Bless Me Ultima By Rudolfo Anaya

Puritans and reformers of seventeenth century England have been given a bad name for their part in history. This is primarily because they were working against the grain and trying to create change in world that saw change as a threat. The time period was turbulent and there was bound to be resistance in a world that was dominated by Catholics and those that had reformed to abide by their King’s law. The puritans of the time were considered extreme and rubbed people the wrong way because they wanted a world that abided by their morals and ethical codes. For this, they took the blame for the misery that many suffered during this age, but as we see in Fire from Heaven, this is not a fair assessment. The Puritans of this time wanted to improve the lives of the people and society as a whole through morality and purity.

Gabriel is adamant about his dream and is truly “angry” when he comes home to his family praying to the Virgin because of Antonio’s grade promotion—both of which fit with the Luna philosophy, not that of the Márez (82). Antonio is subject to both of his parents’ expectations and desires for almost the entirety of the book, and this shapes who he is as he questions the philosophies of both the Luna and the Márez before finally deciding that he is “Márez first, then Luna,” as his uncle describes him (250), despite Ultima’s declaration that Antonio will be a “man of learning” (56). In a sense, Antonio is a “man of learning” as well as Márez—he seems to adopt portions of both philosophies in his efforts to discover who he truly is. However, it does show that he is trying to fit the expectations set forth by his parents, consciously or not, and this struggle to meet expectations is so prominent in the novel that this theme is one of the most consequential in Bless Me,

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

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.

While Maria enforces her beliefs on the entire family, Gabriel isn’t much of a religious man. Gabriel was a vaquero, a free man with nothing to bound him, his limits were about as far as the eye can see. He was a Marez. Even though Gabriel was of the Marez bloodline he was still under the control of Maria. His inner beast was held inside a cage like a lion held in the zoo. He was at the top, but now he is just a fraction of a man of who he used to be. To be on display for all. Antonio is reminded that he is both Luna and Marez. At Antonio’s birth the Marez family came and stated with conviction (Anaya,70) “Gabriel, they shouted, you have a fine son! He will make a fine Vaquero!” Antonio felt even more pressure now that he had to decide whether to become a priest or a vaquero. If he becomes a priest he might become a man with the power of God’s influence in his hands

The moon that represents the Luna family, and sea which connects to the Marez, are forces which push Antonio to make his final decision about family. In the beginning, Antonio tries his hardest to please both of his parents by combining their dissimilar ideas about his future. Although Antonio begins his life thinking he is a mixture of both parents’ heritage, the juxtaposition of the symbols in the book changes his mind on that, “It is the blood of the Lunas to be quiet... They are quiet like the moon – And it is the blood of the Márez to be wild, like the ocean from which they take their name” (Anaya 41). Aside from the obvious fact that the Spanish word for moon is, in fact, Luna, that family represents the moon. The calmness of said moon contrasts with the wild men of the sea. Maria is controlling of her family, similar to how the moon controls the sea. Each contrasting idea propels Antonio in separate directions- either towards the Luna priests or the Marez vaqueros. Despite the fact that his mother wants to make a priest out of Antonio, the other side of his family thinks in their own unique way, “He is a Marez… His forefathers were conquistadors, men as restless as the seas they sailed” (Anaya 6). Once again, the contrary sides of Antonio’s family pull him to the sea instead of the moon. The true struggle Antonio goes through is choosing his own destiny, even with the strong influences of both the moon and sea. Suddenly he has a moment of realization and tells his uncle, “‘I am Marez,’… ‘That is right, you are a Marez first, then Luna” (Anaya 250). Even though he may think he is Marez first, he still lives with Luna blood coursing through his veins. After all, he skipped a grade, which makes him a boy of learning. Then again, his adoration of nature proves

In the book “Bless Me Ultima,” by Rodolfo Anaya, the role of duality goes very into depth with its many controversial topics. Some of these topics include the contrast between Catholicism and indigenous mysticism, good witchcraft and evil witchcraft, and men and women. Since Antonio must struggle to find his own identity and place he must battle between his family, beliefs, and self. This can be seen between his parents, who’s frequently conflicting views make it difficult for Antonio to accept either of their belief systems, his struggles between the English and Spanish language, and how evil and good affected his innocence.

