Preview

Bless Me Ultima

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
577 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Bless Me Ultima
Talfud once said that, “Men see in their dreams only that what is suggested by their own thought.” In Bless Me Ultima, the passage after Narciso’s death is crucial in understanding that Antonio processes his conflicts in his dreams. This passage is key for the understanding that Antonio’s dreams are his way of processing his conflict between the Catholic God and the Golden Carp. With the processing of Antonio’s conflicts, Anaya uses extremely vivid imagery to help us understand the meaning of this passage This Passage is key in realizing Antonio resolves his conflicts between the Catholic God and the Golden Carp. The Catholic God refuses to let Antonio in to heaven during his dream because he worships the golden carp before God. God deems that “I can have [one] who has golden idols before [me]” (165) thereby forbidding Antonio from heaven because he had an idol, the golden carp, before God. God does not forgive Antonio because he is a “not a God of forgiveness” but when he does offer forgiveness God claims that Antonio must ask for Tenorio’s forgiveness also. “No! No! I cried, it is Narciso that you must forgive,”(65) Antonio refuses the idea that he, Narciso and Tenorio could all be in heaven together. While Narciso was protecting Ultima from Tenorio, Tenorio claimed that she had put a curse on Tenorio’s three daughters who were each slowly dying. After Antonio yells at God and the Virgin for wanting him to ask for forgiveness for Tenorio, too, God decides to burn the entire village for their sins. The Golden Carp comes after the fires of the Catholic God and swallows the remains of the citizens of the burnt valley up and then changes them into new perfect beings. The dream after Narciso’s murder helps Antonio settle the conflict between the Catholic God and the Golden Carp, Anaya also uses extremely vivid imagery to show that dreams help Antonio settle his conflicts.
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Antonio's Deam Analysis for "Bless Me Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya.
    • 1342 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Antonio's Deam Analysis for "Bless Me Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya.

    Antonio's second dream is also very important. Antonio is dreaming of his three brothers. They are all describing different parts of their father's dream and hope to travel and build. It is obvious that Antonio's brothers share the Marez blood with their father, but in his dream they also tell Antonio that he is a Luna (his mother's side of the family). Then his brothers become scared when they hear the cry of the river, and they say that it is the soul of Lupito calling to them so they ran away. However, Antonio shouts after them saying it is just the soul of the river. His brothers then call him for his help, so Antonio asks the river to grant his brothers their wish: to leave and build their castle on the hill. At the end of the dream Antonio's mother cries as she realizes that Antonia is growing older. Antonio has already seen the future with this dream. However, at this point in the novel his brothers have not even returned home from the war, but he knows that they will leave again right when they get home. He has also seen that there is a power in the river, and most people would consider it harmful. However, he realized that it may be a helpful power. He already feels his…

    • 1342 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    The Gods of New Mexico: Analysis of Rudolfo Anaya's Bless Me, Ultima
    • 1599 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The Gods of New Mexico: Analysis of Rudolfo Anaya's Bless Me, Ultima

    “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference” (Reinhold Niebuhr). In the novel Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya, a young boy name Antonio Marez has faith to go through his childhood life to perceive in learning new aspects and independence in Catholicism in which he goes in the real world in order to create and establish new ideas and acknowledge himself into adulthood. Through the use of religious symbolism that connects to different cultural beliefs, the author, Rudolfo Anaya seeks to explain how New Mexico’s cultures can combine with each other to create a new culture with combined religious beliefs using knowledge. Antonio discovers more about the Lunas and how it relates to him and the world he is living in while also appreciating the Virgin of Guadalupe and the religious beliefs he has for the Catholic Church. Not only that, but also becoming a true believer and having struggles going through understanding religion as the golden carp appears. Anaya does this in order to compare and contrast New Mexico with Antonio’s rite of passage into adulthood and with the growth of others during World War II. The golden carp and the Virgin of Guadalupe are two different cultures, while the moon is the one that explain who Antonio really is.…

    • 1599 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Essay On Rudolfo Anaya's Writing Style
    • 746 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Essay On Rudolfo Anaya's Writing Style

    In Bless Me, Ultima, the narrator is a young boy named Antonio who lives in a Spanish-speaking community. Anaya also incorporates many Spanish words such as “llano” to set the tone. Furthermore, instead of stating facts like Lee chooses to do, Anaya’s style goes from idea to idea, blending together with seemingly no plan of where it is going. The entire novel consists of Antonio’s river of thoughts, including his dreams and flashbacks. Along the way, Anaya adds many seemingly extraneous details, but later they will come into play. Anaya’s style also includes many flashbacks that will foreshadow events that are to come later. In Antonio’s early flashback, Anaya’s writing style is clearly shown when he flashes back to when he was…

