ipl-logo

Conflicts In Bless Me Ultima

1179 Words5 Pages

Bless Me Ultima is a novel centered around the psychological maturation of a young Chicano boy living on the plains of New Mexico. The novel begins with Ultima currandera that was invited to live with the Marez family. Antonio is preoccupied with the anxiety and nerve wrecking consciousness of attending his first day school and having to be a whole day separated from his beloved mother. Another concern of his is to know and determine his destiny. This concern is highly debated issue within his family because his mother's wants him to become a farmer priest; however, his father insists on him being a vaquero. Throughout the novel family values and religious views shape the development of Antonio and trigger a rough journey to redefine his destiny …show more content…

One specific conflict that Antonio faces in the novel is the obnoxious and competing pulls of his both his father’s and mother’s heritage. The Marez heritage of his father calls him to be a wandering cowboy, like his brothers, whereas the Luna heritage from his mother calls him to be a farmer priest. Antonio feels an obligation fulfill their desires, but he also has a desire to follow in the footsteps of his older brothers, he views them in an idealized manner. Throughout the novel both of these two warring sides seem to try to gain dominion over Antonio. When Antonio helps Ultima heal his uncle, Ultima tells Antonio "The blood of the Luna's was very thick in you”. After his beloved sons leave him and his strong dreams of moving to California Antonio’s father also seems to recognize the dominance of the Luna blood in his son. Antonio strives to portray his brothers; however, his brothers have their own expectations for him. Since they chose to follow the lifestyle of their father’s side, they insist that Antonio follow the Luna side of the family just to equally maintain the balance and lessen the disputes between the two battling families. Antonio is able to gain freedom and some independence from his expected obligations only after Ultima arrives that. This freedom and opportunity is because Ultima is not an actual member of their family, she brings a outside and more lenient perspective to his future and. Ultima helps Antonio extract himself from the demanding expectations of his family and is able make his own decisions about his future and his path in life. Ultima acts as a mentor for him and helps him cope with his uncertainties and anxieties. Towards the end of the novel that Antonio finally begins to realize and comprehend how he can actually combine and incorporate both of these contradictory heritages and disputes within

Show More
Related
1226 Words | 5 Pages

Thesis: Antonio Marez should become a priest for the family but in doing so should break the traditional Catholicism tradition barriers and be able to incorporate his own life experiences. I.Rudolfo Anaya 's novel takes place in New Mexico in a small village called El Puerto. These details are true to Anaya 's life because the main protagonist is Antonio Marez, and he is modeled similarly to his life experiences. The mother comes from a family of farmers and the father comes from a family of vaqueros creating a conflict between the two and their children especially Antonio who is still in search of his own beliefs and identity. A.New Mexico or any Hispanic country has its cultural tradition but in this novel Rudolfo portrays multiple.

Read More
783 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
1649 Words | 7 Pages

The morning of his first day of school, Maria reminds him that he is a Luna and his father adds that he is also a Marez. With everything going on, Antonio is fortunate enough to have Ultima. Ultima guides Antonio and allows him to be exposed to different aspects of life. When Antonio’s uncle became ill, the priest, and the best doctor in town has failed to cure him. To his astonishment, Ultima has cured him with

Read More
619 Words | 3 Pages

Learning to distinguish good vs evil and manage to resolve the conflicts of two different family cultures, he must learn chose his own fate. This would be a lesson for Antonio to learned has life will take away his innocent do to traumatic events that will occur

Read More
1756 Words | 8 Pages

The hero’s journey is a common theme in many mythological novels that convey the adventures the protagonist experiences as they resolve their conflicts in attempt to become their own savior. As the novels go about the hero’s decisive crisis and victories, the protagonist is often subjected to develop as he grows mentally from learning from his problems. In the novel, Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya, the story of Antonio exhibits how coming of age can be difficult. As Antonio grows older, he learns that there are many obstacles he must face and surpass, and to aid him with these challenges is his mentor, the curandera, as she brings about the mythical aspects.

