Bless Me Ultima Character Analysis

This is important to this statement because with the information he had gather he can probably start a new thing , something new that can also change someone view in stuff like it did for him. Everyone has those breakthroughs where they question their beliefs and I think we should all. This one is one of those moments for Antonio.he believes he can make something new, a new religion. “Sometime in the future I would have to build my own dream out of those things that were so much a part of my childhood.” (Anaya261). This quotes shows that Antonio learned so much throughout his experience and want to build his own future with the knowledge and the experience he gather up from his childhood."The golden carp," I said to myself, "a new god?” (Anaya81) the supernatural knowledge he has gather from another supernatural being that's not linked to the god of church got Antonio thinking as questioning about his beliefs which would eventually start asking if other people every question themselves about their beliefs as well which would make him share

“’It is because good is always stronger than evil. Always remember that, Antonio. The smallest bit of good can stand against all the powers of evil in the world and it will emerge triumphant’” (Anaya 98). In the beginning of Bless Me Ultima, Antonio’s inquisitive nature is revealed after his innocence is threatened by the evil committed in the murder of Lupito. He struggles to choose a path of life that pleases both of his parents’ sides of the family. Furthermore, Tony experiences the loneliness of growing up in an English-speaking school where he does not fit in or understand the language. Near the end of the novel, Tony still holds the child-like belief that all his questions about evil will be answered by God once he makes communion, but he is disappointed. Through indirect characterization, Rudolfo Anaya reveals Antonio’s questioning nature as well as his struggles with conflicting beliefs in the coming-of-age novel, Bless Me, Ultima, to make a more relatable and believable character.

Antonio’s acceptance of beliefs that are condemned by his religion conveys the novel’s theme of truth being subjective. Before learning of Florence’s death, Antonio is eager to share the legend of the golden carp with his friend, “Florence needed at least one god, and I was sure he would believe in the golden

Narciso and Antonio do not have many direct encounters in the novel, yet Narciso has a profound effect on Antonio’s religious maturation. Narciso, who is considered the town drunk, is present in many important conflicts as a mediator figure. He goes to great lengths to help his friends, which is shown when he attempts to convince the townsmen not to rashly kill Lupito after he had shot the sheriff. Once Lupito is killed Antonio worries about the fate of the men on the bridge who shot him, including his own father. Antonio wonders "Did God listen? Would he hear? Had he seen my father on the bridge? And where was Lupito 's soul winging to, or was it washing down the

In the book, Bless Me, Ultima, Antonio witnesses four deaths when all is said and done,

Antonio’s introduction to the golden carp presents a problem for him because of the Catholic view of pagan gods, yet Antonio feels a strong connection to it. When he first witnesses the golden carp he is overcome by “a sudden illumination of beauty and understanding” he had “expected God to do at [his] first holy communion” (Anaya 114). When Antonio’s questions to God are not answered during his first communion, he believes God has abandoned him. However, with continued pressure from his mother to become a priest and from Cico to choose between Catholicism and the golden carp, he struggles to decide what he believes. As Antonio’s doubt deepens, he questions God’s definition of good and evil and His plan concerning who receives forgiveness and who receives condemnation. In a dream, God speaks to Antonio saying, “You would have a God that forgives all, but when it comes to your personal whims you seek punishment for your vengeance” (173). For example, Antonio believes Florence should be forgiven, regardless of his disbelief in God, but Tenorio should receive punishment. When the Church cannot answer his questions, Antonio turns to the Golden Carp, and even considers that the Virgin should be a god. Antonio is lost in his faith identity,

After Tenorio was defeated when he tried to accuse Ultima of being a witch, he harbors a more intensive hatred for Ultima. Narciso and Tenorio are drinking at the same bar, and they get into a fight. When Tenorio and Narciso are separated he swears that he is going to kill Ultima, and then drives away in his truck. Andrew does not heed Narciso’s urge to go home and warn them, so he takes it upon himself to go through the hazardous blizzard to save Ultima’s life once again. In the middle of the blizzard, Tenorio confronts Narciso with a gun. Narciso is seen claiming: “Ay diablo, you have shot me in cowardly fashion”(Anaya 168). He dies the death of a martyr, taking the shot through his body while trying to protect Ultima. However, the town will never know this because the police rule it as an accident, and “Because Narciso was the town drunk, nobody cared much” (Anaya 177). He was killed in the cold blood of hatred, but no one knows because the fate of a town drunk is beneath them.