    • 746 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Life In Bless Me Ultima By Rudolfo Anaya
    • 894 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Life In Bless Me Ultima By Rudolfo Anaya

    Although Antonio is confused about the good and the bad he does not let it get the best of him. “Aye! My man of learning!” said Maria. (53) The more he understands that he must make his own choices the more he becomes a man. He believes that his destiny must unfold just like Ultima tells him. As Antonio begins to understand he realizes that there are more than one religion in the world and not everyone believes in the same religion. He also realizes that religions change and it is not a must that he believe in one God. In the next decade, there may not even be religion. The relationship between Catholicism and folklore all comes together. Antonio can believe in both if he wants. He may make his own religion and believe his own religious beliefs. “Take the llano and the river valley, the moon and the sea, the God and the Golden Carp- and make something new,” Antonio told himself.…

    • 894 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Bless Me, Ultima Literary Analysis
    • 720 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Bless Me, Ultima 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.…

    • 720 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Holy Water In Bless Me Ultima
    • 519 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Holy Water In Bless Me Ultima

    As the destruction rises Antonio looks up and see’s Ultima. She speaks to Antonio’s parents about the two types of water. She later tells Antonio that the two types of water are one: “ The waters are one Antonio. I looked into her eyes and understood her truth” (Anaya 121). This quote explains that the two different types of water is the same water that gathers and flows to fill the seas. The resemblance of the two types of water symbolizes the two identities of Antonio’s parents and how they’re one and also identify who Antonio…

    • 519 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Bless Me Ultima - Tony
    • 838 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Bless Me Ultima - Tony

    Blood becomes the river. The human race dies and only the "she-goats and the he-goats" remain (176). The lake "cracked with laughter of madness" and the "ghosts stood and walked upon the shore" (120). Who dares dream such gruesome images? Only Antonio Marez. He argues with God and the Virgin Mary. He commutes with the dead; the dead asks him for blessings. Just who is this Tony person! You might not believe that this is only a seven year old kid, but he is the hero of Rudolfo Anaya's Bless Me, Ultima. Tony is valiant, and this courage sometimes reflects his curiously precocious nature. Precocious he is, he still is in constant mental ambivalence.<br><br>When I say Tony is brave, I don't mean that he fights demons or kill dragons, but rather that he stands for what he believe is right and he is not afraid to go to extreme measures to protect the people he love. He shows that he is a "man of the llano" when he "does[n't] run from a fight" even when confronted with Horse, the notorious bully (37). Tony also stands up against a mob for Florence; everyone wants to punish Florence for "not believing in God" (214) and Tony pushes the crowd away and refuses to give Florence the penance that Florence does not deserve. Although Tony knows that he will be given the "Indian torture" (214), he still speaks up for his friend. Anaya often presents Tony as a dependent character, never wanting to "be away from the protection of [his] mother" (51); in fact, he's so close to his mother that it seems that he's going through Oedipus's Complex. Anaya actually does this to increase the impact of Tony's bravery. One might expect Tony to stay in his undercover bushes when Tenorio is standing so close; however, when Tony hears that Tenorio knows the way to kill Ultima, the thought to warn Ultima supercedes his fear and encourages his legs to pick up and run home (255). At trying times, he "stood by Ultima" and "would have slashed out to protect Ultima" (138).<br><br>Oftentimes, Tony's…

    • 838 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Bless me Ultima, Good Vs. Evil.
    • 692 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Bless me Ultima, Good Vs. Evil.

    Bless Me Ultima, a book by Rudolfo A. Anaya, is about a young boy named Antonio who comes of age through troubling ordeals throughout the book. He is aided in this journey by a curandera named Ultima, who teaches Tony many life lessons. Anaya uses animals to symbolize such as good and evil. Representing Ultima, he uses the owl, which serves as the good character, while the coyote represents evil, portrayed by Tenorio. The Golden Carp is a symbol of Tony's confused uncertainty toward religion and morality. Anaya's portrayal of these magical characteristics shapes Tony's ascent into manhood.…

    • 692 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Bless Me Ultima Analysis
    • 822 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Bless Me Ultima Analysis

