Examples Of Transcendentalism In Bless Me Ultima

There are many challenges for people while they are growing up. In fact, these challenges are very common for most teenagers. However, many authors have written pieces with the intention to help students overcome their struggles. That is why a student who is struggling to find their inner self can trust several of the ideas of transcendentalism. In fact, Thoreau and Emerson include the ideas of optimism, intuition, and originality in many of their pieces of literature. It is clear that a teenager who is struggling developing their character should connect with the transcendent ideas from Thoreau and Emerson.

Ultima goes to stay with Antonio Marez, a young boy who lives in the llano with his parents, two sister, and three brothers. This is because

In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay titled “Self-Reliance” he speaks on the topic of the individual, creating the idea that an individual being independent leads to greatness. Emerson’s writing within this memoir is relatable to young individuals who are looking for themselves, an individual must avoid conformity and false consistency while following their own thoughts making themselves an individual. Within the essay, Emerson uses a range of rhetorical devices to prove that every individual can do great by being an individual and not like everyone else, something that young people everywhere should hear while growing up with the heinous act of peer pressure.

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

Antonio's father wants him to be a man of the land, learn to work on equipment and be crazy like the rest of the Marez men. His dad does like Ultima because she teaches him a lot about life and is a life mentor, but not quite as much as Tony’s mother likes Ultima the reason being she helps Tony with both sides of his family. I feel like i’ve had a few life mentors but I haven’t found someone like ultima is to Tony. Tony’s two sides of the family are very different just as mine are. “Gabriel, they shouted, you have a fine son! He will make a fine Vaquero!” (1.70) Antonios dads side of the family claimed him as a Vaquero the day he was born.” Mother of God, make my fourth son a priest.” (4.217) In a dream, Antonio had heard his mother ask

In the novel, Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya, with the guidance from Ultima, a curandera, Antonio is conflicted in the search for his identity with his parental expectations and background influences. Ultimas beliefs assist Antonio in deciding who’s path he wants to take when he’s older, his mother’s expectation of him

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

beauty of the llano unfolded before my eyes, and the gurgling waters of the river sang to the hum of the turning earth.”(1) Antonio’s life spun in different ways that he couldn’t seem to get a grip on, but by the help of Ultima, Antonio was able to make it through his journey of independency. Ultima is more than just a mentor figure to Toni; they have a special connection amongst each other. If Gabriel, Antonio’s father, did decide to leave the llano, Antonio would never have experienced his journey from becoming a boy to a man with the help of this curandera. Moving along in the chapter Uno, things were revealed. Maria and Gabriel differences were starting to become more

Ultima is a curandera and is partially responsible in Antonio’s everlasting life-changing experiences. Ultima is revolved with endless misunderstandings based on how she lives and what she does. Ultima plays an important role in Antonio’s choice of character and identity. Ultima teaches Antonio to think more in-depth about certain situations and to think for himself. She believes that a person has complete control of what or who they want to be as long as they take innitiative. Antonio states, “ I think I understood then what Ultima said about things changing…” (Anaya 246). That statement is when Antonio would analyze what ultima said and when his way of thinking started to change as the story progressed. Antonio also states that, “Many years later, long after Ultima was gone and I had grown to be a man, I would awaken sometimes at night and think I caught a scent of her fragrance in the cool-night breeze.”(Anaya 13). This can help the reader acknowledge just how important Ultima was to Antonio’s childhood and how she still influences him in his adult

In this situation when Ultima walks through the door and passes the test and “they could not understand the power of Ultima. But she had walked through the door so the power of la curandera was good” (135). Evidently Ultima had passed the test by walking through the door with holy nails above for if she was a witch she would not have been able to do so proving she is not evil. Even one of the men from the mob said that ultima was free of the accusation after she had passed the test. Lastly Ultima brought Antonio closer to nature and taught her ways to him, this was shown when she made Antonio speak to a plant he was going to pull out “for Ultima even the plants had a spirit, and before I dug she made me speak to the plant and tell it why I pulled it from its home in the earth” (39). Ultima gets Antonio involved with nature which helps get him more involved with the luna side of his

On the way to Tellez’s house for Ultima to lift the curse, Antonio realizes striking correlation between his parents, “...[I] learned to love the magical beauty...earth. From my mother...learned that man is of the earth, [it] nourishes him…gives...safety and security...from my father...learned that freedom of man, and that freedom is best nourished by the noble expanse of land…” (Anaya 228). Antonio reflects that he has learned how to connect with and be part of the earth from his mother while he has learned to enjoy and roam liberally about the earth. Though their lessons are different, they both have taught Antonio to love the glamour of earth. On the way to El Puerto, Antonio talks with his father“...[he said] ‘we lived two different lives, your mother and I...Perhaps it is time we gave up the old differences’…‘Perhaps I can be both’” (Anaya 247). Gabriel and María are born to be peculiar: Márez is wild and free like the whirlwind and horses, and Luna is close to the earth and quiet like the earth. Although Antonio was born between two distinctive parents, there is no necessity more him to follow of just one parent, but follow both of their paths. As shown through juxtaposition, Gabriel and María are divergent, even so, Antonio possesses both of their

Ultima is an old healer, curandera, evil yet good, wise, vengeful, protective about family, and Antonio’s mentor. She has a tremendous impact in the Luna y Márez family. Antonio’s mom, María says “When I married you and went to the Llano to live with you and raise your family, I could not have survived without la Grande ’s help” (Anaya, 3). Antonio’s mother also talks about how Ultima helped her when she was birthing her children.

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

Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his text, “Self-Reliance”, persuades the audience to adopt individualism and have confidence in his or her thoughts and actions. His actions and beliefs are reflected through the Transcendentalist movement, found by him. Emerson aims to convince society that nonconformity will lead greatness rather than isolate him from it. He achieves this by using strategies such as personification, analogy, and allusion.