Bless Me Essay, Research Paper

Bless me, Ultima

Essay

What is faith? Does everyone have faith? Is faith believing in

something you haven?t seen but you think is true? All of these questions have

an answer and in Bless me, Ultima by Rodolfo Anaya these questions are

important. In fact, many people question their faith because they are confused

about what they see or hear. In Bless me, Ultima, Rudolfo Anaya shows that

on this world there are many types of faith one believes in. The author uses

imagery, folklore, and dream sequences to convey the meaning of Bless me,

Ultima.

Anaya uses imagery to show how Christianity and witchcraft are two

different beliefs, and they are in conflict with each other. The imagery

provides a picture of Tony?s conflict of Ultima dying. For example, When

Tony was next to Ultima he knew she was going to die. As Ultima was

dying, ?Her voice very weak, her eyes already glazed with death.? (260)

Anaya makes that imagery for us to see what Tony was seeing.

Second, Anaya uses dream sequences to show that Tony has conflicts

with himself about his beliefs. He questions his belief in this dream because

he is afraid of what he might find out. In his dream Tony says, ?Everything I

believe in was destroyed. A painful wrenching in my heart made me cry

aloud, why God? my God, why have you forsaken me!? (243) Tony cannot

accept what is happening. Why do all good people have to die?

In fact, Anaya uses folklore in this story to show that every language

there is folklore about religions that believes in. Therefore, in this part it says

? The Agua Negra was the land of the Commanche Indians. Three

Commanche raided the flock of one. So grandfather Tellez hanged them and

left them strung on a tree. Now their souls wandered around the ranch.?

(227) This is one folklore from the story. Many are passed down from

generation to generation.

In conclusion, Anaya showed how Tony had many conflicts with

himself about religion and beliefs. Any beliefs that one has are going to be

different from someone else?s. In Bless me, Ultima Rodolfo Anaya shows

that this earth are many types of faiths. Yet, one has a freedom to choose

one?s path in life. Whether is to believe in a god or not.