In this book some of the examples of conflict Antonio faces include his innocence versus the people in his life, Antonio’s reality versus the dreams he has, and his faith, whether it be to the Golden Carp, God, or the magic of Ultima. In this novel, one conflict is Antonio’s innocence versus some people that have affected his life in major ways. For example, Antonio’s mother wants him to be a priest, however he feels he cannot because he has seen so many bad things in his life, for example someone being murdered, his brothers beating him up and making fun of him, them going to “whore houses” and being very inconsiderate towards him. Antonio also had to witness many deaths, like the death of Lupito, Narciso, Florence, and Ultima and her owl, which all made him feel less innocent and not worthy.

The book, Bless Me, Ultima is one of fiction which is loosely based upon Anaya, the author, and his life as a child. The book centers around a six-year-old child living in New Mexico named Antonio. He grew up quickly during the end of World War II when the veterans return. Because of the war, Antonio experiences events as a child that most people only hear about. Soon after the story of Antonio begins, there is religion, insanity, tragedy, and battle. Bless Me, Ultima is a book about Antonio greatly maturing through his mental and emotional hardships experienced as a child because of WWII.

Children believe what their parents tell them but as they get older they start to question that which used to be unquestionable. Bless Me, Ultima is a novel by Rudolfo Anaya about a young Chicano boy, Antonio Juan Marez y Luna, who is growing up and seeing the world for how cruel it really is. A wise old curandera, or faith healer, Ultima, arrives just before Tony receives his first glimpse into the world of men. Ultima gives Tony spiritual healing throughout the book, as well as advice to keep him in harmony with nature and his spirit. The more Tony sees of death in the little town of Guadalupe, New Mexico, the more he questions the Christian God and turns towards the golden carp, a pagan god of

When we think of childhood we think of blissful, exhilarating moments, like being pushed on a swing higher and higher feeling as if you could stretch your hand and grasp the clouds, as you experience the cooling air of a hot summer day on your blushed face, as you yelped to be pushed further into the clouds. We do not think of the anguish and questions that the sight of death brings. But that’s exactly what happens to six year old Antonio Marez in the novel Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya. When young Antonio witnesses the death of a local War Veteran, a family friend, and a classmate, it leaves him with transforming effects, prompting him to question death, sin, morality, and in the end leading him to be ambivalent towards his Catholic beliefs. Through every mortifying act that he witnesses, he has the guidance of Ultima, an elderly “curandera,” healer, who uses her wisdom to lead Antonio to answer his own questions.

Gabriel and María’s clashing aspirations create inner conflict in Antonio. Gabriel is firmly opposed to María’s dream for Antonio. María wants Antonio to become a Luna priest who rules over a farmer community, and makes it clear what her expectations of Antonio are. However, Gabriel doesn’t have “good feeling[s]” towards priests; his father beat a priest for preaching against him, and Gabriel often makes fun of priests, calling them women, as they wear “long skirts” (29). When María suggests talking to the current priest about Antonio’s future, Gabriel snaps at her, saying that “it is not the priest who will decide when the time comes, but Tony himself” (31); Gabriel wants Antonio to make his own choices, not María’s. The conflicting messages Gabriel and María send Antonio create a divide between them; Antonio cannot

The tragic death of Lupito sparked the fire of religious ambivalence that will burn bright in the conflicted mind of Antonio. His innocent mind was now engraved with the dying man’s last wish to be blessed causing him to question if God had also witnessed Lupito’s demise and if so why did would he let him have front row seats. With his innocence now ripped from the

          Florence- Florence is one of Atonio’s friends. Although he does not believe in God, he attends catechism lessons with his friends. Florence’s mother died when he was three. Afterwards, his father slowly killed himself with alcohol. His sisters are now prostitutes at Rosie’s house. He asks Antonio insightful questions that point out the gaps in the Catholic Religion. When Antonio becomes

After Juvencio committed his fateful mistake, he fully devoted his life to hope and faith in God. As he hid out in the brush-filled mountains, the effects of the revenge sought by both him and Don Lupe’s son were evident. His body resembled “…a dried-out carcass, leathery from the bad days in which he needed to hide from everyone” (Rulfo 441). Despite these trials, Juvencio firmly held onto a passionate hope that he would survive his mistakes. That was all Juvencio felt he had left to do on this earth, for everything else had been lost.