Bless Me Ultima Essay

Bless Me, Ultima Essay
Stephanie Granados
Caleb
English, Big Lit
Bless me, Ultima draft #1
Bless me, Ultima is a novel by Rudolfo Anaya that takes place in a poor farming community in
Guadalupe, New Mexico. Antonio, the main character in the book, at such a young age he is
witness to death, violence and evil. He is forced to make decisions that will affect his future. As this
takes place Antonio is surrounded by various conflicts that in a way help him make his decisions.
These conflicts; Good versus Evil, Mother versus Father and various religious conflicts are also the
main themes in the novel.
Throughout the novel the theme "Good versus Evil" is portrayed by two characters, Ultima and
Tenorio. Ultima, a healer, being essentially good and Tenorio...show more content...
Before curing Lucas, Ultima asked his brother if he would accept the responsibility of disturbing
fate and he accepted. These kinds of events continue to happen all throughout the story. Tenorio
tries to kill Ultima because according to him, she is responsible for his daughter's deaths. Towards
the end of the story he finds out that Ultima's owl is actually her spirit so he goes after the owl.
Antonio tries to warn Ultima but is not able to do anything about it. Ultima's owl is shot, causing
Ultima's death and so is Tenorio as he tries to shoot Antonio. Before Ultima's dies, she speaks to
Tony'
"'My work was to do good,' she continued, 'I was to heal the sick and show them the path of
goodness. But I was not to interfere with the destiny of any man. Those who wallow in evil and
brujeria cannot understand this. They create a disharmony that in the end reaches out and destroys
life–with the passing away of Tenorio and myself the meddling will be done with, harmony will be
reconstituted. That is good. Bear him no ill will – I accept my death because I accepted to work for
life–'"
With these last words and events the conflicts and problems come to an end and a resolution.
Another theme that deals with Antonio more directly is the conflict between both sides of his
family, his mother and his father's. Antonio's mother is a Luna, her people are more devoted to the
"campos," the earth, the moon and they are calm and peaceful, while his father
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Bless Me Ultima Essay
Blood becomes the river. The human race dies and only the "she–goats and the he–goats" (109)
remain. The lake "cracked with laughter of madness" and the "ghosts stood and walked upon the
shore".(109) Who dares dream such gruesome images? Antonio Marez. He questions God, he
communicates with the dead, the dead ask him for blessings. Just who is this Tony? Tony is only a
seven year boy who lives in small town of El Puerto. But he is no ordinary boy, he is the hero of
Rudolfo Anaya's Bless Me Ultima. The novel guides you through Tony's life. From childhood to
adulthood. It tells you about the experiences Tony has in life. The difficult tasks he has to
overcome. Tony being only seven years old has to go through a lot....show more content...
(26) he feels his soul grow under Ultima guidance. One of Tony's obstacles in life is to become a
man. His mother does not want him to become a man but his father argues saying "everything
Tony sees and does makes him a man"(37) but Maria says that it is a sin for a boy to grow to be a
man by saying that "life destroys the pureness God gives". (36) but this is not the only diction
Tony has to make. His first dream portrays his insecurity about his identity. He has to choose
between the two is he a "fine vaquero" or a "farmer–priest"(9) He is confused, on one side its his
mother and on the other its his father. Who should he become? He is also confused about which
God to believe in. the golden Carp, who he marvels at the "bright golden–pagan God"(114) on the
other side the catholic God "who could not forgive"(120) He does not understand why God
cannot forgive Narcisio who is a good man while the Virgin Mary can forgive the evil Teronio.
Tony is confused throughout most of the novel. Tony believes that the women always forgive,
therefore in his child's logic he thinks women in general do not judge but always forgive. He has a
lot of decisions to make. He remembers his dream where he sees Andrew at Rosie's and remembers
what Andrew had told him in his dream that Andrew "will wait and not enter until (Tony) looses
(his) innocence".(85) Tony's belief that