    He then has a vision of Tenorio, a drunk saloon and barber, killing Ultima by murdering her “night-spirit.” These dreams truly start to affect Antonio and Ultima suggests he go to work with his uncles in El Puerto because they can teach him about growing life and also appreciating it. On his way there, Antonio asks his father, “can a new religion be made.(Anaya, 460)” When asking this, it signifies he is trying to break free of all the opposing forces around him, and grow as a…

    • 822 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Bless Me Ultima Gender Analysis
    • 681 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Bless Me Ultima Gender Analysis

    His mother is worried, and his father is counting down the days. But no one seems to be giving him much of a choice. He will be educated, he will be a priest, he will be a farmer, he will be a Luna, he will be a Márez… “My man of learning!... My baby will be gone today,” she sobbed. “He will be all right,” Ultima said. “The sons must leave the sides of their mothers,” she said almost sternly and pulled my mother gently.” (53). Antonio is never allowed to be anything but a man of learning. Even in his times of struggle with the issue of becoming a man, Ultima is there to help him. She has no doubt that he will become a good man in time. At one point in the book, Antonio’s mother tells him it is a sin that he become a man, and yet she is also telling him that he must become a man. Her contradicting statements do not help Antonio with this struggle at all. His older brothers are also a bad influence. All they value is booze, money, and women, and they choose to go wander through foreign cities. Antonio sees the effect this has on everyone, and decides early on that he won’t be like…

    • 681 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Bless me, Ultima
    • 483 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Bless me, Ultima

    Witches usually appear in Halloween but also in a book. Bless me, Ultima written by Rudolfo Anaya. This book is about a boy, Antonio, who is choosing between his mother’s dream and his father’s dream. In the meantime, Ultima comes to live with them, and with Ultima’s help, Antonio chooses to combine his parents’ dreams both. But Tenorio, an evil person who has three witch daughters, tries to kill Ultima and Antonio. Ultima is a witch because she performs black magic and has an owl as her soul.…

    • 483 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Bless Me Ultima
    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Bless Me Ultima

    In the novel Bless Me Ultima, there is a lot of imagery to help paint a visual of what is going on. When Antonio and his family go to El Puerto, the imagery really gives a good picture. El Puerto is described as a beautiful place by saying how fresh the air is and how bright the sun was. It gives a good feeling to the place. Not all visuals are good though. After the exorcism of Uncle Lucas, he spits up something horrid. The image described is that he spit out green bile followed by a hairball that wiggles like a snake. That is enough to make a person vomit. After Ultima's death Antonio stood out side and observed his surroundings. He mentions the moonlight glittering on the pebbles across the llano and the millions of stars sparkling over head. This image sets a sad but not depressing mood. Ultima died on a beautiful night. The imagery in Bless Me Ultima Really helps paint a good picture for the story.…

    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Bless Me Ultima
    • 641 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Bless Me Ultima

    Islam and Christianity share similar ideas as the abstract religion in the coming of age novel “Bless Me, Ultima” by Rudolfo Anaya. Islam and magic each have stigmas connected to them from personal assumptions. Pagan beliefs in the novel and Christianity share the same concept of afterlife and symbolism.…

    • 641 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Bless Me Ultima
    • 583 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Bless Me Ultima

    Throughout "Bless Me, Ultima" there are numerous allusions to Antonio being, or becoming Christ. Such as in one of his dreams from the first half of the book, "It is neither! I shouted. I swung the dark robe of the priest over my shoulders then lifted my hands in the air. The mist swirled around me and sparks flew when I spoke. It is the presence of the river. Save us, my brothers cried and cowered at my words. I spoke to the presence of the river and it allowed my brothers to cross with their carpenter tools to build our castle on the hill." (Pg. 26) This symbolism of Antonio allowing his brothers to cross the river with their carpenter tools suggests that Antonio is not just a priest in his dream but Christ. Talking with the river to save the ones he loves who are carpenters.…

    • 583 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Dream of the Rood: Poem Analysis
    • 837 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Dream of the Rood: Poem Analysis

    In “The Dream of the Rood”, the unknown poet uses lines 125-156 to develop the theme of triumph achieved by Christ as a warrior king, bringing the dreamer to realize there is hope for a better life after death. The poet develops these notions by the use of heroic diction, symbolism, and irony. These lines are significant to the text as a whole because they allow the dreamer to summarize the sermon of salvation that the rood has preached. They also mark the change of reaction given by the dreamer from hopeless to hopeful.…

    • 837 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics