In life we face conflicts on a daily basis and usually find a resolution to them, but what happens when you're conflicted between the unknown and known? In religion we believe and have faith in what we can't see and are usually in a battle with believing what we can see. Rudolfo Anaya presents us Antonio Marez, son of a Catholic mother and a skeptic vaquero father in a tale known as Bless Me, Ultima. With faith in what he believes, Antonio goes through a resurrecting encounter with the last; Ultima.
" the beginning that came with ultima " (1) is one that Antonio Marez will surely never forget. Perceived as an outsider, Ultima is a curandera, one who knows the herbs of the earth and the remedies they provide. Ultima has known the family for
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His worries, responsibilities and his intelligence all ponder different points in his struggles between his spiritual and secular thoughts. The absence of Antonio's 3 older brothers who are at war incites a pressure on Antonio to be the "golden child". On top of that, Antonio has to deal with the burden of parental expectations; his mom wanting him to be a priest and his father wanting him to fulfill the dream that neither he or his brothers could accomplish. Acres of room for Antonio to go completely insane but this is where the importance of the oh so wise Ultima comes …show more content…
Maria puts pressure on Antonio to be a priest while Antonio feels an inner peace when he's with Ultima but this does come with a crucial realization. It could be argued that by having glimpses of Ultimas lifestyle Antonio has realized he has been within sin and that he lost his innocence a long time ago. His mind and beliefs are not confined to the thought of religion as they used to. This all ties with the idea of wisdom being an interpretation of experiences; the idea of being ascertained to sin and realizing he was no longer innocent made Antonios struggle between secular and spiritual thoughts even more gargantuan than it already was. A harbinger of Ultimas role in a relentless
Juan, with numerous failed attempts in getting his family to safety, once lost his patience with God crying, “What’s wrong with You? I thought we had a deal!” (137). As the chapter progresses, Juan suddenly experiences religious inspiration, and “instead of feeling abandoned by God, he felt close to Him” (138) showing how frustration generates a stronger connection between man and God. In addition, Doña Margarita teaches Salvador to avoid frustration by using the power of God “for this is God’s great plan, that people rise up beyond their personal hatreds” (471).
In one part of your life you go through a stage where you question yourself of who or what you will become in the future. The author presents different cultures throughout the novel, and only these two cultures seem to play a role in Antonios journey to reveal his own identity. It is with the help of Ultima that he is able to oversee these two cultures and finally zoom out and understand that everyone has their different beliefs and customs. In the novel it states, "But from my father and Ultima I had learned that the greater immortality is in the freedom of man, and that freedom is best nourished by the noble expanse of land and air and pure, white sky"(Anaya 228). In other words Ultima is the one who led the way for Antonio in order for him to see and accept the way other people think and how their way of life is.
In Bless Me, Ultima it mentioned a curandera. A curandera is someone who cures with herbs and magic. “It was because Ultima was a curandera, a woman who knew the herbs and remedies of ancients, a miracle-worker who could heal the sick.” (Anaya, 4) The role of a curandera in the pueblo communities of New Mexico is to help anyone with medical issues. Many believed she was a bruja, or a witch.
The pressure from his family and peers to become a priest forces him to conform to their ideas however as he meets people with diverse backgrounds he begins to question inwardly. Antonio’s
Loyola found himself in many tight situations, including visits from the Inquisition. Upon his arrest in Alcala, Loyola stated, “He whose love I entered here will get me out” (Loyola, 63). In theory, Loyola represented submission to God’s plan as important,
While there are numerous examples of conflict throughout Bless Me, Ultima, the most prominent examples are the “Man vs. Self” conflicts Antonio faces. One such conflict—a multifaceted struggle that ultimately becomes one of the most prominent in the novel—concerns his religious beliefs. Antonio’s mother is a devout Catholic and raises her children to be followers of the religion as well, but Antonio struggles with the concept of the all-powerful God and the fact that such a God would punish good people while forgiving those whom Antonio deemed “evil,” and at one point thinks that perhaps God does not help him because He is “too busy in heaven to worry or care about” Antonio and his friends and family (187). Antonio also doubts that God truly is all-powerful, as He couldn’t alleviate the Téllez family’s curse, and He could save neither Lupito nor Narciso, and therefore thinks it “doesn’t seem right” that He has “the right to send you to hell or heaven when you died.” (236) Yet despite his doubts, some part of Antonio clings to his upbringing and what his mother taught him, as he is seen desperately clinging to his religious beliefs, such as when he restrains himself from seeking too much knowledge despite his curiosity, for fear that he might commit “the original sin of Adam and Eve” (197).
