...The novel Bless me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya is a coming-of-age, novel. The protagonist, Tony has expectations of being a priest, changes his perspective on evil , and losing a lot of family/friends. In the beginning of the novel, Tony is expected to be a priest when his mom was talking about his value of his education. When Tony’s parents were talking, his mom say’s “ He must know what he can become… A priest… for your brothers.” (52) This event causes Tony to think what he is going to be when he grows up. Tony is pressured by his parents because they have expectations of him being something he doesn’t want to be. When Tony was alone he says, “That is why my mother dreamed of me becoming a priest, because there had not been a luna priest in the...
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...Throughout “Bless Me Ultima”, written by Rudolfo Anaya, we witness a young boy named Antonio experience a multitude of vivid dreams, and the various literary devices applied by Anaya to emotionally invest the audience into Antonio’s experiences. Anaya sets the mood by using diction and he utilizes imagery to the point where we develop strong sympathetic feelings towards the main characters, or victims, in Antonio’s dreams. Many of Antonio’s dreams contain graphic descriptions of how the people appear in his subconscious. One dream in particular gives a descriptive portrayal of Narciso’s appearance and what appears to happen to him after he dies. The use of emotional appeal, foreshadowing, and vivid imagery help aid Anaya in his description of this dream by building the reader’s emotions towards what happened to Narciso and the aftermath....
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...Throughout the coming of age novel, Bless me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya, there are several moments in which the adolescent protagonist, Antonio, faces pivotal situations challenging his moral compass and maturity. At a young age, Antonio is exposed to many hardships not only within his family but in his community, causing him to question the morality of the people he loves, along with his own. The most significant instance of his personal conflict and growth throughout the novel was in chapter 8 in which he witnesses his mother and father having a strong disagreement about Antonio’s future. Furthermore, the intense conversation being had between his father and mother, created a moral dilemma for Antonio. He feels conflicted as he is unsure who is right, along...
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...When a baby is born, they will grow up and become an adolescent teenager in no time. They go through various phases of growing up while transitioning into an adult. During this time, they will figure out their likes and dislikes, their strengths and weaknesses, their personality, etc. They will create their own identity, find out who they are, and what they see for themselves in their future. In the novel, Bless Me Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya, the main character, Antonio Marez, struggles with this phase and has trouble in living up to the expectations of both of his polar opposite parents. Antonio is the son of Gabriel Marez and Maria Luna. Gabriel’s side of the family are descendants of vaqueros (cowboys), and they are described to be very...
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...Bless Me Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya is a coming of age novel being told by an adult perspective of the main character, Tony. Tony witnessed many things while growing up. For example, he saw many deaths, an exorcism, bullying, and much more. During his childhood, Tony had many dreams that allow the reader to delve into his subconscious and gain insight, that regular dialogue would not be cable of. This insight includes his religious, social, and economic views but also displays many literary devices such as symbolism, foreshadowing, and personification Tony has his first dream in chapter one. He dreams about his birth and this is the first time that Tony exhibits his family conflict. Both his parent wants different occupational paths and Tony...
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...In the novel Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, the author sets the story during and after World War II. He does this in order to develop conflict. If the book was set in the present day, then war wouldn’t have as big of an effect on society. For all of the characters in the novel, the war completely changes the course of their lives. The war causes the character, Lupito, to have terrible PTSD that drives him to the brink of insanity. He goes so crazy that he kills a police officer. The parents of the main character and narrator, Tony, are also negatively impacted by World War II. All three of their sons have to fight in the war, which causes them to worry for their safety, changing their mindsets and their lifestyles permanently. Tony’s three...
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...In the novel by Rudolfo Anaya Bless Me, Ultima, he writes about the complex, confusing, and unsettling process of a young boy finding this faith. In this novel, one of the main characters is an elderly woman called Ultima, the Curandara is central to Antonio, the young boy’s quest to find his faith. Supernatural, magic, and miracles are part of the Mexican culture and people like young Antonio Marez. The scholarly article in the journal, Atenea, by Holly E Martin, “Hybrid Voices in the Borderlands: Translation and Reconstruction of Mexican Image in Rudolfo Anaya”, analyzes the supernatural culture of the Mexican people. For example the legend of La Llorona , also known as the weeping woman. The stories o La Llorona is said to be of an Native American woman that had three kids with a Spaniard man how didn’t wan to marry her since she was a foreign woman. So he preferred to marry a Spanish woman instead. Out of sadness, grief and depression the Native American women drowned her three kids in the river then committed suicide. (Martin 63) There are so many variation to the story of La Llorona some...
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...The term culture “refers to the cumulative deposit of knowledge experience, beliefs, [and] values…acquired by a group of people in the course of generations trough individual and group striving” (Texas A&M University). Bless Me, Ultima, written by Rudolfo Anaya, discusses the theme of harmonizing contradictory viewpoints of cultural traditions. Antonio’s parents, Gabriel and María Márez, have conflicting viewpoints of how one should live life. Gabriel is a son of cowboys and wants Antonio to follow the family tradition of roaming the plains, whereas María, a devoted Catholic daughter of a farmer, prefers that Antonio follows her family tradition by becoming a priest. Antonio says that “My father had been a vaquero all his life…[but] My...
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...Rudolfo Anaya is an American author his most common novel is Bless me Ultima. He was born October 30, 1937 he was born in Pastura, New Mexico a small village located on the western edge of the Staked Plains. Anaya was the eighth child out of ten other children. In 1952 Anaya and his family moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Rudolfo wrote Bless me Ultima in 1972 and other novels as well. While in the process of writing novels he was a high school educator and also a college educator. Anaya has greatly influenced the chicano literature. Before actually getting into literature he used to write poems to girls. This also happened before he got married in 1966 but can’t remember the wife’s name. His wife was his encouragement in writing books. His...
