Analysis : ' Bless Me, Ultima '

Living with Ultima since seven, Antonio quickly learns the struggles between his two family cultures. His mother’s side, the Lunas, who is obsessed and pushes Tony to become a priest. On the opposite, his father wants him to follow the Marez tradition, being of the son of vaqueros, riding horses across the plains. Leaping from child to adult, he begins to understand the tragic between both religious, overcome obstacles to unknot the family ties that bind him from finding his own identity. In his bildungsroman Bless Me, Ultima Rudolfo Anaya uses imagery and point of view to illustrate the protagonist, Antonio’s loss of innocence.

Ultima’s god like figure is shown through her powerful nature in showing that destiny is not to be decided by parents. In Antonio’s first dream, he sees the scene of his birth, down to the fighting of his relatives over his destiny. Ultima is present and stops the madness, shouting “Cease! she cried, and the men were quite . I pulled this baby into the light of life, so I will bury the afterbirth and the cord that once linked him to eternity. Only I will know his destiny” (6). By doing this Ultima suggests that as she was the one to deliver the baby, she should be the one to ‘decide’ his fate, and that as none of his relatives did the same, they do not get the opportunity to make the choice for themselves. At the time this takes place, Ultima

First, and probably most important are the three sources of understanding for Antonio. First, there is Ultima, who serves as a neutral source of understanding and comforter for Antonio. The next source of understanding for Antonio is God. Antonio constantly struggles to understand good and evil through the eyes of the Catholic God. The final source of

There was a strange power in Ultima’s medicine,” (27). This shows that Ultima’s magic is now affecting Antonio’s view on Ultima now that he’s

Ultima is the towns “curandera” who is staying with the family and everyone in town thinks she is a bad witch. Antonio seems to adapt to Ultima quite quickly soon after she arrives and starts learning her way. He is seen looking up to her as if she were a mother figure and, at some point, as if she was the Virgin de Guadalupe. Antonio often finds comfort in Ultima and confides in her regarding his faith. Antonio then witnesses Ultima save his uncle when the evil twitches had done some bad witchcraft on him that nearly led him to death. Antonio then begins to see that the God he was raised to believe in is not the only one in power. Ultima comes in to place and teaches Antonio that he doesn’t have to pick one belief, rather he can identify with a little bit of both. Before Ultima’s death in the book, Antonio asks Ultima for her blessing and she is more than happy to do so because she did everything she could have to prepare him mentally to find the real

At Antonio’s birth, the Luna and Marez fought over which heritage he would inherit, but Ultima resolves the conflict by saying, “I pulled this baby into the light of life… only I will know his destiny” (6). So, when Ultima dies at the conclusion of the novel, the knowledge of Antonio’s destiny dies with her. Antonio then has the freedom to create his own future free from the pressure of choosing to be either a Luna or a Marez. Ultima’s death, while resolving his identity conflict, also forces Antonio to grow up and become more self-reliant. Before her death, Antonio depended on her for advice because his parents are biased with his identity struggle. Without her guidance, Antonio is forced to be more independent. Ultima seems to recognize this as she blesses Antonio before she dies saying, “I bless you in the name of all that is good and strong and beautiful, Antonio. Always have the strength to live. Love life, and if despair enters your heart, look for me in the evenings when the wind is gentle and the owls sing in the hills. I shall be with you—” (261). Ultima reassures Antonio that she will be with him because, without her, he has no one else to depend on for guidance. When Ultima dies, it concludes Antonio’s faith and heritage conflict because it gives him the independence to seek out his destiny as both a

Another example of Antonio's sense of development in good and evil is his home. It is means a lot to Antonio, because the people living in it makes him feel protected and provide warmth to him. When Tenorio and his men came to his house to take Ultima away, Antonio’s father "You walk on my land! That is my business" (Anaya 130). This make Antonio feel that he would be protected by the presence of his father., Gabriel. However, Antonio's mother made home very fond and ardent for him. She had always been affectionate towards him and would show him care. Most importantly, Ultima was the one who contributed to the goodness of Antonio's home. She made Antonio feel as though her presence filled the home with love and safety. It was Ultima who calmed Antonio down after he had seen Lupito die. Whenever he had a nightmare, Ultima would always be right beside to comfort Antonio and " could sleep again" (Anaya 34). Ultima's fearlessness against Tenorio and his three daughters made Antonio feel that he would be safe wherever Ultima was. Overall, the

