Bless me ultima research paper Essay

Antonio does not give up his dream of cosmos a priest, even though is severely disappointed by the Catholic religion. He becomes a diverse kind of spiritual leader, one his people are not quite ready to accept. In a dream, Antonio cries out to Jesus as he suffers on the cross My divinity, my God, why have you forsaken me (Anaya, 233). He is unable(p) to fully believe in either Catholicism or curanderismo and consequently decides to combine the two diametric perspectives to gain his own answers. Antonio ultimately becomes a man of learning as Ultima had predicted.He acquires knowledge and intelligence along the way to maturity. Antonio appreciates that life is naturally ever changing. He accepts his parents flaws as well as his brothers sins. He realizes the extent of prejudice and accepts that others, too, are not firm in their beliefs, while recognizing his own sins. The duality of westbound and Chicano cultures in his heritage is another negate Antonio must resolve. The au thor represents three different acculturations culture, integration and rejection (Black, 146). fit in to Black, Antonios brothers are assimilated into the Anglo world in ways that result in their desire to leave la familia and move into the dominant cultural sphere because they reject their heritage, they lose their culture (149). Antonio does a better business of assimilating his ethnic identity with Angle culture through adaptation the innocence which our isolation supply could not last forever, and the affairs of the town began to r distributively across our bridge and enter my life (Anaya, 14). Antonio begins his assimilation in school.He retains his heritage by speaking Spanish and eating his traditional Chicano eat of heated beans and some good, green chile wrapped in tortillas (Anaya, 54). Although, as he says, the other children saw my lunch and they laughed and pointed again, the experience reminded him of the existence of prejudice (Anaya, 54). It makes him feel diff erent until he finally finds friends who share his Chicano root and he is able to overcome his loneliness. This also helps him to realize that he can live in twain worlds.Antonio strives to learn English and stay in school, in direct contrast to the rest of his family. At home, he is educated about Chicano culture through Ultimas teachings. She urges him to appreciate the beauty of the land and embrace the old-fashioned wisdom of curanderas. His family are the instructors in such things as personal integrity and the Chicano way of life. Belief in myth as opposed to the reality presented by history also create a conflict in Antonio. According to Lamadrid, there is an important relation between myth and the socio-cultural identity of traditional Chicanos (497).He uses examples such as that of la llorona (wailing woman) to define myth as the collective interpretation and mediation of the contradictions in the historical and ecological experience of a people (Lamadrid, 496). This asse rtion becomes clear in examining Antonios commission of evil and native power he believes La llorona is luring him, but he resists and escapes death. Ultimately, Antonio learns to accept that life is the greater reality and understands the tragic consequences of life can be overcome by the magical speciality that resides in the human heart (Anaya, 237).He remembers Ultimas teachings, which help him to take lifes experiences and build strength from them and not weakness (Anaya, 248). As de Mancelos states, Antonio must understand the other side of the myth, the legends, the indigenous beliefs and the power of the realm as well as more traditional religious beliefs (5). An apocalyptic event the development of the stolon atomic bomb for use in World War II combat juxtaposes with Antonios change magnitude awareness. According to Lamadrid, the awareness of the characters of the apocalyptic threat of the atomic bombdemonstrates a real and historical mark of apocalypse (500).Upon i ts arrival, the village women dress in mourning clothes, assert that the bomb resembles a ball of black-and-blue heat beyond the imagination, beyond hell and lay the blame on ignorant Anglos Man was not made to know so muchthey compete with God, they disturb the seasons, they seek to know more than God Himself. In the end, that knowledge they seek will destroy us all (Anaya, 183). The village witnesses the loss of a large number of husbands and sons during the war while the state hosts the very first test of the atomic bomb. tear down Antonio is affected as his brothers return from service traumatized. According to the villagers, these are all signs of an apocalypse requiring the need for a synthesisin this refreshing time of crisis (Lamadrid, 500). Antonio is fortunate enough to create his own synthesis by continuing his ties to the desert and La Virgen de Guadalupe, la llorona and the brotherhood of the golden carp. His cultural conflicts are settled because of his synchronizat ion with Ultimas belief that the purpose of his life is to do good. Her final blessing, Always have the strength to live. cut life, and if despair enters your heart, look for me in the evenings when the wind is gentle and the owls sing in the hills are the words he will live by(Anaya, 247). Antonios maturity comes as the result of completing a journey which alternately takes him away from, and then back to, his heritage. The conflicts of warring factions in his life cause him to question the values and beliefs of each and come up with his own explanation. Rather than refusing his heritage, Antonio fuses the differences and acquires a richness of experience and strength of character.Along with this new understating, Antonio looks forward to a future based on the past but open to new possibilities a mature outlook indeed.Works Cited Anaya, Rudolfo. Bless Me Ultima. New York Warner Books, 1999. Black, Debra B. Times of Conflict Bless Me, Ultima as a Novel of Acculturation. Bilingual R eview, Vol. 25 (2), 2000, pp. 146-159. de Mancelos, Joao. Witchcraft, Initiation, and Cultural Identity in Rudolfo Anayas Bless Me, Ultima. Revista de Letras, serie II, 3, 2004. 129-134. Lamadrid, Enrique R. figment as the Cognitive Process of Popular Culture in Rudolfo Anayas Bless Me, Ultima The Dialectics of Knowledge. Hispania, Vol. 68, No. 3 (Sep. 1985), pp. 496-501. Stone, Dan. An Interview with Rudolfo Anaya. National Endowment for the Arts The Big Read. January 4, 2007. Retrieved October 15, 2008 from the NEA website http//www. neabigread. org/books/blessmeultima/anaya04_about. php. University of New Mexico. Writing the Southwest Rudolfo Anaya. Retrieved October 15, 2008 from the UNM website http//www. unm. edu/wrtgsw/anaya. html.