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...Austin Matheney Professor Witschi ENGL 2220 4th December 2014 Contrasting Landscapes in Bless Me, Ultima As the pages flip, and the story unfolds, the audience begins to notice that the landscapes in Bless Me, Ultima play a vital role in many different facets of the novel. Throughout the novel, there is an obvious dichotomy between the llano, the land of the main character’s father, and El Puerto de los Lunas, the land of the main character’s mother. As Antonio, who is the focus of the novel, grows older, he is forced to make a decision between the llano and the Luna. This decision is not based upon which land to dwell upon, but rather on which path Antonio should place his life: the dreams of his father or the dreams of his mother. Rudolfo Anaya, the author of the text, also utilizes other simple landscapes, such as the river and the pond, to aid in the coming of age of Antonio. Ultimately, Antonio must choose a path in life, and Anaya implements these different landscapes in order to exemplify Antonio’s struggle and development. The land of both Antonio’s father and of Antonio’s biggest inspiration, Ultima, is the llano; a beautiful landscape of rolling hills and dark plains. At first glance, this is all that the llano holds, but the llano is much more than just a beautiful piece of land to the vaqueros, to Ultima, and to Antonio’s father. The llano represents freedom and embodies the spirit of the vaqueros, or herdsmen, who are a group of people that Antonio’s father...
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...“Bless Me, Ultima” by Rudolfo Anaya Literary Analysis 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. An important motif in “Bless Me, Ultima” are Antonio’s dreams. His dreams foreshadow major events and make him question his beliefs, especially revolving around religion. The dream that Antonio had subsequently following his witnessing of Tenorio killing Narciso, best shows why Anaya corporates them in his novel. In this dream Antonio’s guilt and young principles take over. Evil, revenge, and sin lead the end of the world as Antonio views it. At the bottom of page 176 it reads, “A new sun to shine its good light upon a new earth.” (Anaya, Page #176). Based on this text and knowledge from reading the book, we can conclude that after the earth has been destroyed and the golden carp swallows all that is good and evil, a new world is produced. Dichotomy is defined as the contrast between two things that are represented as being opposed or entirely different. What is more contradictory than good and evil? Although these terminologies are very different...
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...In the novel Bless Me Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya, a boy named Antonio witnesses many symbolic things. One major thing that really impacts Antonio is Ultima's Owl. The owl is still an owl. It is a sign of fear and usually seen as a threat. Antonio also sees it as a threat at first. Anaya states “ And with Ultima came the owl. I heard it that night for the first time in the juniper tree outside of Ultima Window. I knew it was her owl because the other owls of the llano did not come that near the house. At first I was it disturbed me”. This shows how the owl is a symbol of disturbance and fear for Antonio at first. The owl is an animal that symbolizes safety for Antonio and Ultima. The owl comforts Antonio and makes him feel safe because of the...
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...The author of Bless Me Ultima, Rudolfo Anaya, grew up in a small village in Eastern New Mexico, called Santa Rosa. He grew up in a spanish speaking and catholic family. His career as an author didn’t happen until sometime later after attending the university where he found a passion in writing. . During his university experience he would write poems and attended many different things associated with writing and reading. With the help of learning how to read he would spend most of his time in the village library on top of an old fire station. Growing up, Anaya didn't have books at home so when he was able to go to the library he would checkout many books at one time. In the book, Bless Me Ultima, all the characters that have an important...
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...Bless Me Ultima Part One In Bless Me Ultima, Rudolfo Anaya uses descriptive diction to communicate the majesty of the Golden Carp. Using words such as, beauty and grandeur, in context with the word silence, shows the power the appearance of the carp seemed to hold over the two boys. When Anaya speaks of Cico holding his hand to his chest the carp glides by it helps the reader to understand the importance of the Golden Carp. As the carp gives a “switch of its powerful tail,” the reader can infer the carp must be one of the stronger fish. The diction Anaya chose helps the reader to better visualize the importance and majesty of the carp’s appearance to the boys. Bless Me Ultima Part Two Topic | Tone | Theme | Family Expectations | Contemplative | Throughout life we try to please others without losing our way in the fight of good and evil. | Loss of Innocence | Fearful | Good vs. Evil | Objective | In Bless Me Ultima, Rudolfo Anaya, communicates a theme of family expectations through the opposing views of Tony’s parents. Tony’s mother wants her son to become a priest. This dream is fostered at the birth of her son, when he is born under a full moon. Tony’s mother’s brothers want him to become a priest and work with them on the farm because he is a Luna. Meanwhile Tony’s father hopes for his youngest son to become a vaquero or cowboy, like he once was. Tony’s father argues that his son is a Marez and he will wander the countryside like vaqueros. Tony’s...
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..."It is the blood of the Lunas to be quiet, for only a quiet man can learn the secrets of the earth that are necessary for planting. They are quiet like the moon. And it is the blood of the Márez to be wild, like the ocean from which they take their name, and the spaces of the llano that have become their home." (Anaya, p.41) To this day, Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, is a book I hold dearly to my heart. Personally, I have always struggled to understand the Mexican-American aspect of my identity. With the physical presence of the United States- Mexican border, my identity is affected when I can consider myself simultaneously both an original and foreign from these locations. As Gentzler states, “ I hope to show how the Americas comprise multiple languages; its peoples speak with multiple voices, and its citizens have multiple identities, which are, consciously or subconsciously, always involved in the process of translation.” (Gentzler, p.146) Reading Bless...
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