Summary Of Bless Me, Ultima By Rudolfo Anaya

Fascinated By What Is / What Is Not Both Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories, by Sandra Cisneros and Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya, render the coming of age theme, one in which a young person experiences a change from childhood to adulthood. These life experiences make one mature. Further, they can make one question faith, love, life or well-being. In the novel, Bless Me, Ultima, the protagonist Antonio’s experiences make him question his faith. Comparatively, in the short story “Woman Hollering Creek,” (from collection in Woman Hollering Creek) the protagonist, Cheofilas, questions love in the form of marriage. While this questioning leads to the characters’ growth, it all unfolds by way of the literary elements of symbolism and

Antonio experiences the element of symbolism by way of the River of the Carp’s two sides: the “good” and the “bad.” These meanings relate to the way they, the two sides, look physically. To illustrate, Antonio states, “No one was allowed to swim along the wall because the water was very deep and full of thick weeds…” (Anaya 253). The fact that Florence drowns on the dirty side of the River of the Carp, relates to the fact that he (Florence) also did not believe in God. This has a symbolic connection with him transitioning to a new life somewhere else. The River of the Carp was where the lord of all the waters of the valley lived known as the golden carp, a king god. Thus, the drowning on the “bad” side has meaning, and it is not “good.” Likewise in "Woman Hollering Creek’s," the myth of La Llorona, known as the sobbing lady who suffocates her own children in the river that runs behind Cheofilas' home called La Gritona, symbolizes danger. La Gritona is believed to be unsafe for anybody who goes close to it. Cheofilas hears the warning: “Don’t go out there after dark, mi’jita. Stay near the house. No es bueno para la salud. Mala suerte. Bad luck” (Cisneros 51). Although Cheofilas recalls stories she was told when she was a child, she was as yet uncertain of the myth. Still, the water symbolizes purity, renewal, and life. Thus, when La Llorona commits the sin of killing her children, she is transitioning them to a renewal of life elsewhere. Even though the myth of La Llorona engages one in mystery, Cisneros writes, “The stream sometimes only a muddy puddle in the summer, though now in the springtime, because of the rains, a good-size alive thing with a voice all on its own, all day and all night calling in its high, silver voice” (51). This shows even more mystery in the sound of what people say is her