Today I finished reading Rudolfo Anaya's Bless Me, Ultima and honestly, I thought it was a wonderful book, but the ending disappointed me. From Diecisiete to Diecinueve, Anaya formated those chapters as three important steps of Antonio's faith: catechism, Ash Wednesday which included his act of being a priest to the other children and his first confession, and Easter Sunday which included his first communion. These steps were important to Antonio attaining understanding with God and finally being able to have God within him, able to answer his numerous questions. However, just as God failed to fight evil from killing Lupito, helping his Uncle Lucas, and killing Narciso, God fails to answer Antonio's questions and remains silent. Even after Antonio has received his first holy communion, God is silent. When God doesn't answer Antonio, he begins to doubt his faith and if God is really everywhere. At the end of Diecisiete, Anaya writes I a really detailed comparison of eternity that Father Byrnes tells the children. The astonishment it gave the audience was overwhelming. The startling truth of what a day of eternity was made the comparison easy to understand, and gave the audience an image.
In the last couple of chapters, Anaya used a couple of rhetorical techniques to hint to his audience of a bad future coming. Anaya foreshadows Ultima's death through Antonio's dream. Another time myself personally could tell something bad was going to happen was when Antonio's uncle left him and Antonio was walking to his grandfather's house alone. You know when you begin reading a passage and just the way things are happening, you know something bad is going to happen? Well, I had that feeling as soon as Antonio's uncle sent him to walk alone.
Finally, one of the few things I disliked about Bless Me, Ultima was how Anaya ended it. After reading the end of Ultima's death, I was still left wondering about Antonio and his future. After his act of being the priest to the children, the audience can tell he won't be their priest along with his unanswered questions to God. Maybe that was Anaya's reason though. He makes his audience decide who Antonio will become.
Showing posts with label Rudolfo Anaya. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rudolfo Anaya. Show all posts
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Bless Me, Ultima (Chpts 13-16)
After the question left at the end of Doce, la Ultima's fate is less safe with the death of Narciso. The irony surrounding that particular event really troubled me. First, Narciso's fight with Tenorio, and how the people from inside the bar only intervened to stop the fight, but they did not think to warn the Marez family about the trouble Tenorio might bring. Then, when Narciso approaches Andrew at Rosie's house, Andrew does not want to even go to his family's aid! He tells Narciso, "Oh, is that all. You had me worried for a moment, amigo," (Anaya 165) in response to the news about Tenorio. When Andrew says that, I knew he didn't care to even go home to protect his family and his life in Guadalupe was not going to be permanent. Another aspect of this journey home from the play involves Antonio. Seeing Andrew at Rosie's with a girl is not something that Antonio intended to realize. This makes him question how he has sinned since Andrew made a promise not to enter until Antonio's innocence was lost. Another part of Narciso's death that impacted Antonio was that he gave Narciso confession before he died. This action really makes me believe that Antonio's fate is more towards the role of a priest or a similar leadership, make-a-difference role. Anaya also writes a lot of Antonio questioning his beliefs and religion in this section, with regards to an all-forgiving god. When Anaya writes of Antonio's questioning and dream about this issue, it becomes somewhat hypocritical when Antonio does not wish for Tenorio to be forgiven, but the god is all-forgiving. Anaya is not only trying to convey to his audience that there can be no exceptions with gods, but also that forgiveness can be given to everyone. It is not always easy to give it to those whom you don't think deserve it, but forgiveness can be given to everyone. Anaya definitely cues the theme of forgiveness in Bless Me, Ultima through Antonio's dream.
One rhetorical technique that was particularly effective in this selection was when Anaya wrote about the boys taking all of the roles in the school play. If slowly read and with efferent reading, the audience can understand every little humorous detail of the play. Since I managed to read slow and catch all of the names of which boy was doing what, I found the scene quite humorous. However, with the numerous different names thrown around and the humor with each name was only fully understood with recall. Other than the predictions written above, I predict that Jason will witness a murder or has already witnessed a murder because Anaya writes, "I even lost touch with Jason, which was too bad because I learned later that he would have understood," (Anaya 186). I look forward to completing the final chapters of Bless Me, Ultima.
