Bless me ultima research paper Essay

Antonio does not give up his dream of being a priest, even though is severely disappointed by the Catholic religion. He be shape ups a distinguishable kind of spiritual leader, one his multitude nuclear number 18 not quite ready to accept. In a dream, Antonio cries out to saviour as he suffers on the cross My deity, my God, why have you forsaken me (Anaya, 233). He is unable to fully believe in either Catholicism or curanderismo and consequently decides to combine the two different perspectives to gain his own answers. Antonio in the long run becomes a man of learning as Ultima had predicted.He acquires knowledge and concord along the way to maturity. Antonio instructs that bearing is natur on the wholey ever changing. He accepts his parents flaws as well as his brothers sins. He make ups the extent of prejudice and accepts that others, too, are not firm in their beliefs, succession recognizing his own sins. The duality of Western and Chicano cultures in his heritage is an other conflict Antonio must resolve. The author represents three different acculturations socialization, integration and rejection (Black, 146).According to Black, Antonios brothers are assimilated into the Anglo world in ship canal that result in their desire to leave la familia and move into the supreme cultural sphere because they reject their heritage, they lose their culture (149). Antonio does a part job of assimilating his ethnic identity with Angle culture done adaptation the innocence which our isolation sheltered could not last forever, and the personal matters of the town began to reach across our bridge and enter my life (Anaya, 14). Antonio begins his assimilation in school.He retains his heritage by speaking Spanish and take in his traditional Chicano lunch of hot beans and some good, green chile clothed in tortillas (Anaya, 54). Although, as he says, the other children saw my lunch and they laughed and pointed over again, the experience reminded him of the exis tence of prejudice (Anaya, 54). It makes him feel different until he in the end finds friends who share his Chicano roots and he is able to cross his loneliness. This too helps him to realize that he can live in both 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 ancient wisdom of curanderas. His family are the instructors in such(prenominal) 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 heavy 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 recital and mediation of the contradictions in the historical and ecologic al experience of a people (Lamadrid, 496). This assertion becomes clear in examining Antonios representation of evil and indwelling 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 loudness that re positions in the human heart (Anaya, 237).He remembers Ultimas teachings, which help him to take lifes experiences and build effectivity 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 earth as well as more than traditional religious beliefs (5). An apocalyptic event the development of the first nuclear bomb for use in World War II beleaguer juxtaposes with Antonios increasing awareness. According to Lamadrid, the awareness of the characters of the apocalyptic threat of the atomic bom bdemonstrates a real and historical dimension of manifestation (500).Upon its arrival, the hamlet women dress in mourning clothes, assert that the bomb resembles a glob of white heat beyond the imagination, beyond hell and lay the infernal 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.Even Antonio is impact 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 new time of crisis (Lamadrid, 500). Antonio is fortuitous enough to create his own synthesis by continuing his ties to the repudiate and La Virgen de Guadalupe, la llorona and the brotherhood of the golden carp. H is cultural conflicts are colonized because of his synchronicity with Ultimas belief that the purpose of his life is to do good. Her net blessing, Always have the strength to live.Love 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 end a journey which alternately takes him away from, and then back to, his heritage. The conflicts of warlike 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 expectation indeed.Works Cited Anaya, Rudolfo. Bless Me Ultima. New York Warner Books, 1999. Black, Debra B. Times of Confli ct Bless Me, Ultima as a Novel of Acculturation. Bilingual Review, Vol. 25 (2), 2000, pp. 146-159. de Mancelos, Joao. Witchcraft, Initiation, and Cultural identity operator in Rudolfo Anayas Bless Me, Ultima. Revista de Letras, serie II, 3, 2004. 129-134. Lamadrid, Enrique R.Myth as the Cognitive attend 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. composing the Southwest Rudolfo Anaya. Retrieved October 15, 2008 from the UNM website http//www. unm. edu/wrtgsw/anaya. html.