...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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...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 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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...Bless Me Ultima Analysis In the novel “Bless Me Ultima” by Rudolfo Anaya expresses a young child named Antonio, coming to age, making his own choices, and last understanding the ways of life. “The magical time of childhood stood still, and pulse of the living earth pressed its mystery into my living blood” (chapter 1). Antonio preaches, his childhood memories and knowledge is still their, but he seen too much as a kid so he is a lot more mature than other kids his age. As being said Antonio still has a lot of mysteries to find throughout his life. As he proceeds through his life he will start growing up and seeing more things. Rudolfo Anaya expresses Antonios coming of age moments by using questions and clues to find his own answer. “The...
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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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