Symbolism of the Number Three in "Bless Me Ultima" Essay examples

Furthermore, his dreams influence his belief of religion. In one of his dreams it shows God as unforgiving and punishing. God tells Antonio that “vengeance is mine” (173). Towards the end of the dream, the Golden Carp appears as “ such beautiful brilliance that he became a new sun in the heavens” (176). The Golden Carp seems much more positive than the Catholic God because of how the different God was described as in his dream. Antonio believes more of the Golden Carp rather than God because God punished people while the Golden Carp “swallows everything good and evil…and…becomes…a new sun to shine its good light upon the earth” (176). In the first dream, it mentions of another power, describing it as the presence of the river. Antonio asks to save his brothers but “…sparks flew when [he] spoke. It is the presence of the river” (26). This foretells that there is another great

The wisest man asks questions pertaining to the complexities of life. However, when no answers are delivered said man seeks answers in a place that seems most correct. The spiritual life relies on believers who have strong fundamental beliefs in hope. The unshaken foundation relies on believers who give their everlasting hope and have solace in this faith alone. The faith goes deeper than understanding, but full reliance on the church and its holy deities to solve the world 's most mysterious questions, cure even the most powerful illness and still have faith when such actions do not occur. In Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima Antonio sought to find the answers he was so desperately in search for, however he never received an answer. Antonio’s religious ambivalence is created through his journey of life from several encounters, life and death alike, and not receiving answers to the questions that he most desperately sought for. The aspect of Antonio’s ideal benevolent God verses the God he was presented, and external sources, would all create different epiphanies that would lead him astray from the traditional church and into other spiritual realms. These realms would be an outlet for him to receive enlightenment to the situations of which he was presented.

His parents have ideas which conflict each other when it relates to their precious last son’s fate. Like a hawk swooping down on its prey, Ultima, an elderly curandera comes to occupy a room in the Marez residence. To everyone else in the house Ultima staying with them is negligible, but the bond Antonio and Ultima soon begin to create is the first step into Antonio’s quest in finding his fate. “When she came the beauty of the llano unfolded before my eyes, and the gurgling waters of the river sang to the hum of the turning earth. The magical time of childhood stood still, and the pulse of the living earth pressed its mystery into my living blood.”(Anaya 1) Ultima’s presence alone lifted Antonio’s spirits, even the little things such as the llano he lived on all his life that had become mundane to him, began to glisten with great importance.

As time passes within the novel, Antonio continues to dwell on the growing anguish that his parents have unknowingly placed on him. He is lost within a void of confusion and uncertainty, melding together to create a source for which his terrors feast on. After learning of the Golden Carp from Cico,Antonio later dreams of the Golden Carp which sets the backdrop for what occurs within the dream. His mother and father argue over where he was baptized and continue to press that one is right and the other is wrong. “Mother… you are saved! We are all saved! Yes, my

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

Parental pressure and religious ambivalence play a big role in Antonios life. In this dream we can easily see both of these themes. The divided world of his mother and father, and Catholicism and the religion of the Golden

An example of magical realism in the story is that of the Golden Carp. While many people would not consider it real, the concept is similar to the idea of god. The Golden Carp is something that Antonio considers magical and fascinating but is reluctant to believe in. At the bottom of page 113 Antonio says, “The Golden Carp came. Cico pointed and I turned to where the stream came out of the dark grotto of overhanging tree branches. At first I thought I must be dreaming.” (Anaya, Page #113). Even though he was enthusiastic to view the Golden Carp, once he saw it he had a hard time accepting its physical existence.

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

Antonio learns about the golden carp from Cico, a friend of his. According to Cico, the golden carp was once a god who loved the people of Antonio's town, Guadalupe. The people were not allowed to fish for the brown carp that lived in the river that flowed around the town. These fish were sacred to the gods. However, because of a drought and no food, the people had to eat the carp to survive. This angered the gods. They wanted to punish all the people by death but "they relented from killing the people. Instead, they turned the people into carp and made them live forever in the waters of the river-". The god who loved the people wished to become a carp like them to protect them from the dangers of the river. The gods agreed and "because he was a god they made him very big and colored him the color gold". Antonio cannot believe there is a new god and seeks answers from Ultima. Ultima is pleased that he has learned so much, but says she cannot tell him what to believe for he must decide for himself. The Golden Carp represents all the questions Tony has about religion and morality. Tony’s confusion is due to conflicting forces in both these aspects of life. When Cico first introduces the Carp to Tony, he is forced to make a tough decision, “Do you believe the Golden Carp is a god?” which he skillfully evades until he has the information he wants to make his decision. After the emergence of the Carp, Tony begins to question his

Antonio never was exposed to elements such as death and evil which caused confusion of what was actually right and wrong and whether if everything he knew about his religion was real to begin with. All of the deaths and other elements within the story led to Antonio’s overall tension with his own religion. The author makes religion a large aspect in Bless Me, Ultima in order to stress how important religion was for Antonio. Because of Antonio being exposed to new things like Ultima’s curandera magic and the golden carp, this created tension with Antonio’s pre-believed notion of Catholicism. In one scenario, Ultima is asked for her help in order to cure Antonio’s uncle and she was able to cure him when the church wasn’t able to.

“‘Why are you so thoughtful, Antonio?’ Ultima asked” (Anaya, 33). Ultima understands how Antonio evaluates situations well beyond his years. “It was during one of these moods of thought” (Anaya 187). Antonio sets asides portions of his day just for thinking about emotions, religion, and the world around him.

Religion is a cultural event that occurs in the life of the Lunas. Antonio’s mother brings that aspect with her when she marries with a man that has Marez blood. The presence of religion stays with Antonio throughout the course of the novel. It can easily be said that religion defines an enormous portion of who he is from the point of birth. He makes his best efforts to stay away from horrible experiences and put his thoughts out of anything that may make him doubts and God and heaven. But even for him it reaches to a point that he can’t bear with much more. But religion remains present even at home. While Antonio’s three older brothers, Andrew, Leon and Eugenio are away at war, Antonio and his family pray for them all the time and even when they have returned. They do this on a day to day basis to keep the presence of religion alive.

Or choose from the power of the golden carp or the magic of your Ultima.” Antonio has been conflicted between the three unexplainable paths of Catholicism, the golden carp, and Ultima that his mind has formed. Catholicism is something he has grown up with and has had complete faith over until he was introduced to the golden carp who Antonio had an easier time proving its existence and not question it as

Towards the end of the novel, Anaya words all of this perfectly by explaining that what Antonio had learned made him stronger inside. Antonio knew that the future was uncertain and how unclear his path had been in the past of who he should really be. Anaya expresses that Antonio was content with the choice that he would make and knew this was lead to a good life for himself. In one point of the book, Antonio looks back into the summer he spent with the Lunas and knows that it was the last summer he was truly a child. Finding oneself leads to a path of maturity and understanding who one is meant to be. He understood the purpose for his existence, and he knew that the universe created a purpose for everything, and his human understanding would continue to grow with the new discoveries he will make throughout the experience of life. In the end, Antonio found peace within himself, others, and the world around