An important motif in “Bless Me, Ultima” are Antonio’s dreams. His dreams foreshadow major events and make him question his beliefs, especially revolving around religion. The dream that Antonio had subsequently

10). It wasn’t until he would go to school that he would start to learn how to speak English. Antonio’s sister told him that the teachers don’t let the children speak in Spanish, making Antonio scared that he wouldn’t be able to communicate with his teachers. Language shapes identity in Bless me, Ultima by showing one of the major problems that Antonio faces throughout the book. Growing up in a Spanish household and going to an English speaking school shows how he has to adapt to the different lifestyles and customs. Dichotomy is represented several times throughout the novel. For example, one cultural difference is in the American culture we regularly visit doctors to receive medical attention. On the other hand, in the Mexican culture people go to local healers, the “curanderas.” The second example is the different beliefs on the practices that Ultima uses. Many people say Ultima is doing good and her ways are ethical, while others say she is using witchcraft rather than using herbs and natural

Ultima is a curandera and is partially responsible in Antonio’s everlasting life-changing experiences. Ultima is revolved with endless misunderstandings based on how she lives and what she does. Ultima plays an important role in Antonio’s choice of character and identity. Ultima teaches Antonio to think more in-depth about certain situations and to think for himself. She believes that a person has complete control of what or who they want to be as long as they take innitiative. Antonio states, “ I think I understood then what Ultima said about things changing…” (Anaya 246). That statement is when Antonio would analyze what ultima said and when his way of thinking started to change as the story progressed. Antonio also states that, “Many years later, long after Ultima was gone and I had grown to be a man, I would awaken sometimes at night and think I caught a scent of her fragrance in the cool-night breeze.”(Anaya 13). This can help the reader acknowledge just how important Ultima was to Antonio’s childhood and how she still influences him in his adult

Antonio and Ultima become fast friends, as he spends a lot of his time in the llano gathering herbs and learning about the flora with her. Being the youngest son and the only one of his brothers not drafted into the war, he has a youthful innocence that is eventually broken throughout the story. His innocence is first threatened when he witnesses the death of Lupito, a returned World War II soldier who is suffering from post-traumatic delirium. In his crazed state, Lupito murders the town sheriff, and an angry mob, instead of helping the shaken-up man, chases him down and shoots him. Antonio worries about Lupito and whether he will be going to heaven or hell.

was an elder lady that came to live with Antonio's family for her final years. She mentors and teachers Antonio during her final years.She shows Antonio her ability of making medicine that can help heal people.Her motivation is that she was to do good and help those that needed it.”My work was to do good,she continued, I was to heal the sick and show them the path of goodness.”(pg.260).Ultimas’ personality trait is that she is very caring for others and willing to help people on need.Ultima's character is the most complex, and although the deuteragonist, or the character second in importance, she can be seen as the heroine of the story. Ultima is a person of action, the one who performs the healings and provides guidance to others. She is the

Ultima is truly a witch but Anaya foreshadows this to the part that we actually find out. After she walks through the door, Cruz Sedillo said, “the woman is free of the accusation” (135). Florence’s character is very sympathetic. Florence’s father died, he doesn't have a mother, and his sisters are prostitutes. He doesn't like to go to church and does not want to go to first communion or confession because he doesn't understand why God has done this to him, he says to Antonio, “you know, it doesn't seem fair” (192).

Antonio is attempting his best to make acknowledgment with the contentions by attempting to show signs of improvement comprehension of things furthermore he realizes that he needs to end up more develop. From my perspective it would seem that Antonio likes to pick the world & perspective his mom and her siblings including ultima. I assume that he gets a kick out of the chance to perspective his mom & her siblings on the grounds that he realizes that his mom taught him everything truly. His mother's sibling's for the most part the Uncle Pedro simply because he identifies with him. I then affirm that he would lean toward Ultima's perspective in light of the fact that she's generally been there when he required backing. He realizes that his mom will dependably arrive for him and he feels more sheltered with her not any other individual. Antonio respects

Throughout the confrontation that Ernie and Antonio have about Ultima, Antonio has to stand up for her because of the way he is being raised in which his family had customs and beliefs. In his family's eyes a curandera’s power is strong enough to help them through any obstacle in life. Curandera’s are known for being very spiritual to the Earth, such as the way Ultima is to the Earth due to the fact that she knows all the herbs and medicines to help and cure people of what they are facing. Ultima is a mentor towards Antonio and tries to teach Antonio all there is to know before she passes away. Antonio will stand up for her due to his customs and beliefs.