One rhetorical technique that was particularly effective in this selection was when Anaya wrote about the boys taking all of the roles in the school play. If slowly read and with efferent reading, the audience can understand every little humorous detail of the play. Since I managed to read slow and catch all of the names of which boy was doing what, I found the scene quite humorous. However, with the numerous different names thrown around and the humor with each name was only fully understood with recall. Other than the predictions written above, I predict that Jason will witness a murder or has already witnessed a murder because Anaya writes, "I even lost touch with Jason, which was too bad because I learned later that he would have understood," (Anaya 186). I look forward to completing the final chapters of Bless Me, Ultima.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Bless Me, Ultima (Chpts 8-12)
When I look back on the first seven chapters and compare them, chapters ocho to doce were full of those interest-peaking adventures that actually kept me reading. Anaya really knew how to pull his audience in when he wrote these chapters. My prediction about the family unrest and the brothers not wanting to go to California came true, as Eugene and Leon leave Guadalupe. However, Andrew stays which kind of surprised me since I did not believe any one of the brothers were going to stay. Another one of my predictions came true about Antonio's progress with school because his teacher and the principal pass him straight from first to third grade. After Antonio receives this news, he doesn't go straight home, but rather he "realized that he could make decisions," (Anaya 77), and went fishing with Samuel.
While Antonio is fishing with Samuel, Rudolfo Anaya uses another cue in the structure of his words. Just as he previously italicized the word presence, he now italicizes the people, whom are the people that were turned into carps for eating them a long time ago. The presence and the people are definitely connected to the water surrounding Guadalupe and the effect that they have on Antonio. Samuel tells Antonio the story of the carps and begins to tell him of the golden carp, but leaves the remaining of the story for a later time. Cico does eventually find Antonio and shows him the golden carp and its beauty with the story behind it. One thing I noticed about when Cico approaches Antonio and questions him about the golden carp is that Antonio was completely honest in his responses with his knowledge of the commandments and his devout respect of them. From this experience, I predict that Antonio's future is narrowed away from the wild blood of the Marez's. His future holds for a priest of the Lunas or a future following la Ultima's footsteps. Another prediction also comes from the story of the golden carp. Cico says to Antonio, "The golden carp has warned us that the land cannot take the weight of the sins--the land will finally sink!" (Anaya 118). I predict sometime before the end of the book that the town of Guadalupe will have a massive flood or just an overflow of water onto the land.
One event in these chapters that confused me a little was when Antonio and Ultima went to Las Pasturas to cure Uncle Lucas. La Ultima called Antonio "Juan", which is his middle name. I predict that Juan was the name of the last Luna to become either a priest or curandera. Another outcome of this trip to Las Pasturas was that Antonio gets to see the fact that religion and God have failed in curing his uncle, however Ultima had the power and capability to cure him. I think this fact makes Antonio question his belief in God and the power he holds over someone's fate, like his Uncle Lucas. La Ultima and Antonio manage to cure Uncle Lucas, but during those three days, Antonio "suffered the spasms of pain my uncle suffered," (Anaya 101). Was Antonio used as an outlet for his uncle's pain while Ultima was trying to fight the evil? Or did the evil simply attach itself to Antonio? Sometimes Anaya's diction is direct and leaves no questions. However, sometimes the diction lacks that direct statement that will clear all questions in an audience's head.
Finally, Rudolfo Anaya seems to question la Ultima in this reading selection. With the test of her performing witchcraft by Tenorio, and the two nails on the ground from the cross on the door and the distraction she creates with her owl really makes not only the audience, but Antonio question Ultima. Is la Ultima a witch? She avoided detection this time, but I feel in the future she might not be so lucky.
While Antonio is fishing with Samuel, Rudolfo Anaya uses another cue in the structure of his words. Just as he previously italicized the word presence, he now italicizes the people, whom are the people that were turned into carps for eating them a long time ago. The presence and the people are definitely connected to the water surrounding Guadalupe and the effect that they have on Antonio. Samuel tells Antonio the story of the carps and begins to tell him of the golden carp, but leaves the remaining of the story for a later time. Cico does eventually find Antonio and shows him the golden carp and its beauty with the story behind it. One thing I noticed about when Cico approaches Antonio and questions him about the golden carp is that Antonio was completely honest in his responses with his knowledge of the commandments and his devout respect of them. From this experience, I predict that Antonio's future is narrowed away from the wild blood of the Marez's. His future holds for a priest of the Lunas or a future following la Ultima's footsteps. Another prediction also comes from the story of the golden carp. Cico says to Antonio, "The golden carp has warned us that the land cannot take the weight of the sins--the land will finally sink!" (Anaya 118). I predict sometime before the end of the book that the town of Guadalupe will have a massive flood or just an overflow of water onto the land.
One event in these chapters that confused me a little was when Antonio and Ultima went to Las Pasturas to cure Uncle Lucas. La Ultima called Antonio "Juan", which is his middle name. I predict that Juan was the name of the last Luna to become either a priest or curandera. Another outcome of this trip to Las Pasturas was that Antonio gets to see the fact that religion and God have failed in curing his uncle, however Ultima had the power and capability to cure him. I think this fact makes Antonio question his belief in God and the power he holds over someone's fate, like his Uncle Lucas. La Ultima and Antonio manage to cure Uncle Lucas, but during those three days, Antonio "suffered the spasms of pain my uncle suffered," (Anaya 101). Was Antonio used as an outlet for his uncle's pain while Ultima was trying to fight the evil? Or did the evil simply attach itself to Antonio? Sometimes Anaya's diction is direct and leaves no questions. However, sometimes the diction lacks that direct statement that will clear all questions in an audience's head.