For example, in Antonio’s dream, he witnesses his parents arguing about the water he was baptized in, “… Antonio was not baptized in the holy waters of the moon, but in the salt water of the sea…” (Anaya, 120). The waters are again acting as a cleansing device to free him from the heavy and murky sins of the city. His parents believe that whatever water he is baptized in will represent the amount of cleansing of his soul and will also reveal whether he chooses the Márez or the Luna ancestry. Maria, Antonio’s mother, believes that the water of the Márez will be sin filled and cause Antonio harm. It is evident that Antonio may also believe this based on his account of his father standing of the shore with dead bodies. Antonio can find some reconciliation when he understands that he does not have to choose one “blood" but can rather pick the best of

From what I could interpret of the final chapters; Antonio starts to understand that can combine all perspectives into one idea. The beauty he learns from his mother is the moon and earth. The ways of the Lunas tied down to settled way of life to the earth. From his father he learns a different way of life of the wind and sea being free. Lastly he learns from Ultima about the beauty of earths magical and spiritual elements that have overcome every obstacle they encountered. As a result of the realization from this after talking with his father during the car ride. He learns that he doesn’t have to just settle with one perspective but he can make his own and combine all components. My understanding is that the dream of the brothers is an interpretation

Maria is a religious mother of six who throughout the book she is very close minded and unwilling to change her plans or way of life no matter the influence. Maria is a member of the Luna, a family of religious farmers and as such she wants Antonio to become the next educated priest to guide the Luna in the future. She finds comfort in the steady life of farming and finds her husband 's ideals to be idiotic and unrealistic. When arguing about their land, Gabriel sees it as a symbol of freedom but Maria says in retort “It is worthless! Look

The Return is story about Kamau, a man returning home after spending many years away in prison. Kamau has both survived the Mau Mau and being put in prison. The Mau Mau had cost many Black Nationalist’s lives, and had seen many more put away in jails. The story begins as Kamau is released from jail.

In the novel, Bless Me, Ultima, the vaqueros mentioned their ancestry the first time they saw Antonio in order to reason with the possibility of Antonio’s future actions of being just like them. The Lunas mentioned their ties to the earth if Antonio were to become a farmer like them and how he would bless their family if he were to become a priest. Antonio’s dream states , “And to show their hope they rubbed the dark earth of the river valley on the baby’s forehead...” (Anaya 5). The Lunas were people of prayer and hope and expected the birth of this new child of Maria to be lead into the same path Maria’s brothers were lead into. Gabriel’s family comes from a line of conquistadors, which means they are ultimately restless and are portrayed as travelling the llano in peace, freedom, and careless-like attitudes. The reason that Maria and her family disagree with the lifestyle of a Marez, is probably because her family is so hardworking and considerate of others. A family’s culture can be the reason of a certain set way of thinking and for the spread of their opinions in regards to their logical thinking in opinion of their future generation of their

In this essay, I will talk about why it is okay for the government to required that all parents should be licensed first. And I will examine Hugh LaFollete’s article on “Licensing Parents” which was published in Philosophy and Public Affairs in Winter, 1980. Furthermore, I will also discuss another argument that support the idea of “licensing parents” and answer one of the counterargument against the idea of licensing parenting. According to Independent news article, In October 2017, mother accused of killing her four-year-old son by setting him on fire in bathtub. This case is a clear example of how not everybody is ready to be a parent. Not everybody has the mental stability, the patience, and the knowledge that is required to raise a child. This is just one of the many incidents that occurs. Majority of people think that they have the right to procreate and raise children and that is the most important right they have, and it should not be taken away from them. They also think that it is hard for the government to deny their citizens the right to be parent. At the same time, most people think that there are some

This article by Irving Godt takes a look at Palestrina’s “Missa Papae Marcelli” and argues the possibility of their being an unknown cantus firmus used in the mass as a unifying theme present throughout the mass movements (Godt uses cantus prius factus to refer to this material that he considers thematic in order to “distinguish between cantus firmus and cantus prius factus [by] applying the former to preexistent material used in any fashion…) . Godt, through examining and analyzing material from each movement of the mass, has documented multiple instance in which it seems that there is a somewhat vague collection of material in the music that could be considered thematic. Godt does warn that this material that he cited could be “no more

Monogatgari style stories involve a man of higher social status falling in love with and/or lusting after a woman of low social status. That is what could be considered in those days a “forbidden love”. One of Gengi’s first loves was a woman who was serving in the court named Fujitsubo. Fujitsubo was all that Gengi thought he wanted in a woman and was referred to as “Princess of the Radiant Sun”. The emperor merely thought it was just Gengi acting like any boy his age would around a woman like Fujitsubo, but Gengi felt that it was more than that, and he never forgot her for the rest of his life, even after he had married. Readers begin chapter two learning of the numerous affairs that Gengi has had and continually works to keep secret. With