew up wandering on a horse back threw fields and meadows, never having any formal education. His fathers dream is to own a vineyard, and to have his sons work on it together, and make it thrive. You did not need an education to juice grapes, and therefore it was not important to him. His father is not religous, and thinks its pointless for him to become a priests. His father did not have respect for priest, due to--------------. Antonio is towrn between his parents and searches for answers. He turns to Ultima for comfort “She understood that as I grew I would have to chose to be my mothers priest or my fathers son”(41). Although Ultima does not give Antonio straight answers on what he will grow to be she does help him through. Which is what he was longing for.
Another situation that Antonio was put in, was the witnessing of the many deaths that occurred during the novel and his young life. The first death Antonio witnessed was the death of Lupito.
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.
There are two generation to teach them, one of them is Ultima and Koro. Both teacher have their destiny to guides them. Ultima helps Antonio during the birth but he doesn’t know which side he will be. Ultima said, “[Antonio’s] soul grew under [Ultima’s] careful guidance” (Anaya 15). Similar to Paikea learn
Lupito’s death marks the first scene in the novel in which Tony’s grief is a direct consequence of his knowledge. Tony’s naiveté causes him to take people at their face value, not realizing that they may not be as they seem. Narciso is the town drunk, yet he is the only man on the bridge that maintains his common sense. “’I...
Maria had no authority over her restless family. The source of the conflict between Antonio and Maria originates from her oldest sons taking to going where they please and not caring about their parent’s wishes. The burden of pleasing their parents passes from the eldest sons to the youngest one. With the sole duty of pleasing his parents, Tony internally rebels against their wishes instead seeking to set to rest his churning mind by seeking his own beliefs. His brothers console themselves about abandoning their family by saying that “Tony will be her priest” (Anaya 36) and not knowing that the “dreams of their father and mother [haunt] them” (Anaya 36) also haunted Antonio. Having the responsibilities of his brothers and his family shape the way he grows and thinks. He isn’t just thinking about himself he also has the problems of redeeming his family on his head. Through the story and through Ultima Tony realizes that he is not bound by obligations and can instead shape his own
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.
In his dream after the death of Lupito, he is met by his three brothers. Tony tells his brothers that they have to be with their father, because he is planning on moving westward. Tony’s brothers say that he is to be a farmer-priest, because he is a Luna, so he cannot go with their father. Tony says that he must bless the river where his father will be moving to, and when he says that, he hears Lupito’s soul crying for help. Then, the novel states, “I swung the dark robe of the priest over my shoulders then lifted my hands in the air. The mist swirled around me and sparks flew when I spoke. It is the presence of the river!” (28). One of the possible fates for Tony is to become a priest, and he is leaning towards God for help in this lifelike situation. Though the presence of the river is guiding him, if he takes the position of a priest, he is choosing God over other things, such as the golden carp. Tony also does this in another dream. In this dream, Tony’s brothers try to convince him to enter Rosie’s house, which is a sinful place. As his brothers try to persuade him to enter, Tony says, “No!... I cannot enter, I cannot think those thoughts. I am to be a priest” (73). Even after his objections, Tony’s brothers still try to get him to enter, saying that he is a Márez and that he will eventually enter, so why not do it now. In this case,
Antonio prefers the river for company rather than any other place in town; therefore, he was devastated when a misfortunate event tarnished his memory of this beloved landmark. “How would I ever wash away the stain of blood from the sweet waters of my river!” (23). Antonio has established an ardent relationship with the river, yet the tragedy of Lupito’s death ruins the serenity that accompanies his memory of that breathtaking location. The series of events that play out all take place at or around the river, which proves symbolic of the correlation that the people have with that area. Not only does it often stand as the setting of many occasions, the river also is a recurring figure in Antonio’s dreams. “...that the sweet water of the moon which falls as rain is the same water that gathers into rivers and flows to fill the seas.”(121). The river in Antonio’s dream denotes the connection between his two completely opposite families all intercorrelated by Earth. Through the river, there is a unique peace and unity, similar to Antonio bringing his own uniqueness as he upholds and represents his two families. From a feeling of oneness to placidity, the river represents a variety of themes that prove significant in Antonio’s paramount transition from a child to an adult, many of which help the reader understand the crucial role
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.
