Bless Me Ultima Book Report Essay

Ultima helps Antonio with his anxiety and uncertainties throughout the book. After ultima goes to live with the marez family is when Antonio becomes able to be independent and move away from the responsibilities he has in his family. Ultima shows him that he has to think for himself and make his own decisions and conclusions. In the book Ultima tells Antonio “You are growing, and growth is change. Accept the change, make it part of your strength.” This quote from the book shows the relationship between Ultima and Antonio, it also shows her helping Antonio with his uncertainties and telling him to be and stay strong while he is

Many of Antonio’s dreams foretell future incidents. In the first dream, the night before the arrival of Ultima, Antonio is born and both sides of his family gather together for the arrival of the baby boy. The two families express their hopes and desires for the

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 someone other than Tony who also was close to Ultima, Narciso a local town drunk. He was always looking out for Ultima and defending her from Tenorio who wanted to kill her. On the night of his death there was a snowstorm taking place and he was just trying to get to Ultima to warn her about Tenorio,who wanted to go out and kill her for the death of his daughters, Narciso didn 't know but Antonio was following him on his journey to get to Ultima. Narciso tried to get Andrew to go tell Ultima because he believed he could get to her faster but he wasn 't leaving Rosie’s house. “Confess me—” (Anaya 170) Narciso asking him to do this challenged Tony and God and the fact that he is being asked to do more than he is actually capable of is present once again. He as a kid and not a priest makes him not “allowed” to confess other people but he did so regardless, once again having him question God’s capabilities. “you’re only a kid—I’m just sorry.” (Anaya 178) The fact of a good person dying without justifiable reason is questioned by Tony, and why wasn 't justice brought for Tenorio’s actions; Andrew not listening to Narciso was also questioned by Antonio, due to the fact that

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).

To start off, Antonio is always under pressure from certain people that want him to do specific things in hopes of him securing the future of his people. This ties into conflicting cultures, which plays an important role when it comes to Antonio’s early life since his actions are defined by the conflicts between the Luna and the Marez. The Luna are the devoted farmers who worship the earth and the moon, while the Marez are very free-spirited vaqueros who are extremely devoted to their lifestyle and horses. Being a Marez is what causes Antonio’s three older brothers to go into the world and leave there family behind. “It was true, I thought, it is the Marez blood in us that touches us with this urge to wonder. Like the restless, seeking sea” (40). His brothers chose a path that Antonio is struggling to pick and cannot seem to identify with. This is a big deal because Antonio is only in the first grade and he is being pressured into growing up faster than he should be.

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

hesis: In the novel Bless Me, Ultima, Rudolfo Anaya illustrates how Antonio Marez endures to find his own identity in a cultural society that is extremely influential. Antonio was raised in a cultural society where religion is an obligation. Objective cultural values contradict his beliefs and the way he will place himself in this society.

Before curing Lucas, Ultima asked his brother if he would accept the responsibility of disturbing fate and he accepted. These kinds of events continue to happen all throughout the story. Tenorio tries to kill Ultima because according to him, she is responsible for his daughter’s deaths. Towards the end of the story he finds out that Ultima’s owl is actually her spirit so he goes after the owl. Antonio tries to warn Ultima but is not able to do anything about it. Ultima’s owl is shot, causing Ultima’s death and so is Tenorio as he tries to shoot Antonio. Before Ultima’s dies, she speaks to Tony’

This is a reason my Ultima and her power is misinterpreted. In a small Catholic town such as this, it’s hard for people to understand a good power that may exceed the church in times. This principle doesn’t follow tradition. Because of this, Antonio hears a lot of judgment or name calling of Ultima, and has an internal pressure to handle all this in the way his father and Narciso did, with a deep sense of defensiveness. This in times gets him into trouble, yet is not always negative, since Antonio proves to

Antonio begins to ponder his relationship with Ultima and her seemingly magical powers. Antonio is extremely worried about separating from his mother and he secretly hopes that Ultima's magic will help him get through school. He has had a strong connection with Ultima but now that school is starting he knows that she will not be around to help him. Their bond is becoming more separated, but Antonio is becoming more independent. This is especially hard for Antonio because not only is being separated from his mother, but Ultima as well. Furthermore, Antonio relates the feeling of Ultima´s touch with the feeling of the dirt devil. Antonio begins to realize that although the forces of good and evil may have a similar feel, the souls and the intentions

The fate of many characters in Bless Me, Ultima usually has a correlation to the dreams of Antonio. On the other hand, Antonio’s fate is foretold by the actions and choices of the other characters. Not to mention, Antonio is influence by others close to him as the story revolves around the characters interacting with him. Furthermore, he is torn by the religious belief of his mother and the magical powers of Ultima.

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

This lesson of Ultima’s must be pivotal to surviving life happily because she even follows it. Ultima lesson for Tony, when danger comes near seek out the ones he holds dear in his heart because the strength in their heart can protect him, is so important that she even abides by

Life isn’t forever but the way death comes may create questions on why. As a child you’re taken to church to have an understanding of life. In Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolf Anaya a young boy named Antonio grew up with a religious mother with an ideal idea of who god is, but as Antonio witness’s death he soon questions who god is and his power. This was a major conflict in Antonio’s life as each death brought a new door opening to more unanswered questions on why. Ultima a motherly figure to Antonio who was a guide throughout his religious ambivalence.