Angella Conteh
September 20, 2017
Mr. Amoroso
AP Literature 1
Bless Me Ultima
Rudolfo Anaya
Topic #4
Conteh Page One
Death is a promise by God that we as humans still have not found the courage to accept nor
comprehend. Good or bad. Old or young. God has promised us all an eternal resting place in heaven
or hell, or even in someone. Where we can live through their thoughts and imagination, get a second
chance at life through them. Throughout Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya we see how the dead
linger and live in Antonio, unfolding their souls in his inquisitive mind and hand him the bricks to
make them a home of his religious ambivalence.
Life experiences are the foundation of the bridge that a boy of innocence has...show more content...
Engraved in his mind Lupito was tormented by the memories of war causing him to become a beast
with a war living in him.
With the fear of Lupito's irrational behavior in their hearts, the men on the bridge filled the role of
God in Lupito's life and deliberated whether or not they would let him live to see another day.
Narciso knowing the man before the beast wants to give his friend Lupito another chance at life and
begs him to stop but Lupito is too far in
Conteh Page Two now to to turn back and fires shots in the air, causing the men in a panic to fire
back. With death now only a few breaths away the war within Lupito has found peace but before he
can go he must be blessed. Having spot Antonio hiding in the brush of the river he began moving
towards him and in his last breaths asked to be blessed. With the men on the bridge now coming
down to view the carcass Antonio flees the scene. Running home through the forest the only thing in
his mind is the Act of Contrition, the last prayer before death.
The tragic death of Lupito sparked the fire of religious ambivalence that will burn bright in the
conflicted mind of Antonio. His innocent mind was now engraved with the dying man's last wish
to be blessed causing him to question if God had also witnessed Lupito's demise and if so why did
would he let him have front row seats. With his innocence now ripped from the

Essay on Bless Me, Ultima
Wisdom can only be gained through experience and clarified by speaking with others. In the novel,
"Bless Me, Ultima," by Rodolfo Anaya, the main character, Antonio Luna Marez, is on a quest to
understand all of the issues present in his life, and gain the wisdom necessary to make important
decisions regarding his future. It described the hardships of a young child and how these lessons
helped him to begin to understand life. There were many characters within the novel I felt aided in
the spiritual development of Antonio, but the one that stands out the most is Ultima, who came to
stay with the Marez family because of her old age. Ultima was an essential part of the story, because
she provided Antonio with the guidance he needed and yearned...show more content...
She tells Tony that they are too wild, and always moving, hauling their families from place to place.
Maria is a traditional Mexican wife, she feels that children should be well mannered and respect all
adults. "–And when he returns, I want you children to show your manners. You must not shame your
father or your mother (7)," she tells her children while preparing for the arrival of Ultima. "My
mother beamed. Deborah's good manners surprised her, but they made her happy, because a family
was judged by its manners (11)," Antonio tries to describe the feelings that his mother has when his
sister demonstrated good manners toward Ultima. Maria wants her family to respectable, because
those families that are not are talked about in the community. She wants to be the best mother
possible, and tries to make them realize that without certain things a family will not survive. She
stays home and cooks and cleans for her family, because that is what was customary for the
traditional Mexican wife to do. "The first day she put on her apron and helped my mother with
breakfast, later she swept the house and then helped my mother wash our clothes in the old washing
machine (14), Anthony explaining what his mothers daily activities consisted of. Maria tended her
garden and did things close to home, she never went out and did things with her friends,

Bless Me, Ultima Essay
The loss of innocence in life is an inevitable process. Losing one&#8217;s innocence comes
merely by growing up. The philosophy of the loss of one&#8217;s innocence is a definite
theme in the book Bless Me, Ultima. This theme is displayed throughout the entire story and plot
of the novel. There is loss of innocence all around the main character, Tony, with his brothers and
the people he meets. Tony also loses a great deal of his own innocence to the harsh realities of the
world which marks his transition from a boy to a man.
The theme of the loss of innocence covers the entire essence of the book. There are many cases in
the story where people had lost their innocence of life and it was lost to them...show more content...
Also the way they talk and act show how their childhood innocence is floating away while they
don&#8217;t even know it. Then, there is the big example in one of Tony&#8217;s
friends, Florence. An atheist, he didn&#8217;t accept the god of the church whom so many
others in the town believed in. He didn&#8217;t have any faith in anything only because his
life had gone through too much pain and harsh experiences. It is understandable of how Florence
feels about life and god because of what he had gone through, his parents were dead, her sisters
were whores at Rosie&#8217;s, he had seen and was exposed to too much in such a short time.
Children aren&#8217;t supposed to live through things like Florence experienced and that is
what happened to Florence, he knew too much and was yet so young so he had no faith or could not
believe in anything.
Tony himself went through the process of growing up and losing his innocence as well throughout
the novel. In the beginning of the whole story, Tony is concerned with nothing much but his own
little world like every child ought to be. His worries and experiences are really nothing compared
to what he had in store for him later on, but although his later experiences would be rather unreal it
still would be how any child would grow up, very gradual learning and taking things in stride. So as
the story