Finally, Rudolfo Anaya seems to question la Ultima in this reading selection. With the test of her performing witchcraft by Tenorio, and the two nails on the ground from the cross on the door and the distraction she creates with her owl really makes not only the audience, but Antonio question Ultima. Is la Ultima a witch? She avoided detection this time, but I feel in the future she might not be so lucky.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Bless Me, Ultima (Chpts 1-7)
Bless Me, Ultima is a book defined by the Mexican culture in the town of Guadalupe. In the Marez/Luna family, the two conflicting sides are immediately presented with the Marez life on the llano as vaqueros and the farmers from the Luna family. Not only do I see those two sides as Antonio's family or perhaps his destiny, but the diction shows one as highly religious and the other lacking a respect for religion. With the Luna side of the family, his mother Maria has a reverence for God with her consistent prayers, blessings, and proper manners. The constant need to pray, along with her dream of Antonio becoming a priest and thanking their "la Virgen de Guadalupe" shows her respect for God and the power he holds. However, with the Marez side of the family, Antonio's father Gabriel drinks, complains about going to mass, and longs for his days on the llano as a vaquero. One side holds Antonio's future, and only Ultima or la Grande knows it. When Ultima enters Antonio's life, not only at the beginning can he not give the standard greeting Maria told him to give, but Ultima says, "This was the last child I pulled from your womb, Maria. I knew there would be something between us," (Anaya 12). I predict that Antonio's connection to Ultima will have an influence on Antonio's future. I also predict that after Antonio witnesses his first death of a man, Lupito, that will come to help shape his future as well.
Rudolfo Anaya, the author of Bless Me, Ultima, writes of many cues and structures that hinted to me as I was reading the first seven chapters. One thing that I noticed was his inclusion of the Spanish language. At times, there would be an influx of Spanish, and then at others I could seem to forget about picking up the Spanish-English dictionary. But at those times where I didn't need to translate anything, just as I was about to forget about the inclusion of the Spanish language, Anaya would throw in a Spanish word that would remind me that it's not an entire English-speaking society and the culture does have an impact on this book. I especially saw the mix of English and Spanish when Antonio went to his first day of school. I think Antonio's experiences at school, including his excel at letters and the separation from the kids in his class, are also going to have an impact on his future, whatever path he chooses. Another cue from Anaya that I noticed was he always italicizes "presence" when talking about the river near the family's house. I know Anaya is trying to send his audience a message when he writes presence, and it may be the presence of the river is a religious reference or maybe a guide in Antonio's future. I find the book interesting, but sometimes I begin to lose interest. At those times though, Anaya seems to throw in an important event, like going to El Puerto de los Lunas, Antonio's first day of school, or the return of Antonio's brothers, which keep me reading. My final prediction from the end of Siete is that the brothers are not keen on returning to California, like their father wishes to, because Anaya writes,
Rudolfo Anaya, the author of Bless Me, Ultima, writes of many cues and structures that hinted to me as I was reading the first seven chapters. One thing that I noticed was his inclusion of the Spanish language. At times, there would be an influx of Spanish, and then at others I could seem to forget about picking up the Spanish-English dictionary. But at those times where I didn't need to translate anything, just as I was about to forget about the inclusion of the Spanish language, Anaya would throw in a Spanish word that would remind me that it's not an entire English-speaking society and the culture does have an impact on this book. I especially saw the mix of English and Spanish when Antonio went to his first day of school. I think Antonio's experiences at school, including his excel at letters and the separation from the kids in his class, are also going to have an impact on his future, whatever path he chooses. Another cue from Anaya that I noticed was he always italicizes "presence" when talking about the river near the family's house. I know Anaya is trying to send his audience a message when he writes presence, and it may be the presence of the river is a religious reference or maybe a guide in Antonio's future. I find the book interesting, but sometimes I begin to lose interest. At those times though, Anaya seems to throw in an important event, like going to El Puerto de los Lunas, Antonio's first day of school, or the return of Antonio's brothers, which keep me reading. My final prediction from the end of Siete is that the brothers are not keen on returning to California, like their father wishes to, because Anaya writes,
"Well", my father shrugged, "I don't mean tonight, maybe in a month or two,
right boys?" My brothers glanced nervously at each other and nodded," (Anaya
63).
This could present a conflict within the family, since Gabriel's dream has been to journey west with his family. I enjoy the culture of the Spanish mixed with English and Antonio's journey to his destiny in Bless Me, Ultima.
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