He has an especially hard time with the death of Narciso, as his “rage and protest filled [him]. [He] wanted to cry out into the storm that it was not fair that Narciso die for doing good” (Anaya 178). The unjust deaths push Antonio to search even harder for the answers for his philosophical questions, now that people are in danger. Antonio’s Road of Trials is heroic because it demonstrates how pain and loss threaten to overtake him, but he bravely refuses to back down. 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
In Bless Me Ultima, Tony embarks on a rocky journey to discover who he is and what he believes. Tony must make the transition from a naïve six year old boy to a mature man. His experiences continually call his basic beliefs into question, and chip away at his innocence. For example, when he witnesses the brutal death of Lupito, he starts to question many ideas; sin, good and evil, punishment, and his faith. He begins to see the world of man as violent and sometimes ruthless, not the friendly, loving world where he had previously resided. He even becomes concerned about his own father's salvation because of Gabrielle's involvement in Lupito's death and begins to see his father as less than perfect. Death continues to haunt him when Narciso, a good man, is killed defending Ultima, while Tenorio, an apparently evil man, is spared. These outcomes are not what he believes should have occurred and yet again, a piece of his innocence is stripped away as he sees life is not always fair. He is beginning to realize that he must define his own beliefs.
...elf and where he fit into this life that he had. She made him believe that many things were sins against God, and he would be punished if he so much as thought about them, but she never told him why they were sins and why people continued to do them; so he went on a quest for knowledge to find out what it was his mother along with other people were trying to keep him away from. Maria loved her family, and made sure that she provided for them, but when it came to religion she could only teach them what she had been taught all her life, which provided a biased opinion, in that she believed the the Catholic religion was what was right, and anything else would be a sin against God. She tried to protect Antonio, but everyone knows there is no protect from life, it comes and engulfs us into this whirlpool of situations and tragedies, and we are merely pawns in its game.
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.
...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.
It pertains to one’s emotional and psychological development as well. Mango Street does not let kids stay kids for long. After Esperanza’s grandmother dies she is burdened with the responsibility of telling her siblings and comforting her father, “Because I am the oldest, my father has told me first, and now it is my turn to tell the others. I will have to explain why we can’t play. I will have to tell them to be quiet today,” (56-57). It should be her parents who do this but she is to does anyways. Another example of this is another girl named Minerva who is just a little older than Esperanza. She is already a mother of two with a husband who keeps leaving. The level of maturing it takes to become a mother is tremendous. But the stress of this can be too much sometimes, “Her mother raised her kids alone and it looks like her daughters will go that way too. Minerva cries because her luck is unlucky. Every night and every day. And prays,” (84). A girl her age is not ready for the responsibility of motherhood yet because of the culture, she is forced to accept her
Antonio 's remorseless and unforgiving nature upon the arrival of the harpy in Act 3 Scene 3 is ultimately what results in despair. Had Antonio merely admitted he was wrong, he would have reaped a significantly better ending to his tale from the merciful Prospero. Sebastian stubborn and easily manipulated personality also meets the same fate as Antonio. On the other hand, many characters are rewarded for their forgiveness. Alonso gets his son back as a reward for his remorseful mentality towards what he did to Prospero, something that definitely reflects the good people receive for forgiving or asking to be forgiven. Another great example of this is Ferdinand, who is threatened with enslavement in Act 1, Scene 2 but remains content. Ferdinand simply proclaims "“Might I but through my prison once a day behold this maid: all corners else o ' the earth let liberty make use of; space enough have I in such a prison,” (1.2.495-499) thus forgiving Prospero for enslaving him merely out of love for Miranda. This shows huge love and compassion and a great sense of goodness. Appropriately, this goodness does reap its rewards, as Ferdinand