The Role Of Self-Actualization In Bless Me Ultima

In the book “Bless Me Ultima” Ultima has many big influences on antonio, the main character. He is stuck deciding with three choices he can either become a priest like his mother wants him to be, choose what his father wants him to be a vaquero, and lastly choose his own path for him to take. These choices put a lot pressure on Antonio, and Ultima is there to help him choose by influencing him. Three of her biggest influences are being a mentor towards Antonio by helping him with his anxieties and uncertainties. Giving Antonio the respect and understanding he needs even though he is a small child. Lastly, Ultima lets Antonio make his own decisions and doesn’t force him to do things even if he’s a child.

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

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

His parents have ideas which conflict each other when it relates to their precious last son’s fate. Like a hawk swooping down on its prey, Ultima, an elderly curandera comes to occupy a room in the Marez residence. To everyone else in the house Ultima staying with them is negligible, but the bond Antonio and Ultima soon begin to create is the first step into Antonio’s quest in finding his fate. “When she came the beauty of the llano unfolded before my eyes, and the gurgling waters of the river sang to the hum of the turning earth. The magical time of childhood stood still, and the pulse of the living earth pressed its mystery into my living blood.”(Anaya 1) Ultima’s presence alone lifted Antonio’s spirits, even the little things such as the llano he lived on all his life that had become mundane to him, began to glisten with great importance.

Hardship in childhood can cause children to be wise beyond their years. A child 's experiences are what shape their future, making them evolve both mentally and spiritually. In Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, Antonio’s system of beliefs is greatly influenced by the perception of God that is instilled in him mainly by his mother. His understanding of God is forced to evolve as Antonio goes through many experiences throughout the course of the novel, including the tragedies that befall Narciso, Florence, and Ultima and his exposure to these characters. God is a being that is characterized by his punishment of those who sin and his protection of those who do not. As the events in this novel unfold, Antonio sees on many occasions how the God that he believes in does not perform the roles that he believed he did.

Personal ideologies provide an aspiration for a fools paradise. That endeavor contrived a blindness that makes their perfect world, someone else’s ordeal. Individuals might convoke others for guidance to an explicit ambit to discover their own dogma. However, humanity has a type of ignorance in a sense that compels them to force their own beliefs onto others. Distinct mentalities collide due to their own belief of being “right” which in turn causes further separation between religions, nations and even families. In the book “Bless Me Ultima” by Rudolfo Anaya, the predominance of Antonio’s parents impulses him to have an

It is inevitable that certain moments in your life will affect how you think and act forever. These epiphanies can occur anywhere and anytime throughout life, whether it be when you're an immature child or a fully developed adult. The sudden realization can be shocking and life changing or so miniscule that you don’t realize the change within yourself. In Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, Antonio at the young age of seven, encountered many situations that caused his perceptions of reality to alter. Many factors such as death and the introduction to secular ideologies caused these epiphanies to arise.

A clear theme in Bless Me, Ultima is Antonio’s struggle to find who he is amidst two sides of himself: the Lunas and the vaqueros. He fears for his future, where he believes he will have to decide between the two parts of himself, and inevitably disappoint one half of the people in his life. He fears what his life will be. He fears the river. This all changes when Ultima arrives. She teaches him to love the presence of the river, and to love his life however it may come. She shows him that the river is the lifeblood of the herbs she uses to heal and save, and that he can use his life to help others as well. But her spirit, in the owl, also shows him that life, and the river, can be very dangerous (Anaya, 14).

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

Bless Me, Ultima has many recurring motifs that surface during key points in the book, such as Antonio losing his innocence. After his brothers returned he had a dream of them entering a local brothel and in his dream, he pleads for them to not enter this evil place. His brothers ridiculed him for not entering and only his brother Andrew said he will not enter until Antonio has lost his innocence. His mother was also in this dream and she said "You are innocent when you do not know, but you already know too much about the flesh and blood of the Marez men". (Anaya 76) His priest tells him you are only innocent when you do not know, innocence is lost with the arrival of understanding. Antonio has seen 3 deaths, you can begin to say that he is no longer pure of innocence as it has become tainted by those deaths he has witnessed firsthand.

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

Ultima is an old curandera, which means healer in spanish, who comes to El Puerto to live with the Marez family after she is left alone in the town of Las Pasturas. When she arrives and turns to greet him, Antonio feels awestruck. According to Antonio, he “felt the power of a whirlwind sweep around me (Anaya 12).” A series of events occur throughout the story which makes Antonio overprotective of La Ultima. For instance, when Antonio and Ultima go to his grandfather’s house to cure his uncle, “Some women bowed their heads, other made the sign of the cross (Anaya 104).” Crossing your forehead in front of someone who is helping your family is a sign of disrespect. I feel that if I were Antonio, I would feel very offended because Ultima is my friend and nobody should be disrespected in front of the people you care for the most. As Antonio grows, he finds himself questioning his religion and comes to accept that everything is not what it seems. For example, Antonio realizes that the people of the town can be very judgemental and will blindly follow anyone because they fear the unknown. Antonio has to deal with is brothers who are led astray by the prostitutes of the town and their unrealistic dreams. After the war ended, his brothers came back, but with different plans for themselves. They leave because they want to be free, but I believe that they chain

Throughout the book Antonio is introduced to many new ideas. The first is the experiences he has with Ultima. Ultima is a healer who learned

   Bless Me Ultima and Baby of the Family serve as the 'coming of age' stories of two minority children. Rudolfo Anaya and Tina McElory Ansa skillfully reveal the richness, diversity, and conflicts that can exist within the Hispanic-American and African-American cultures primarily through the dream sequences in each novel. Dreams are the mechanism used in each work to magnify the individual experiences and conflicts Tony and Lena encounter. In addition and perhaps, more importantly, Tony and Lena deal with ambivalence and find their voices not only through the relationships with other characters, but through the resolution of their dreams.

Ultima teaches Antonio of this magical strength as she tries to help him understand the murder of Narciso. The townspeople do not seek justice because Narciso had been the town drunk and his life seemed worthless, “Because Narciso was the town drunk, nobody cared much”. Ultima explains that Narciso had died trying to help a friend and that was honorable. Once Narciso had been a respectable young man but hard times had fallen upon him after the death of his young wife. Narciso had turned to alcohol to ease the pain but had remained forever indebted to Ultima for trying to save his wife. Ultima uses the death of Narciso to teach Antonio the ways of his ancestors. She explains, “The old people…always helped each other; through good or bad they stuck together, and the friendships that were formed in that desolate llano were bonds for life”. It was through Ultima that Antonio discovers life is not what is always seems. Narciso had died trying to warn Ultima but few remembered anything good about him. Narciso had an inner goodness that had been hidden by his use of alcohol. Ultima taught Antonio to see the magic in Narciso, just as she had thought him to see the magic in the river and all that surrounded it.