Summary Of Bless Me Ultima By Rudolfo Anaya

hesis: In the novel Bless Me, Ultima, Rudolfo Anaya illustrates how Antonio Marez endures to find his own identity in a cultural society that is extremely influential. Antonio was raised in a cultural society where religion is an obligation. Objective cultural values contradict his beliefs and the way he will place himself in this society.

In Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, Antonio Maréz was just seven when Ultima began to stay in his home with his family. Antonio Maréz gained a lot of knowledge that would stick with him for the rest of his life. Ultima’s stay in Antonio Maréz’s house allowed him to learn from her and uncover realizations he would not have known without her. The moments of realization and learning transformed him into a mature seven-year-old. The people who surrounded Antonio allowed him to mature at a young age.

In the novel Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, the main character Antonio Marez tells the story of his coming of age with his curandera and mentor Ultima. Rudolfo Anaya weaves a story from the child’s point of view of good and evil, of myth and reality, and of life and death. Throughout the novel, Antonio struggles with his identity, his faith in God, his family and destiny.

Although, Rau does show that the novel does not have evil and witchcraft. Rau states, “A lot of times, many people didn’t even read the book, but they pick a chapter in which is a small portion that they disagreed with and bl[o]w it out of proportion” (Rau). This quote shows that people only read a section of the novel where it may seem bad, and try to make the whole novel seem as if it were bad to read. This novel does contain stuff that would be questionable, but overall is about Antonio trying to learn about the

A clear theme in Bless Me, Ultima is Antonio’s struggle to find who he is amidst two sides of himself: the Lunas and the vaqueros. He fears for his future, where he believes he will have to decide between the two parts of himself, and inevitably disappoint one half of the people in his life. He fears what his life will be. He fears the river. This all changes when Ultima arrives. She teaches him to love the presence of the river, and to love his life however it may come. She shows him that the river is the lifeblood of the herbs she uses to heal and save, and that he can use his life to help others as well. But her spirit, in the owl, also shows him that life, and the river, can be very dangerous (Anaya, 14).

I think Antonio’s brothers made a big influence on Antonio. When Antonio’s brothers left for war, I think Antonio realises how strong and powerful his brothers were. Antonio probably realised that they were strong men and that they had to lose their innocence to become as powerful as they were. Although, Antonio’s brothers maybe regretted the war, Antonio still got influenced by other characters in the story that it is okay to grow up and lose a part of your innocence.

          Florence- Florence is one of Atonio’s friends. Although he does not believe in God, he attends catechism lessons with his friends. Florence’s mother died when he was three. Afterwards, his father slowly killed himself with alcohol. His sisters are now prostitutes at Rosie’s house. He asks Antonio insightful questions that point out the gaps in the Catholic Religion. When Antonio becomes

The fate of many characters in Bless Me, Ultima usually has a correlation to the dreams of Antonio. On the other hand, Antonio’s fate is foretold by the actions and choices of the other characters. Not to mention, Antonio is influence by others close to him as the story revolves around the characters interacting with him. Furthermore, he is torn by the religious belief of his mother and the magical powers of Ultima.

At the end of the novel, Antonio loses his innocence and start to transition from a kid to a young man. He learned between good and evil, witnessing multiple deaths, learned that life can sometimes be unfair, the dangers of life and the tragedy of life. Antonio has grown wise after spending a lot of time with different people also learning about some of the mysteries of life that sometimes they can’t be answered not even by God and now that he has lost his innocence he now start his transition from a kid to a young

experiences, result in the loss of innocence. Even though it was tough going through all these events, Antonio receives strength that will assist him extremely throughout his life, with fights and revelations. His incidents have developed the brawny, grown man he will soon be. Transformations are always needed for us to be fully grown, even though it can be hard and

This characteristic exemplifies how the person reacts to things, even so how they look at things visually and mentally. For example, if one was to go into a church, a very peaceful and hushed environment, with no sense of knowing from what is right and what is wrong, he or she will create some nonsense that will interfere others with personal time with god. This is something that Antonio knows how to prevent since he has the mentality that gives him the ability to know from the right things to the wrong. Not knowing from what is right and what is wrong can and will leave someone doing something that will altercate with another individual. It has now been shown, Antonio has the knowledge to know from what is right and what is wrong, a characteristic that is needed in order to reduce bad altercations with

The reader can feel empathy for Antonio. Most people go through one of these conflicts in life, but not all three at the same time. Bless Me, Ultima helps conveys these conflicts to the reader. These conflicts are always going throughout the book. Bless Me, Ultima presents Antonio with a conflict on his religious views,

Bless Me, Ultima has many recurring motifs that surface during key points in the book, such as Antonio losing his innocence. After his brothers returned he had a dream of them entering a local brothel and in his dream, he pleads for them to not enter this evil place. His brothers ridiculed him for not entering and only his brother Andrew said he will not enter until Antonio has lost his innocence. His mother was also in this dream and she said "You are innocent when you do not know, but you already know too much about the flesh and blood of the Marez men". (Anaya 76) His priest tells him you are only innocent when you do not know, innocence is lost with the arrival of understanding. Antonio has seen 3 deaths, you can begin to say that he is no longer pure of innocence as it has become tainted by those deaths he has witnessed firsthand.

Antonio is a conscientiousness, analytical, curious and responsible young boy from New Mexico who has two parents from varying cultures, the llanos and vaqueros. The llanos are down to characterized as down to earth people who enjoy farming and religion while the vaqueros crave wilderness and freedom. The following influence develops a conflict because Antonio wants to incorporate the ideals from these two cultures, but his mom wants him to become a priest. During the book, Antonio questions God and his powers, but consistently keeps his faith on his religious heritage. A perfect astrological sign for Antonio is Virgo. A major Virgo characteristic is analyzing and determining logical resolutions for different conflicts. For example, Antonio

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