Bless Me Ultima Essay

To conclude, Ultima is accused by some of being a witch because her use of chants and having her spirit in

The leisurely read of Bless Me, Ultima isn’t always high on hand to hand actions; however, it is abundant with internal conflicts on the main character, Antonio. Through the high points and low points of his life, Antonio struggles to find an answer for his life. Antonio’s internal conflict about his fate, leads to him questioning his religion and who the people around him actually are, as people. But when Ultima joins them at the house, Antonio has a person who he can relate with to talk out his misfortunes. Antonio’s quest for his fate and religion is a painstaking journey that extends until the last few pages of the novel.

During the story Antonio encounters a problem he questions after how they connect to him and what they will do to change his future. As the story progresses Antonio starts to understand how they are connected using his dream. Which then helps him get a better perspective on what is going on around / with him.

"I realized that the owl had been with me throughout the night. It had watched over all that had happened on the bridge. Suddenly the terrible, dark fear that had possessed me was gone." (Anaya, 23)

In life, what we perceive tends to show misconception in how the thought plays out. A good example would be the character Jay Gatsby in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s American classic: The Great Gatsby. Gatsby was unable to distinguish between his love for Daisy, a reality, versus the illusion that he could recapture her love by establishing and inventing a fraudulent past. He believed he could repeat the past, and acquire a flaunting wealth. In the novel, Jay Gatsby seems incompetent in establishing a difference between the realities of his life versus the illusion he made out.

(Anaya 134). Ultima takes the saying “eye for an eye” quote quite literal. That being said, this goes back to Antonio’s grasp on forgiveness. If Ultima was purely good, she would not have taken revenge on the Trementios. She played the part of karma herself, which then spiraled into more hate between Ultima and Tenorio.

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

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.

To further illustrate the comparison of Ultima to Christ is the aura of power Ultima's character seems to possess, and to which she gains respect as a healer. The instance in the text where

The loss of innocence in life is an inevitable process. Losing one’s innocence comes merely by growing up. The philosophy of the loss of one’s innocence is a definite theme in the book Bless Me, Ultima. This theme is displayed throughout the entire story and plot of the novel. There is loss of innocence all around the main character, Tony, with his brothers and the people he meets. Tony also loses a great deal of his own innocence to the harsh realities of the world which marks his transition from a boy to a man.

Wisdom can only be gained through experience and clarified by speaking with others. In the novel, "Bless Me, Ultima," by Rodolfo Anaya, the main character, Antonio Luna Marez, is on a quest to understand all of the issues present in his life, and gain the wisdom necessary to make important decisions regarding his future. It described the hardships of a young child and how these lessons helped him to begin to understand life. There were many characters within the novel I felt aided in the spiritual development of Antonio, but the one that stands out the most is Ultima, who came to stay with the Marez family because of her old age. Ultima was an essential part of the story, because she provided Antonio with the guidance he needed and yearned

Throughout the context of “Bless Me Ultima,” it is evident that there are many motifs and examples of dichotomy. I believe that Anaya uses the previously mentioned elements of literature in order to provoke his readers’ thinking and help embody a struggle of understanding the world we live in. Motifs in this novel include: family, dreams, religion, education, and the list continues. For examples of dichotomy, the idea of good versus evil is the most vivid in this novel.

Abel, Bones, Ernie, Horse, Lloyd, Red, and the Vitamin Kid- Antonio’s friends and a wild group of boys who curse and fight. Horse loves to wrestle, but everyone fears Bones more because he is reckless and maybe even crazy. Ernie loves to brag. He does not like Tony very much and teases him every chance he gets. The Vitamin Kid is the fastest runner in Guadalupe, and he races Tony across the bridge to school every morning until he takes an interest in girls. Red is a Protestant, so he faces teasing very often from the group. Like Tony, he is a good student. Lloyd enjoys reminding everyone that they can be sued for ever the most minor of offenses. Abel, the smallest boy in the group, likes to urinate in the most inappropriate palces.

one of the Trementino sisters, Ultima was able to heal him, yet God couldn’t. “In my mind I