Diction In Bless Me Ultima

Bless Me, Ultima Spring Essay

The golden carp “made me shiver . . . the roots of everything I had ever believed in seemed shaken. If the golden carp was a god, who was the man on the cross? The Virgen?” (Anaya 81). Here, Antonio, the protagonist of the novel is confused whether he should believe the religion is born into or the one he discovered through in his journey. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya is a novel about a young boy named Antonio. Antonio goes through many phases of life; with one who is his spiritual leader, moral guider, life changer and motherly figure: Ultima. She helps him to realize the different aspects of life. With these realizations, Antonio becomes a fine young boy who understands the changes happening around him

When Antonio first accepted the Catholic god in the form of the Eucharist, he “received him gladly” and waited for the “thousand questions” that “ pushed through” his “mind” to be answered. Even though Antonio waited for the answers “the Voice . . did not answer” (Anaya, 221). Anaya’s use of diction in this excerpt, developed the mood that, Antonio was disappointed in the Catholic god. Moreover, the quote depicted how Antonio did not get any answers to questions which haunted him for so long. This delineated how the Catholic religion is not open to anything that may question the religion, ultimately suppressing a follower in the boundaries of the Catholic religion. Whereas, when Antonio first meet the golden carp he was amazed by the “The huge, beautiful form” that “glided through the blue water” and the “sudden illumination of beauty and understanding flashed through” Antonio’s “mind” (Anaya 114). Anaya portrayed how Antonio is astonished, witnessing something miraculous. Hence, this excerpt depicts how Antonio was much happier and excited when he saw the golden carp. When Antonio says, “understanding flashed through my mind” (Anaya 114), the diction builds up the mood that he got answers and knowledge from the golden carp. This juxtaposes his meeting with the Catholic god, therefore, portraying how the golden carp’s religion does not suppress its followers from

By contrasting between their actions, Antonio’s first impressions and Cico’s commentary. Through this, Anaya revealed how a religion should not control the religions follower’s freedom. A follower of a religion should never be forced to choose their path in life. On the other hand, a religion should serve as guiding path of moral and values that a person could look up to despite their path in life. While pursuing one’s religion, one should never forget themselves and their freedom in the journey of