...“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...
Words: 714 - Pages: 3
...“I could not tell him that I wanted the castle of the giants to be forever, that I wanted the goat path and the hill to be for always” (Anaya 143). Symbols of childhood are valuable because they lead to the continuation of a person into adulthood. As a child, one is innocent and oblivious to the wonders of the world around them, but they develop and learn as they age to maturity. Bless Me, Ultima is a novel centered around a young boy named Antonio, who grows and changes throughout the book, going from a boy to a man. Throughout the bildungsroman Bless Me, Ultima, Rudolfo Anaya uses symbolism of the goat path – along with its cohesivity to childhood innocence – to portray that the transition to adulthood is an extensive journey gained through...
Words: 883 - Pages: 4
...Everyone in the world seeks independence, whether it be from one’s parents or from corrupt countries. At first, one copies their parent’s beliefs and traditions without question. Later on, however, a child would seek independence and create their own set of values. This concept of independence is very important in Bless Me, Ultima. When the protagonist, Antonio, first hears his brother “explode” in front of his father, he “thought [that] he must be drunk to talk to [his] father like that” (71). Throughout the novel Antonio limits himself to his parent’s values: a priest or a cowboy. With guidance from Ultima, Antonio realizes that neither option suits him well, and that perhaps a combination of professions would better suit him. Antonio...
Words: 344 - Pages: 2
...We have all sinned, no one is innocent. Most literature works portray childhood or adolescence as a time of innocence and sense of wonder, or as times of tribulation and terror. But in "Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anya, it's a state of mind. A child's mental state is still in the process of being molded through their influential surroundings, allowing them to visualize the sense of wonder and to act upon their innocence while it still remains. In the beginning of the novel, Antonio was just an innocent boy who didn't have a concern of dangerous elements around him. As the story continues, Antonio is becoming more aware of the good and evil within the world. Antonio loses his innocence in a few trials mentioned in the story. According to Anaya,...
Words: 490 - Pages: 2
...Bless Me, Ultima: A Reflection on Individuality There arrives a time in everyone’s education where they must make the conscious decision to stray away from their childish delusions. From that point forth, choosing between the truth and the safety of familiarity becomes a struggle that numerous people must overcome. Rudolfo Anaya illustrates this concept in his bildungsroman, coming of age novel, Bless Me, Ultima. Bless Me, Ultima, follows the life of six-year-old protagonist Antonio Marez as he attempts to make sense of his life in World War II-era New Mexico. For his whole life, Antonio has lived on the Llano, a barren range of land where plant life is hard to sustain; however, his life changes when Ultima, a curandera, comes to stay with...
Words: 1055 - Pages: 5
...Marisa Tobias Dr. Romo EN7317 3 April 2017 Bless Me, Ultima: Women and Power Rudolfo Anaya’s novel, Bless Me Ultima is a coming of age story of a young boy, Antonio, growing up in New Mexico in the 1940s around the end of World War II, although it is a story of self-identity, it contains feminist tones particularly in regards to the title character, Ultima and the boy’s mother, Maria. Throughout the novel, Antonio is deeply torn between his mother’s dream of him becoming a priest and his father’s desire for him to live the life of a vaquero. However, he realizes, as a result of Ultima’s guidance and lessons about his culture, that he must make his own decisions and possibly create a way of life that might not be either one of his parents’ wish. Bless Me, Ultima, in the long run, shows the importance of Chicana women as mother figures and as leaders, Ultima and Maria are important and powerful women that break free from the traditional roles that women were expected to play during that moment in history and within that patriarchal society. Anaya is “hailed for helping the Latino way of life, traditions, and values become nationally recognized with his first novel, Bless Me Ultima (1971). Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Anaya was known as the premier voice...
Words: 1517 - Pages: 7
...In the novel Bless Me,Ultima written by rudolfo anaya, Antonio's dream in chapter twenty two explains his dream and the different type of things he saw throughout his dream. This helps convey the idea of confusion between antonios religion and the suffering he's been through. We see this through the use of symbolism and imagery. In the beginning of Antonio's dream, antonio sees some type of “parade” passing with all the men Antonio had seen die. Among them was Lupito, narciso, and florence. “Finally i saw the body of florence, floating motionlessly in the dark water.”(243). THis was an example of imagery. The dark water represented sadness and death. I believe this because dark is usually a very sad color and and in funerals people wear black because of their deep sorrow .This is why the water was black instead of clear. This was also an example of imagery because, it gave so much detail it made us feel like we were part of the dream and staring at the same thing antonio was...