Read More
1616 Words | 7 Pages

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom,” is a quote by Aristotle, providing a vivid understanding that if someone knows who they are as a person, it is difficult to persuade them into thinking otherwise. However, if one is ignorant of their identity, it is easy to provide them with conflicting thoughts as well as confusion toward their culture, customs, race or anything particularly having to do with their background. In Bless Me, Ultima, the author exhibits the most frequently used cultural conflict from the Chicano culture in rural Mexico in the 1940s and purposely clashes it with Catholicism and the English Language. The book introduces Antonio who can be described as a young boy who is prone to moral questioning, in search for

Read More
1238 Words | 5 Pages

Being Born into a Family with Two Different Backgrounds: A Conflict in Bless Me Ultima About Tony Being Influenced By Two Opposite Ways of Life In all conflicts there are always two sides which think they are superior to the condescending opponent. Sometimes in the conflicts they are facing, a force which is intertwined with both sides will have to choose a side in order to declare which side is superior. There are times when the deciding force is confused and not sure which side is actually better, so it must take time to finalize its decision. This deciding force in Bless Me, Ultima is Tony, who is puzzled about whether he should follow the path of a Luna or a Marez.

Read More
530 Words | 3 Pages

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).

Read More
783 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout Bless me Ultima, the protagonist Antonio experiences intensive trauma that would paralyze most children in fear. He preserves through his childhood trauma and instead of submitting and quitting due to the traumatic events of his past, Antonio instead embraces his experiences, learning from each one. Although all the traumatic experiences Antonio went through were traumatic and impactful, a particularly impactful event Antonio experienced which allowed great development of his personality was witnessing the death of his friend Florence. Witnessing the death of Florence caused the most trauma to Antonio, which led to the biggest changes of Antonio’s character. One example of why Florence's death was so traumatic was because of his close relationship with Antonio.

Read More
1100 Words | 5 Pages

He witnesses his family arguing over his destiny, but the arguments quickly halt as Ultima tells the men, “Cease... I pulled this baby into the light of life, so I will bury the afterbirth and the cord that once linked him to eternity. Only I will know his destiny” (6). Antonio sees in his dream that maybe he does not have to be either a Márez or Luna. Ultima opens the possibility of choice to Antonio by her knowing his true fate.

Read More
1019 Words | 5 Pages

Diaz believes that her brother doesn’t deserve her family support, but family supports each other at any moment in the life. For instance, Diaz state “my phone, come Deshacer a tus padres/ Jesus told me to, and Mon Frere”(34-35). The parents still believe that the brother can be different, but Diaz thinks that the brother just wants to separate her family. The family was getting affect by the bother, but they still are there for him.

Read More
1054 Words | 5 Pages

He lacks a sense of familial identity, which fuels him to be the loving, supportive father and husband that he is to his wife and children. The parallels between Jo and Esi demonstrate that through the initial separation of Esi from her home, it caused a generational sense of estrangement and isolation, regardless of the people around them. Blood can not be replaced, and the importance of family in the Asante

Read More
911 Words | 4 Pages

Julian’s mother sees herself as superior because her race. This differs from Julian who sees himself as superior because of his education and views. The characters both possess petty and closed- minded attributes but refuse to admit their faults. Julian and his mother take advantage of the companionship their relationship provides while retaining their individual views and

Read More
530 Words | 3 Pages

This is evident by the way Antonia constantly blames herself for things around the house: “It was my fault the house was so bad. I should've cleaned up before leaving this morning. I should've done a load of laundry. I should've checked on mom” (9). It is obvious from this quote that Antonia believes unreservedly that the state of her home life (and therefore her brothers’) is her fault.

Read More
863 Words | 4 Pages

Antoneitte’s mother is a stepmother to him and with that role comes clash between

Read More

More about Conflicts In Bless Me Ultima

Related Topics

Open Document