Hardships Of Antonio's Life Essay

(P) This thought that Antonio has builds up the possibility that he will later form a deep connection and bond with the earth and nature.

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

The final source of understanding for Antonio is God. He is expected to understand God, because his mother dreams for him to become a priest. He is also expected to believe in God because his mother is Catholic and that is what is expected of Antonio. "I hoped that in a few years the taking of the first holy communion would bring me understand"(77). Antonio is basically going through the motions that are expected of him. He is not genuinely excited to be taking his communion; it is just something that he feels he needs to do. He thinks that if he takes his first communion maybe he will have some answers for why there is good and evil going on around him. He says, "I want to know. I want to know the mysteries of

Antonio’s conflict is that both sides of his family are trying to have influence in the type of person Antonio will grow into.

Ultima helped guide young Antonio with her wisdom. As Antonio feels the loss of his

Universal among all journeys to destiny, tragic events test the perseverance and resolve of the one on his or her journey to destiny. In Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima, Antonio

Antonio was brought up speaking Spanish and his families cultural views. When Antonio begins school, he begins to experience English and how important it is in the academic world throughout the United States. Antonio is forced to learn English to speak with the other children who are not familiar with the cultural background and do not speak Spanish. Florence is his only friend that is accepting of Antonio’s culture. Florence seems to be Antonio’s escape from adulthood, whenever they are together they both always seem to be happy, innocent kids in that very moment. Antonio soon realizes that although his mother is very supportive many of his classmates are less accepting of his

As the novel proceeds, Antonio begins to spend most of his time with Ultima and his friends and less time shielded by the protection and comfort his parents and home have to offer. This time away from home serves as the catalyst to Antonio’s development into a man. The road to adulthood/becoming a man is filled with potholes, broken traffic lights and has no speed limit. In other words, it is everything but easy. On this road you hear things you don't want too , you see things you wish you hadn't, and you experience things you never have before. It must have been the coldest days of the summer

As the story unfolds, Antonio is struggling with his own mind for an answer to the sinful nature of man and the forgiveness of his God. Under the guidance of Ultima, he learns that he must decide for himself the moral basis of life and live by it so as not to drown in the world of sin he lives in. The theme is expressed when Antonio excitedly enters the church for his first communion, thinking it will bring him an understanding of that that has been troubling his mind, ”A thousand questions pushed through my mind, but the voice within me did not answer. There was only silence.” When he feels nothing at the end of the communion and wonders why his God would not answer his questions, he begins to learn that he cannot rely on his church or his priest to provide him with what he needs to define morality. He learns that moral independence is important and as he fulfilled Ultima’s dying wish, he then understood and forged his own moral independence. Another theme is that culture and blood have a great influence of one’s identity. It can be easily seen that his family’s religious ways and the pride they carry in their blood is greatly troubling Antonio on his road to finding his moral

experiences, result in the loss of innocence. Even though it was tough going through all these events, Antonio receives strength that will assist him extremely throughout his life, with fights and revelations. His incidents have developed the brawny, grown man he will soon be. Transformations are always needed for us to be fully grown, even though it can be hard and

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.

Even though Antonio has cultural conflicts, his relationship with his brothers, parents, and uncles, are very close, which is extremely significant through the novel. Antonio comes from a very close family circle and he feels as if a big weight of pressure is coming from every side of his family when it relates to determining his future. While his mother and his Luna uncles want him to become a farmer priest like their side of the family, his father and Marez uncles want him to become a vaquero like them. “Gabriel, they shouted, you have a fine son! He will make a fine Vaquero!” (5). Antonio feels an obligation to answer

His mother and her brother talk about Antonio’s future as they wish he would become another Luna. He also gets to meet his uncle, Pedro and learns about the life of a Luna, moon. Chapter 6 - Antonio is entering into the first day of school, however, his parents argue about his future once again. He cries as he crosses the bridge to school and feels the presence of Ultima’s owl and hears the songs of her labor. At lunch, he eats alone although he soon finds other outcast and finds that he is not alone.

Rudolfo Anaya introduces Antonio by showing that he is young and is adventurous. At a young age Antonio was exposed to a very traumatic situation that not a lot of boys his age experience. Antonio witness the death of a man that lived in his town. “I wanted to reach out and help him, but I was frozen by my fear. He looked up at me and his face was bathed in water and flowing, hot

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