The Country: The Heart of it All

In the essay “Medfield, Massachusetts,” Author John Preston recounts his childhood growing up in a small town. He recalls deep rooted connections to the community and to the history of Medfield. At first it appears that Preston’s identification to his role as a member of his hometown is secure, but as he later reveals, an irreconcilable identity conflict develops which causes him to make a very difficult choice. The theory of the formation of in-groups and their impact on how an individual’s identity is formed offers some insight into what change is taking place to Preston’s identity that will eventually cause him to seek acceptance in a new reference group outside of Medfield, the town he felt so much a part of in his youth.

In the novel 1984 by George Orwell, The Golden country is described as vibrant, beautiful, and safe, starkly juxtaposed to the descriptions of Airstrip one. The Golden Country is a dream landscape that resides inside Winston that bears striking similarities to his current surroundings in Chapter II part II in which he takes comfort in. Key sceneries are identical such as the streams full of fish and the elm trees which sway in the breeze. The vibrant descriptions alone of the Golden Country puts it in direct contrast to the city of Airstrip one. The landscape of the Golden Country embodies freedom while the landscape of Airstrip one embodies slavery, both symbolic in nature. Lengthy detail is given about the colour, shape, sound, and even the

“Good Country People” by Flannery O’Connor is a short story told in third person omniscient point of view. The story contains a lot of irony, symbolism, imagery, and many more literary devices. Flannery O’Connor’s purpose was to demonstrate how “good country people” are not so “good.” Instead, they were categorized as “trash” and “good.” The short story interprets how the characters are contradictory and how women are portrayed in 1955 as well as today’s society.

Everyone wants to believe that they are beautiful. For this reason, we tend to seek out that approval from others including our parents, friends, and other loved ones. Flannery O'Connor's story, "Good Country People," focuses on this particular theme. In her narrative, a young girl named Joy Hopewell longs for her mother's approval. When she does not find it, Joy begins to believe that she is unworthy of anyone's admiration. This basic premise allows for Manley Pointer to easily win Joy's trust. Flannery O'Connor includes this string of events in order to show the significant role parents play in developing their children's self-esteem, as well as reveal that even though Joy Hopewell begins to believe that she is not beautiful, she

Arthur Miller, author of The Crucible, writes “For them that quail to bring men out of ignorance, as I have quailed, and as you quail now when you know in all your black hearts that this be fraud” (I. 1153- 1156). Miller illustrates that there is a difference between men belonging to ignorance from having no options and men not taking opportunities to gain knowledge. The town of Salem is caught committing sins in everyone’s daily life. This town is running on fear and quick decisions because the citizens do not understand the inevitable power of God. These people have claimed witchcraft by the devil has taken these people and it is their job to prevent this on anyone else. The town quickly accuses anyone that shows a questionable action of

“Bless Me, Ultima”, published in 1972 reflects Chicano culture of the 1940s in rural Mexico, this distinct piece was written by Rudolfo Anaya; a teacher as well as a writer.

The short story “Good Country People” wrote by Flannery O’Connor is a story that shows many underlining themes about the people around us. One of the many underlying themes is that it shows that people are not always who they say they are, we see this when Hulga/Joy meets the Bible salesman, Manley Pointer. Also, people should not judge others by their looks, we see this when Hulga and Mrs. Hopewell think they are superior over everyone else. Throughout the story, Flannery O’Connor uses his description of characters, dialogue, and the use of the reality he created to show the underlying theme of the story.

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).

Children believe what their parents tell them but as they get older they start to question that which used to be unquestionable. Bless Me, Ultima is a novel by Rudolfo Anaya about a young Chicano boy, Antonio Juan Marez y Luna, who is growing up and seeing the world for how cruel it really is. A wise old curandera, or faith healer, Ultima, arrives just before Tony receives his first glimpse into the world of men. Ultima gives Tony spiritual healing throughout the book, as well as advice to keep him in harmony with nature and his spirit. The more Tony sees of death in the little town of Guadalupe, New Mexico, the more he questions the Christian God and turns towards the golden carp, a pagan god of

Literary devices are used periodically in the three stories to help the story create an image. Symbolism is used in Good Country People because Hulga’s artificial leg. Her leg stands as a representation of her broken identity from when she got shot. It represents that she does not feel pretty or have any self esteem for herself. Arturo’s flight uses imagery as a literary device. The author visually describes Arturo’s punk look. Arturo states himself as having a spiked purple hair and leather stage and creating a vivid picture to the reader. An allegory in Chrysanthemums are the flowers themselves. They represent Elisa’s strength within herself and the way she gardens them. The chrysanthemums also represents her feelings as the flowers are

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.

Feminism and Historicism play a major part in Flannery O’Connor’s short story, “Good Country People”, first published in 1955. The story focuses on the importance of identity and the parallels between truth and deception. In “Good Country People”, the Hopewell family, maintain a small farm in rural Georgia with the help of tenants the Freemans. The pious Mrs. Hopewell’s mottos ‘nothing is perfect’ and ‘it takes all kinds to make the world’ are manifested in her unmarried thirty-two year old daughter, Joy who later changes her name to Hulga, wears a prosthetic wooden leg because of a childhood accident. Hulga who has a Ph.D. in Philosophy, cannot advance her academic aspirations because of a weak heart; because of this she must live in her

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.

Bless Me, Ultima is a Chicano novel written by Rudolfo Anaya in 1972, which includes a magical realism plot. Chicano literature is especially significant in this novel because it helps create a cultural identity for the main character and his community. The novel talks about a petite boy named Antonio; throughout the book Antonio makes his best efforts to try and find the path to which he belongs, he wants to find answers about who he is and wants to learn a lot more about his religion which included getting his questions answered about god. The novel talks about the importance in Chicano literature and what impacts it has on the characters. Although Bless Me, Ultima focuses on Chicano literature and the magical

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