Rudolfo A. Anaya's Bless Me, Ultima Essay

Tony loves him so thats the main reason why she gives him another chance, but he also did allot for her to realise that she could be losing her soulmate, another person who helped her find that out was her friend Jone. Jone helps her out by kicking her out of her house and telling her what a great husband she has and how she has become a better person with him.

This is an example of the advice that Tony gives Wes and it is a prime example of how Tony impacts Wes’s behavior. In Wes’s life, Tony is the one responsible for providing him with training and showing Wes the ways of violence. In fact, Tony believes that “his mission as

He learned that politics, personal life, and Christianity were of the same piece. They were not three separate things but they were one.

This quote shows that people can be different then they can be, people can ultimately change for the worst.

Death is abstruse but can make one savvy. The way one thinks may be shifted by an incident, bringing them to a point where they feel uncertain about what they believe in. All the purity and sin that comes with this life is what brings them to become equivocal and controversial as to what is right and wrong. Thoughts of doubt may not be cleared up, but it will allow one to find a path they pertain to. A novel, Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya relates to this concept in the sense that the main character Antonio Márez is conflicted due to the deaths he encounters which alters his beliefs.

The next step in Tony?s spiritual journey begins when Tony sees another god and wonders whether this god is any kinder to his people than God. Tony believed that God should have forgiven Narciso for his sins and not Tenorio because Tony was partial to Narciso. God is not partial and when he gives forgiveness to one man he must also give it to another, but Tony does not like this. God?s response was ?I will...if you also ask me to forgive Tenorio.'; (173) Tony can?t believe that his God would think of forgiving an evil man like Tenorio. Once Narciso dies and Tony sees the beauty of the golden carp Tony starts to wonder even more whether God is really as good and wonderful as Tony has been taught he is. Tony starts to

because “Tony was a certified Gangsta.” He had a reputation that Wes at the time thought was respect,

He kills Narciso in cold blood. He is a true coward and he hides behind others instead of facing those who he seeks to fight.

Since another Wes Moore's just tutor was his sibling, he was directed far from a "safe life". Despite the fact that Tony had attempted to keep Wes in school and far from drugs for as far back as Wes could remember, Tony was still somewhere involved in that game. Obviously Tony didn't have any better thoughts. Without a valid version of "manhood" that reflected trustworthiness for another Wes Moore to admire, it would be about unthinkable for him to do that for

Throughout the book Antonio’s mother expresses her dream by constantly putting pressure and stress on Tony to become a priest and not to become a Marez. "You will be like my brothers. You will be a Luna, Antonio. You will be a man of the people, and perhaps a priest." (pg. 21) Tony’s mother faces many challenges when trying to convince her son to be a Luna. One challenge that presents itself to Tony’s Mother is her husband, and the fact that he is trying to convince Antonio to be a Marez. Also, another challenge she faces is the fact that it is not her choice to make for her son. Ultimately, the choice is up to Tony to decide whether to be a Luna or a Marez. "I cannot tell you what to believe. Your father and your mother can tell you, because you are their blood, but I cannot. As you grow into manhood you must find your own truths -- " – Ultima (pg. 131) At the end, it is still not transparent what Tony chooses as his destiny. He may infact choose priesthood, but the book neglects reveal if his mothers dreams are realized, letting the reader decide if Tony chooses to be a Luna or

3). Tony has been in and out of jail since he was an adolescent. He hits, steals, and he destroys property and says he enjoys doing so "because people are stupid". He shows little remorse for his crimes, behaves impulsively, and lacks empathy for the rights and feelings of others.

Only a few books dare to discuss the confusion surrounded by a religious awakening. In Bless Me Ultima, Rudolfo Anaya, Premio Quinto Sol national Chicano literary award recipient, challenges standard religion and brings in different ideas through the perspective of a young and confused boy. Due to the new ideas that he is introduced to, the events that occurs especially deaths, and his eagerness for knowledge all leads Antonio to question his religious beliefs. At the end of his struggle to understand, the boy reaches the peace of mind he was seeking.

This is especially true for Tony in BMU as he is torn on a myriad of levels. Is he Marez or Luna? Is he a future Catholic priest or vaquero? Tony verbalizes the quandary he is in when he asks, "What life will I choose" (Anaya 41)? Through Tony's dreams, the depth of the ambivalent dilemma is elucidated.

showed his open mind, and the fact that he came to the understanding he had to change, helped

Bless Me, Ultima is a story about the maturation of a young Mexican-American boy, Antonio M’arez, struggling with many questions about his destiny, life and death, and good and evil. Ultima who comes to live with Antonio becomes his caretaker and his teacher. Antonio learns there are powers in the world that differ from his beliefs in the Catholic faith. Ultima teaches Antonio “that the tragic consequences of life can be overcome by the magical strength that resides in the human heart”. Ultima shows Antonio how to experience the magic of life with his heart and not with his eyes. For the first time, he sees the river not as something to be feared but as a source of life, “I had been afraid of the awful