An Analysis Of Bless Me Ultima

Once upon a time, in a world not far from here, there are students who are forced to miss their annual train ride to Hogwarts, lock the wardrobe to the magical land of Narnia, and walk through the English countryside themselves instead of upon the back of Black Beauty. Why are these students deprived of those occurrences? They live in America, the land of the free- except when it comes to the books they can read. In fact, many schools across America exercise the practice of banning books. Since 1982, libraries, parents, and schools have attempted to ban 11,300 novels, according to the American Library Association. The essentially innoxious books are challenged for an assortment of reasons, including use of malapropos language, graphic or explicit

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.

Bless Me, Ultima is a novel created by author Rudolfo Anaya that tells a story about a young boy named Antonio who grows up to learn deep cultural values and develops a special bond with a character that possesses mysterious magical powers. The story takes place in New Mexico during World War II in a setting of grassy plain and green valley. It was a summer when Antonio in his early years of seven first met Ultima who came to stay with him and his family. Antonio was just like any other ambitious boy who was full of questions and had an insatiable hunger for knowledge, but Ultima on the other hand was an older woman who possessed a puzzling spiritual history that would teach and change Antonio

Death is abstruse but can make one savvy. The way one thinks may be shifted by an incident, bringing them to a point where they feel uncertain about what they believe in. All the purity and sin that comes with this life is what brings them to become equivocal and controversial as to what is right and wrong. Thoughts of doubt may not be cleared up, but it will allow one to find a path they pertain to. A novel, Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya relates to this concept in the sense that the main character Antonio Márez is conflicted due to the deaths he encounters which alters his beliefs.

Ultima’s role as demonstrates how Chicano culture is a mixture of multiple, conflicting influences. When Spanish Catholics arrived, they claimed curanderismo is a form of witchcraft. Thus, they killed those that practiced the act. But their interaction brought about a mixed culture where curanderismo existed in harmony with Catholicism. Anaya shows this religious blend by describing Antonio’s mother as a devout Catholic who also respects the Ultima’s powers.

The proverb “All roads lead to Rome” refers to the fact that many different routes can lead to the same result. Likewise, the path to one’s destiny depends on the person. For example, Tony’s journey to his destiny in Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima is different than Paikea’s in Witi Ihimaera’s Whale Rider. Their destinies are different, but their destinies are inevitable events, regardless of the path they take to achieve it. However different their journeys may be, there are always certain elements that are universal among all journeys to destiny.

How do we transform from a little, young child to a big, grown adult? What problems do we face? Who helps us decide our future? In Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, Antonio Márez must forward on the way to his own moral self-sufficiency. Antonio is put into the center of many distressing events which cause him to grow up faster, and lose his innocence. Antonio has many questions about spirits, god and beliefs. To get his answers, he must undergo a transformation.

As well as, the book getting “banned, reinstated in a English Advanced Placement class in Savannah (GA) after a parent complained that it contained sex violence, profanity”(Marshall). Parents did not like that their kids were reading this and knowing it was graphic and detailed “he slit Herb’s throat and shot him in the head” (wikipedia). For the rest of the other three family members they only got shot in the head. In the end, both times it tried to get banned it failed and they had rejected

He kills Narciso in cold blood. He is a true coward and he hides behind others instead of facing those who he seeks to fight.

Often times, people tend to find no meaning in works of art such as stories, while in reality they fail to capture the true essence and deeper meaning these creations. Most notably, the novel Bless Me, Ultima is a perfect example of how much impact literary device have on a story. Bless, Me Ultima is a novel which depicts a boy named Antonio trying to adapt to his ever-changing world after meeting the curandera Ultima. As a result of Ultima’s guidance, Antonio finds light through the tough tragedies that occurred during his childhood. In Bless Me, Ultima, Rudolfo Anaya uses symbols such as the Virgin of Guadalupe, the river and the Golden Carp to depict Antonio’s gradual spiritual development, which demonstrates his shift in moral decision-making throughout the novel.

In the novel Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya , he shows symbolism that greatly affects the reader's understanding of the book and pulls them deeper into the story. Bless Me, Ultima is about a curandera named Ultima that comes to stay with Antonio and his family until her death. Ultima guides Antonio through his life while slowly revealing his destiny. This novel shows us how Rudolfo Anaya uses symbolism to help the reader have a deeper understanding of Antonio’s life.

Only a few books dare to discuss the confusion surrounded by a religious awakening. In Bless Me Ultima, Rudolfo Anaya, Premio Quinto Sol national Chicano literary award recipient, challenges standard religion and brings in different ideas through the perspective of a young and confused boy. Due to the new ideas that he is introduced to, the events that occurs especially deaths, and his eagerness for knowledge all leads Antonio to question his religious beliefs. At the end of his struggle to understand, the boy reaches the peace of mind he was seeking.

Bless Me, Ultima is a Chicano novel written by Rudolfo Anaya in 1972, which includes a magical realism plot. Chicano literature is especially significant in this novel because it helps create a cultural identity for the main character and his community. The novel talks about a petite boy named Antonio; throughout the book Antonio makes his best efforts to try and find the path to which he belongs, he wants to find answers about who he is and wants to learn a lot more about his religion which included getting his questions answered about god. The novel talks about the importance in Chicano literature and what impacts it has on the characters. Although Bless Me, Ultima focuses on Chicano literature and the magical

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

Often times, parents and school board members cause a lot of material to be taken off the shelves, but there are some that are fighting against censorship. Warren County school board members voted 3-2 against banning the book "Flowers for Algernon". Challenged a plethora of times this book even made it on the American Library Association’s 100 most challenged list. This book contains sexual content, drug use, and profanity. And although these topics aren't appropriate for school, they are topics that will not be hidden from their daily lives. Out of all five school board members, only two of them voted for removing the book, Traggott made this comment about the appropriateness in that particular school saying that, "Although many students see movies and other entertainment containing profanity, drug use and sex, that isn't a reason it should be included in school materials" (White para. 14). The other three members that voted toward keeping the book countered that, the main character is an adult and his own actions do not encourage students that these actions are suitable for their age group