Words: 587 - Pages: 3
...humanities Yale University harold Bloom Bloom’s Classic Critical Views: William Shakespeare Copyright © 2010 Infobase Publishing Introduction © 2010 by Harold Bloom All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For more information contact: Bloom’s Literary Criticism An imprint of Infobase Publishing 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data William Shakespeare / edited and with an introduction by Harold Bloom : Neil Heims, volume editor. p. cm. — (Bloom’s classic critical views) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-60413-723-1 (hardcover) ISBN 978-1-4381-3425-3 (e-book) 1. Shakespeare, William, 1564–1616—Criticism and interpretation. I. Bloom, Harold. II. Heims, Neil. PR2976.W5352 2010 822.3'3—dc22 2010010067 Bloom’s Literary Criticism books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk quantities for businesses, associations, institutions, or sales promotions. Please...
Words: 239932 - Pages: 960
...Writer-Translator & Publications Officer GENEROSO M. ILANO Auditor JOSE RIZAL (1861-1896) THE FIRST FILIPINO A Biography of José Rizal by LEÓN Ma. GUERRERO with an introduction by CARLOS QUI R INO ( Awarded First Prize in the Rizal Biography Contest held under the auspices of the José Rizal National Centennial Commission in 1961) NATIONAL HISTORICAL COMMISSION Manila 1974 First Printing 1963 Second Printing 1965 Third Printing 1969 Fourth Printing 1971 Fifth Printing 1974 This Book is dedicated by the Author to the other Filipinos Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate, Nor set down aught in malice, Shakespeare: °the/Lo. Paint my picture truly like me, and not flatter me at all ; but remark all those roughnesses, pimples, warts, and everything as you see me. — Oliver Cromwell. Report me and my cause aright. The rest is silence. Shakespeare : OTHELLO PREFACE Like most Filipinos I was told about Rizal as a child, and to me, like to most, he remained only a name. In school I learned only that he had died for our country, shot by the Spaniards. I read his two novels in...
Words: 203166 - Pages: 813
...62118 0/nm 1/n1 2/nm 3/nm 4/nm 5/nm 6/nm 7/nm 8/nm 9/nm 1990s 0th/pt 1st/p 1th/tc 2nd/p 2th/tc 3rd/p 3th/tc 4th/pt 5th/pt 6th/pt 7th/pt 8th/pt 9th/pt 0s/pt a A AA AAA Aachen/M aardvark/SM Aaren/M Aarhus/M Aarika/M Aaron/M AB aback abacus/SM abaft Abagael/M Abagail/M abalone/SM abandoner/M abandon/LGDRS abandonment/SM abase/LGDSR abasement/S abaser/M abashed/UY abashment/MS abash/SDLG abate/DSRLG abated/U abatement/MS abater/M abattoir/SM Abba/M Abbe/M abbé/S abbess/SM Abbey/M abbey/MS Abbie/M Abbi/M Abbot/M abbot/MS Abbott/M abbr abbrev abbreviated/UA abbreviates/A abbreviate/XDSNG abbreviating/A abbreviation/M Abbye/M Abby/M ABC/M Abdel/M abdicate/NGDSX abdication/M abdomen/SM abdominal/YS abduct/DGS abduction/SM abductor/SM Abdul/M ab/DY abeam Abelard/M Abel/M Abelson/M Abe/M Aberdeen/M Abernathy/M aberrant/YS aberrational aberration/SM abet/S abetted abetting abettor/SM Abeu/M abeyance/MS abeyant Abey/M abhorred abhorrence/MS abhorrent/Y abhorrer/M abhorring abhor/S abidance/MS abide/JGSR abider/M abiding/Y Abidjan/M Abie/M Abigael/M Abigail/M Abigale/M Abilene/M ability/IMES abjection/MS abjectness/SM abject/SGPDY abjuration/SM abjuratory abjurer/M abjure/ZGSRD ablate/VGNSDX ablation/M ablative/SY ablaze abler/E ables/E ablest able/U abloom ablution/MS Ab/M ABM/S abnegate/NGSDX abnegation/M Abner/M abnormality/SM abnormal/SY aboard ...
Words: 113589 - Pages: 455