Bless Me Ultima
LAP Topic 2
Brian Sandoval
Mr. Amoroso
AP Literature Period 1 Brian Sandoval 9/20/17
Mr. Amoroso AP Literature
Bless Me Ultima Topic 2
The demons that haunt one by day do not go away by night; they merely lie in wait until one is
sound asleep, ready to strike once more. Dreams are manifestations of one's inner thoughts, both
pleasurable and frightening. It is the brain's way of working through the problems that plague the
mind, serving as a warning system and giving premonitions of events to come. Antonio Marez, the
protagonist of Rudolfo Anaya's "Bless Me Ultima", experiences several dreams that serve as
reminders to the reader as to how troubled he is due to the circumstances he...show more content...
Despite the fact that Antonio is only a newborn, the two sides of the family have already
predetermined his path in life. His mother, Maria, wants Antonio to become a priest while his
father, Gabriel, would rather him be free and follow in his example. Both parents want to instill
their own aspirations upon him and partake in a mentalgame of tug of war with Antonio, the
youngest and last son of the family, the final chance to make one of his parent's dreams a reality.
At a young age, Antonio is forced to come to a consensus of which parent will he please and
which one will he forsake. This fact lingers over him and often resurfaces within his dreams.
Though he doesn't yet have to reach a decision, this dream acts as a cautionary reminder that he will
have to soon in the future as it slowly approaches.
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

Essay on Bless Me Ultima
Jasmine Tran
Ms. Brzowski
English 2 PDP – Period 1
09.12.2012
Seminar Notes: Bless Me Ultima
1.Bless Me Ultima fits the description of "magical realism" because the story talks a lot about a
curandera named Ultima. As we all know, a curandera is a healer. Rudolfo Anaya portrays Ultima
as this old lady who has magical and spiritual powers. She seems to bring life to things around her.
"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 it mystery into my living blood." (Anaya, 1)
"Your daughter will not lift the curse, and so I must work the magic beyond evil, the...show more
content...
The owl was her soul!" (Anaya, 255)
"I realized that the owl had been with me throughout the night. It had watched over all that had
happened on the bridge. Suddenly the terrible, dark fear that had possessed me was gone." (Anaya,
23)
4. The significance of the story of the Golden Carp to Tony was that it made him question about
gods. He knew of one God that he was told to always believe, which is God himself, but now he
was told about another God which makes him question his religion and who he should believe in.
He felt like he was sinning for having these thoughts. The significance of the story to Cico was that
the Golden Carp was his god. He believed in it and prayed to it.
" 'Do you believe the golden carp is a god?' he asked. The commandment of the Lord said, Though
shlat have no other gods before me... I could not lie. I knew he would find the lie in my eyes if I did.
But maybe there were other gods? Why had the power of God failed to cure my uncle?" (Anaya, 107)
5.Cico trusted Tony with the story of the carp because he said that Tony was a fisherman. Cico
said there isn't an exact rule on who to tell the story, it is just the feeling on who they think they can
trust. In the process of Tony's spiritual maturity, the carp represents Tony's innocence in a way. He
has always known to believe in one god, but now he is questioning this other god and his religion,
but it also brought him closer to God.
" 'Because you are a fisherman,'

Essay On Bless Me Ultima
In the book Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya, the author introduces Ultima as a curandera,
someone who knows "the herbs and remedies of the ancients." (P. 4). Ultima used this
knowledge–passed down through generations––to heal people who were ill or hurt. Many people
were very grateful to Ultima when she performed the impossible and healed their loved ones. But, in
a small pueblo town where Catholicism was practiced religiously, people often still believed the
spiritual healing that curanderas used made them "brujas," or witches. Despite the good she did in
the community and the people she helped, some remained convinced that she practiced witchcraft.
Those were people that created many problems throughout the story. Antonio faces many problems
in the book because everyone in his life wants something different thing for him, and for...show more
content...
10). It wasn't until he would go to school that he would start to learn how to speak English. Antonio's
sister told him that the teachers don't let the children speak in Spanish, making Antonio scared that
he wouldn't be able to communicate with his teachers. Language shapes identity in Bless me, Ultima
by showing one of the major problems that Antonio faces throughout the book. Growing up in a
Spanish household and going to an English speaking school shows how he has to adapt to the
different lifestyles and customs. Dichotomy is represented several times throughout the novel. For
example, one cultural difference is in the American culture we regularly visit doctors to receive
medical attention. On the other hand, in the Mexican culture people go to local healers, the
"curanderas." The second example is the different beliefs on the practices that Ultima uses. Many
people say Ultima is doing good and her ways are ethical, while others say she is using witchcraft
rather than using herbs and natural

Bless Me Ultima Essay

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Bless Me Ultima Essay