Preview

Bless Me Ultima - Dreams Essay Example

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1362 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Bless Me Ultima - Dreams Essay Example
Symbolism in Dreams

In Rudolfo Anaya's Bless Me, Ultima, the author uses Tony's dreams as a way of displaying various symbols. Three symbols that are used often are weather, water, and the Golden Carp. Weather is used to represent conflict. Water represents cleansing, and rejuvenation. The Golden Carp symbolizes religion and Tony's beliefs. Because dreams are a not an exact mirror of reality, they become the perfect tool for introducing symbolism. The author uses the dream as a way to access the recurring themes of the book.



Weather affects the lives of everyone. When the weather turns foul, it makes life more difficult. Stormy weather in Tony's dreams represents the conflict in his life, and the lives of those around him. One example of the weather in his dreams is the wind. In one of Tony's dreams the wind is used to represent conflict that disrupts the peace that is a still lake. "There was a howling wind as the moon rose and it's powers pulled at the still waters of the lake."(Anaya 120) The wind here is used to represent forces of disturbance caused by nuclear testing taking place south of the town, just as wind kicks up dust and blurs the view. Another element of storms is thunder and lightning. In Tony's dream he sees, ".....a flash of lightning struck and out of the thunder a dark figure stepped forth. It was Ultima......I sought more answers, but she was gone, evaporated into a loud noise."(Anaya 71) Lightning can offer glimpses of illumination, but then darkness returns, and the noise of the thunder that follows deafens the ears. This represents the moments of good that can occur within the midst of conflict. Ultima's appearance gives Tony a glimpse of where he needs to search for innocence, but he is still confused from this encounter. He continues to search for answers. Another significannot weather occurrence is the appearance of mist. " The mist swirled around me. I was at the river, and I heard

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    In this chapter, Foster emphasizes how weather is never just weather. Weather carries great symbolic meaning, and is constantly used in literature.Authors use rain, snow, sun, rainbows, and other forms of weather in a variety of ways to enhance the meaning of the story. Weather most often symbolizes change in renewal, for instance, a river flooding a small village and the village rebuilding itself. Weather can serve as a plot device by bringing unlikely characters together. However, weather can also separate characters and drive them to reunite."Rain mixes with sun to create rainbows, as mentioned before." Rain can take on a biblical meaning such as the case of Noah's flood. Fog most often relates to confusion. It blinds characters, impairs their judgment, leading to sticky situations.…

    • 390 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The “Gettysburg Address” by President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War and “I Have a Dream” by Doctor Martin Luther King Jr given during the March on Washington. These speeches both have common themes, freedom and equality and they both have rhetorical devices to emphasize the purpose. The purpose of the “Gettysburg Address” is to tell the people to continue the fight. The purpose of the “I Have of Dream” speech is to tell the people to demand their rights. This paper will analysis the two speeches and how they use rhetorical devices to emphasize their purpose.…

    • 522 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel, “Bless Me, Ultima” Antonio has various dreams that usually center around his family, friends, and those who are special to the Marez and Luna Family. They reveal his fears in which is his true destiny, also he dreams of the Lupito’s death. In summary, Antonio’s dreams show the reader his fears and desires.…

    • 504 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    After watching the video, describe what causes the earth’s seasons. Give examples of the earth’s position to the sun in December vs. June and compare the northern and southern hemispheres.…

    • 2081 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    which control the overall mood of the story. The actual meaning of the storm is strong wind…

    • 1117 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Bless Me Ultima Symbols

    • 433 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, the golden carp is a symbol that contributes to a theme in the novel.…

    • 433 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Being a doctor has always been my dream. Maybe because of my parents’ and grandparents’ influence or maybe because of what my kindergarten mates said. But now I know exactly what I have to do and why.…

    • 592 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “That’s what it was always about. Shedding your past. Creating yourself from nothing, Now I realize that that’s what attracted me to Willie Bodega. Willie Bodega didn’t just change me and Blanca’s life, but the entire landscape of the neighborhood. Bodega would go down as a representation of all the ugliness in Spanish Harlem and also all the good it was capable of being. Bodega placed a mirror in front of the neighborhood and in front of himself. He was street nobility incarnated in someone who still believed in dreams. And for a small while, those dreams seem as palpable as that dagger Macbeth tried to grab. From his younger days as a Young Lord to his later days as Bodega, his life had been triggered by romantic ideal found only in those poor bastards who really wanted to be poets but got grafted and sent to the front lines. During that time Bodega would create a green light of hope. And when that short-lived light went supernova, it would leave a blueprint of achievement and desire for anyone in the neighborhood searching for new possibilities.”…

    • 974 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The second period Mythology class spent September learning about dreams. The lesson was mainly based on the relationship between mythology and dreams according to Carl Jung. To begin with, dreams come from our mind and the collective unconscious. There are several levels of dreaming, categorized by the content inside of it. Ninety five percent of dreams are level one dream, which contains and influenced by pre-sleep external stimuli. These dreams does not signify any importance. However, the other five percent are projections of the mind and they are abundant in symbols. These are level two dreams and Grand Dreams. The former happens when there is mental distress, and the latter occur at transitional times in life. Carl Jung related the symbols…

    • 312 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Bless Me Ultima Essay

    • 227 Words
    • 1 Page

    In the book, Bless Me, Ultima Antonio starts to aquire new knowledge as he grows older from his past experiences as a boy and as a result, he learns about life and the world.…

    • 227 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Bad weather is also used as a sign that that there has been disruption of the chain of being. The chain of being is the idea of a kind of social pyramid where gods are at the top, then kings, then nobles, then middle class, and peasants at the bottom. This is supposed to be an undisturbed chain, but Macbeth is breaking the rules and disrupting it to try to improve his position. He is told by the weird sisters that he will become king, and he can not imagine how this would happen because the current king is…

    • 655 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The first impressions of the Chauvet Cave seemed uninteresting and looked like an ordinary cave at first. But it turns out that some of the very first human drawings and paintings on Earth were discovered inside this cave. Natural disasters, such as rock slides, caused the entrance of the cave to be blocked off and no one (except for the scientists and film crew) is allowed in. The paintings and drawings inside were placed near the end of the cave; keeping them further away from the daylight. This was meant to preserve the paintings and keep them looking fresh. The ancient artists drew many animals and their methods of life, by showing movements and capturing scenes or events that took place during their times. The illusion of moving images depicts a story or narrative. Some examples of the types of animals they drew were lions, bulls, rhinos, deer, cattle, etc. Depending on how the artists draw the animal’s movements and gestures, tells what kind of scene or story is taking place. Movements such as horns and bodies clashing into each other, or animals with their mouths open, indicate that a brawl or a fight is taking place.…

    • 411 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    essays on weather

    • 1622 Words
    • 7 Pages

    the wind blows/whistles-move quickly, making a high sound/howls-blow hard and make a long loud noise/picks up/whips through sth/sweeps across sth…

    • 1622 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    playing a game with his peers in which he was the priest, he forgave his friend…

    • 717 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Wise people always say, "Watch what you wish for." The book "The Wish Giver" tells us a story of three young people who get a wish card, which can fulfill their one wish, whatever it is. The story tells us how; the wishes came true but along came unexpected miseries to the three people and many others around them. In conclusion the book teaches us that we should stay happy with the things we get and should not wish for something more because it might result in a total different way. HA! HA! HA! EVIL!!…

    • 804 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays