Ultima

asking ourselves questions to fortify our curiosity. But what happens when the answers we seek don’t exist? Frustration flows through our bodies and we begin to question the principles we’ve be instilled with. The protagonist in the novel “Bless me Ultima” experiences many tragedies of doubt all at the hands of curiosity. It is this curiosity that makes him question who he is serving. Parables have portrayed the sin in curiosity, and how the lack of knowledge spawns it. It is this…

As life offers more experiences and obstacles, the degree of innocence that is within the body begins to withdraw. Experiences tend to offer knowledge, but may also instill confusion and change. As shown by Antonio, the main character in Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, the epiphanies that he underwent brought about change and altered his view of the world and his beliefs. At a tender age, the innocence of a child is often preserved and is in its purest form. However, this innocence can…

I finished the first three chapters of Bless me, Ultima in one sitting, there was something interesting about these chapters that wanted me to keep on reading. Even though, the book was slow on some pages, I had a feeling that more was to come; therefore, I kept on reading. The first three chapters doesn’t give a full understanding of what the main plot and problem will be. But from some close reading and inferencing the reader can leave these chapters with some thoughts of what is to come.…

Antonio comes to find a group of varying friends throughout Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima. Antonio’s friends are near his age, though communally rash, are remotely diverse. While watching a group of children, Antonio learns about the individuals, mentioning that he “knew Ernie like[s] to brag” and Bones is “crazier than Horse” (35). Horse himself is believed to be a fighter, that he would “rear up and paw and stomp” at Antonio after he is flipped onto his back, instead letting out a “wild,…

faith through the semi-autobiographical protagonist of 7-year-old Antonio “Tony” Márez, a young Catholic boy who explores these issues through Catholic and Pagan belief, and who holds an affinity for the Virgin Mary, in his seminal novel Bless Me, Ultima. Tony struggles between the opposing forces of his Catholic parents, neighbors,…

conflicts and situations that one encounters throughout life. Although it may seem obvious that tension could have someone feeling confused or stuck, tension is a necessary element required for development and growth. In literary works such as Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya and Everyday Use by Alice Walker, this element of familial and inner tension are used in order to create characters such as Antonio and Maggie that drastically develop throughout their story. By having this notion of…

Akua has one of the saddest lives in the novel. Every night, Akua has a dream about a firewoman. This lady would haunt Akua in her dreams and cause her to wake up screaming every morning. Although it is never confirmed, I believe that she is having a form of sleep paralysis. Sleep paralysis leaves the person who is dreaming paralyzed and unable to speak but completely conscious. Sleep paralysis is known to be one of the most terrifying things, probably why Akua screams in terror when she wakes…

Often, people live in uncertainty, keeping themselves from discovering outside-the-box ideas and never straying from the well-exercised path. Perhaps they make decisions based upon a direct idea of fate they may feel forced to follow or they simply fear the consequences, crippling any deep success in personal enlightenment. To be able to act free mindedly without confining to one specific outcome allows an expansion of opportunity and adventure to arise. The literary genre, magical realism,…

the answer . We seek to blame others, blame ourselves, reach put to a supernatural or divine power and still no clear answer. As a result of such uncertainty we develop an ambivalence that disrupts our relationship and beliefs. In the book “Bless Me Ultima” by Rudolfo Anaya, Antonio blossoms a religious ambivalence through his experiences of lost in such early stages of his life. Initially in the book, Antonio’s parents cause a crack into his conscious by planting their dreams into him and…

day, for the present and future. Circumstance drives us forward so we do not glimpse back at the past and have many regrets, but leads us to the future, where we can compose improved choices than those we may often regret. Antonio from Bless Me, Ultima and Paikea from Whale Rider both depend on a knowledgeable mentor that guides them through their youth, coexist with an animal that watches over and protects the children, but have different obstacles that hinder them from finding the meaning of…