Soon after he takes his communion, he waits for the answers from God to enter his mind but nothing happens. Antonio matures religiously by accepting that God cannot answer all his questions about life all at once. Antonio felt he had given his hopes up in
The Spirit of the Llano Magical realism is when magical elements or illogical scenarios appear in an otherwise realistic or normal setting. In Bless Me, Ultima there are many elements of magical realism which occur in the sacred town Tony Marez spends his childhood in. Tony is the character Rudolfo Anaya uses to share personal experience he had as a child. From start to finish, the story consistently portrays imagery and personification to give the land of New Mexico a life of its own. Tony describes his magical experience when he first meets Ultima as “her eyes swept the surrounding hills and through them he saw for the first time the wild beauty of their hills and the magic of the green river.
Closing statement: At the end of the novel, Rudolfo Anaya describes that the goodness of a person is based solely on their actions. Although Ultima has done bad, the amount of good she has done in her lifetime overpowers that, unlike Tenorio who only possesses bad. It has been made clear that distinguishing the line between good and evil is not a clean cut. This promotes Antonio’s growth and maturity, and is one of Antonio’s most valuable lesson in
In Bless me Ultima, Antonio struggles to choose what path in life he wants to take. Antonio’s parents come from very different families and both think Antonio should follow the lifestyle of their family’s side. Antonio’s mother wants her son to follow in the footsteps of the Lunas and become a servant of God, a priest. On the other hand, his father dreams of him and his son venturing to California and starting a new life full of adventure. His parents’ constant disagreement about Antonio’s destiny causes an internal conflict that wreaks havoc on him throughout the book.
The first time Antonio feels the loss of innocence is through the death of Lupito, a mad man shot by a mob for killing the town’s sheriff. Lupito’s death affected Antonio greatly for it being the first traumatic death he has ever seen, but later triggered the questioning of life after death once you have sinned against
Especially, when he is borrowing 3,000 ducats from Shylock for Bassanio and has to give up a pound of his own meat if he can 't return the loan the limit of time. Antonio is willing to sacrifice his life in the hope that Bassanio will receive happiness. Even when he heard the news that his ship might have been wrecked he tells Bassanio not worry. This is proven when Antonio says, “And for the Jew’s bond which he hath of me, Let it not enter in your mind of love”(2.8.43-4). He didn’t want Bassanio to leave when, “Turning his face, he put his hand behind him, And with affection wondrous sensible
What makes this choice equally difficult is having to choose whether to go against their parents wishes or against their own. In the book Bless Me, Ultima, Antonio (the protagonist) is face with the fact that God’s power failed to heal his uncle, yet, Ultimas power’s were able to. He also encounters another god that he is actually able to see with his own two eyes which, ultimately confuses Antonio even more. He states “Why had the power of God failed to cure my uncle?
Antonio’s friend Cico, teaches him about all these new things will reminding him of how God is, “The god of the church is a jealous god; he cannot live in peace with other gods. He would instruct his priests to kill the golden carp-” (237). Cico wants to protect the golden carp from the wrath of God but his implacable will to keep his god safe starts to stir ideas in Tony’s head. Antonio doubted the church is the
There are several examples in the play that signal to us, as the audience, their closeness and dearness of each other and what that illustrates about their respective characters. Antonio is a very understanding person. In Act 1 scene1, Bassanio is alone with Antonio and they have a discussion on Bassanio’s desire to take his chance on marrying Portia. To do so, he will need sufficient funds (which he does not have) hence, he comes to Antonio for help.