Bless Me Ultima Essay, Research Paper
In life there are many people and events that one will encounter that will have such an impact on their life that it will stick to them for as long as they can remember. In Rudolfo Anaya?s Bless Me Ultima, Antonio has encountered many events in his life that taught him a great deal. The events and people that Tony learned a great deal from are, Ultima- and the conversation she had with Tenorio before she cured Pedro Luna, Cico- and the golden carp, and Tony?s uncles- when he stayed with them for the summer.
In Chapter 10, Antonio?s uncle Lucas comes to seek Ultima?s help to cure their brother from a curse put on by brujas. Ultima agrees to help, and she takes Antonio with her to El Puerto to cure his uncle. After they arrive, Ultima and Tony go to Tenorio Trementina?s saloon shop to reason with him. Tony observed everything Ultima did and looked up to her a great deal. He implies this on page 86 after Ultima tells the men in the shop she seeks Tenorio; Tony states, “Her voice was strong and confident. She stood tall, with a nobleness to her stature that I had seen often when walked on the IIano. She was not afraid, and so I tried to stand like her and put my fears out of my heart.” This quote signifies that Antonio observed Ultima?s stature often and he thought of her as fearless and stood like her to get rid of his fears. Tony looked up to Ultima because he knew she was very wise, that?s what “La grande” meant. In Chapter 12 on page 115 Tony says, “I felt more attached to Ultima than I did my own mother,” which states that he felt very close and safe with Ultima, and he looked up to her, like any child would to his mother. So when they were in the saloon, Ultima?s actions and everything else she did had a positive impact on Tony.
Events of Antonio?s religious preference changes a lot throughout the novel as well. In Chapter 11 on page 105, when Tony is introduced to the golden carp, he says, ” I could not have been more entranced if I had seen the Virgin, or God Himself.” This quote signifies that the golden carp had a positive impact on Tony more than the Virgin had on him, because on page 42, Tony says, “There was no one I loved more than the Virgin.” ” God had power, he spoke and the thunder echoed through the skies; God was not always forgiving, but the Virgin was full of a quiet, peaceful love.” Tony also refers to the Virgin as “the last relief of all sinners.” All of these quotes signify that as much as Tony loves the Virgin, and how God had so much power, he refers to the golden carp as a “miraculous thing.” He then compares that to where the power of God had failed to work and Ultima?s had, which meant the way he felt about the golden carp was equa
When Tony goes to stay with his uncles in El Puerto in Chapter 22, on page 237 he says, ” The rest of the summer was good for me, good in the sense that I was filled with its richness and I made strength from everything that happened to me, so in the end not even the final tragedy could defeat me. And that is what Ultima tried to teach me, that the tragic consequences of life can be overcome by the magical strength that resides in the human heart.” This quote states that, Tony has matured while staying and working with his uncles. When he describes the respect they showed the earth and how they cared for the plants he is beginning to understand himself, that he was both, Luna-the moon and the earth from his mother, and Marez-the ocean and the wind, of his father. This signifies this on page 238 when Antonio says, “I knew that the future was uncertain and I did not yet know if I could follow in their footsteps and till the earth forever, but I did know that if I chose that life that it would be good.” Tony mentions that he thought that was the last summer, he was a true child.
Another event that happens in Antonio?s life, that sums up all his life events in one, is that he learned a great deal from the death of Ultima. At the end of the novel on page 248 Tony says, “If my uncle would of come earlier, he would of saved Ultima, but it is better not to think that way. Ultima said to take life?s experiences and build strength from them and not weaknesses.” This quote basically tells everything Ultima taught him, the wisdom and understanding he learned through her, the knowledge of him knowing the owl was her spirit when no one else did, putting his fears out of his heart which he learned from her as well, and above all, all of the knowledge she taught him by spending time with her through her cures and picking of herbs, but then again, Ultima is not the only person who influenced Antonio?s life; she is just one of the ones who had the above impact on him. Ultima would always be with Tony. You never know what you have until it?s gone, but Ultima taught Tony otherwise on page 248, “If despair enters your heart, look for me in the evenings when the wind is gentle and the owls sing in the hills, I shall be with you-.”