Why is Lupito killed in Bless Me Ultima?
Basically, Lupito, a veteran, is killed because he murdered the town sheriff, who is also Chavez’s brother. To get revenge for his brother’s death, Chavez and Gabriel join a posse to hunt down Lupito. Meanwhile, Antonio decides to follow his father and Chavez to the scene of Lupito’s execution.
How does the struggle between Catholic faith and the pagan symbol of the golden carp impact Antonio’s spiritual perspective?
The Golden Carp plays a huge role in the development of Antonio as a person both spiritually and physically. Just by seeing the Golden Carp, Antonio realizes that this is what he expected from his first communion in the Catholic Church (But never received). Ultima’s miracles had worked where God’s had not.
What does the golden carp symbolize?
The golden carp represents a magical religious order not connected to Catholicism. The golden carp legend offers its own brand of wisdom, comfort, and moral guidance.
Does Antonio believe in God Bless Me Ultima?
Antonio’s dreams seem to foretell the future. From the very beginning, Antonio sees Ultima by his mother’s side while he was being bom in a dream. Antonio’s dreams seem to foreshadow several events in this novel. Up to the point where Ultima visits, Antonio has it in his mind that it is his destiny to become a priest.
What does Tony learn in Bless Me Ultima?
Through Ultima and his informal apprenticeship with her, Tony learns much about healing, spirituality, and even humanity. Although these are all things he might well have learned through the church as well, in the novel we see Tony struggling to connect with the church in a meaningful way despite his multiple attempts.
What does Antonio’s father want him to be?
His father is a vaquero who wants Antonio to ride the llano and appreciate the open prairie; his mother is a daughter of farmers who wants Antonio to become a priest. Antonio is deeply troubled about his own uncertain destiny, but Ultima, a folk healer, guides him in his efforts to understand the world.
What do Antonio’s dreams reveal about him how do they change as he matures?
But in his later dreams, he is preoccupied with much larger questions of family, morality, and duty. This gradual transformation, traced in dreams, reflects Antonio’s growth from childhood to maturity. His dreams also offer him arange of images and symbols with which to understand his own life.
What does Ultima symbolize?
Ultima has an owl that follows her everywhere and becomes a symbol of her mysterious power. At first Antonio is afraid of it, but soon he regards the owl as a comforting, watchful presence.
How does Ultima die?
As Antonio makes his way from his uncles’ fields to his grandfather’s house one day toward the end of the summer, a murderous Tenorio chases after him. Antonio escapes, but Tenorio shoots Ultima’s owl. When the owl dies, Ultima is doomed to die as well because the owl is her spiritual familiar, or guardian.
Why can Ultima not save herself if she is so powerful?
Prompt: If Ultima is so powerful, why can’t she save herself? Ultima cannot save herself because her spirit lays within the owl.
What advice does Ultima give Tony at the end?
When Antonio awakes, Ultima suggests that he go to his uncles in El Puerto. Antonio has seen too much death. His uncles can teach him about growing life. Before he leaves, Ultima advises him to be ready to make life’s changes part of his strength.
How does Antonio lose his innocence?
In Antonio’s dream, Andrew promises not to enter the brothel until Antonio loses his innocence. If Andrew’s entrance into the brothel in this chapter means that Antonio has indeed lost his innocence, then it means that Antonio has lost his childish, innocent worldview, rather than his sexual innocence.
Why was Tony afraid that he had lost his innocence?
Antonio concerns himself with the loss of his innocence because of his own precociousness and his thoughts of a promising future as a priest. Furthermore, his mother is constantly worried that he is growing up too fast, losing his innocence, and she laments this concern often..
What dream does Tony have after Florence’s death?
The night after Florence dies Antonio has a dream. He sees three figures to whom he’s given Acts of Contrition: Narciso, Lupito, and Florence. Then he dreams of a gang of people fighting one another with deadly weapons. Antonio wonders why he must witness such violence, but a voice says creation comes from violence.
Why don t Tony’s brothers go to California with their father?
Tony’s brothers don’t want to go to California with their father because they don’t want to depend on their parents anymore, they want to live their own lives. The other choices they have is go to California or go to work on the highway with their father.
What are Lupitos last words?
As he crawled out the river and the life left his blood stained body Lupito uttered his two last words to Antonio “Bless Me”.
Why is it bad luck to catch and eat a carp?
Their poles set, Samuel tells Antonio that it is bad luck to fish for carp because long ago, when the world was young, the people in this region were given all they desired because they were faithful. The gods spared the people but turned them into carp. The god who pleaded their case was turned into a golden carp.
How did Uncle Lucas get sick?
When Pedro, Lucas’s brother, asks for Ultima’s help, he explains that Lucas saw the daughters of Tenorio Trementina dancing the Black Mass, a blasphemous satanic ritual. When Lucas challenged them with a cross made from two sticks, they fled the scene. Within the week, Lucas fell ill.
What does Tony have in Lucas recovery?
4. What role does Tony play in Lucas’ recovery? Tony plays a very important role in Lucas’s recover since he was therehelping cure him.
What is wrong with Antonio’s uncle Lucas?
Tony’s Uncle Lucas is cursed by three witches who are the daughers of Tenorio Trementina, a man who owns a bar in El Puerto. The “witches” were observed by Uncle Lucas in a meeting, and that is why they have put the curse on him.
Who did Antonio see in his dream?
In his dream, “the Golden Carp appeared and Cico struck with his spear and the water ran blood red” (176). The Golden Carp dies which signify his loss of innocence, because only the innocent who have not sin can see the Golden Carp. Antonio lives in a magical world that is full deaths and sadness in his life.
What was Antonio’s last dream about?
In his final dream, Antonio sees the three figures that he was helpless to save, both physically and spiritually. The destruction of his three sources of understanding — God, the golden carp, and Ultima — leaves nothing for him to believe in, and he is filled with horror and great despair.
What does Antonio learn from his parents?
When they leave, Tony sees how shaken his father becomes. A big part of his being is taken away from him – the part that held closely to hope. Tony also finds that, as a result, his father is changing and softening his desire to roam the land.
Why does Antonio’s mother call him a Luna?
Why does Antonio’s mother call him a luna? She considers a luna a restless wanderer. She believes he will tend to Ultima’s needs. Antonio’s mother wants him to be a farmer.
Which uncle did Antonio love the most?
Uncle Pedro
How does Tony feel about starting school?
how does antonio feel about starting school? he is nervous because he has never been, ultima won’t be there, his mom has set high expectations, and he knows no english. he was nervous and said that his mom told him to see her.
What is his mother’s reaction when Tony relates his dream to her?
What is his mother’s reaction when Tony relates his dream to her? Tony’s mother gets happy and excited because she wants him to grow up and become a priest.
Why were Tony and his sisters scared of Ultima’s owl?
Tony is initially disturbed by the owl because they have never had an owl so close to the house. When Ultima arrives, the owl arrives as well and hoots in the night. The strangeness, novelty and surprise of this disturb Antonio and his sisters.
Why does Ultima appear in the casket in Tony’s dream?
Antonio has a dream in which Mateo’s description of the ceremony is enacted, but when he looks inside the coffin, he finds Ultima. He awakes just in time to see the El Puerto priest refuse to give the dead woman the funeral mass and, therefore, burial in hallowed ground.
What does Antonio’s dream at the beginning of chapter 9 indicate?
Summary: Nueve (9) Antonio dreams that his three brothers urge him to enter Rosie’s brothel. Antonio calls out that he must resist because he might become a priest. His brothers León and Eugene predict that he will eventually enter the brothel.