Stories Based on Bless Me Ultima - Book Report/Review Example

? STORIES BASED ON BLESS ME ULTIMA Introduction Bless me Ultima is a story ed by Rudolfo Anaya – telling of the coming to age of Antonio Merez Luna, with the leadership and the help of Curandera – a protector and mentor, by the name of Ultima. This very novel has grown to become the most widely read and significantly acclaimed literary novel within the Chicano literary classification, since it was first published in the year 1972. Since then, tutors across different disciplines in middle school, universities and high schools have espoused it, as a mode of realizing the multiculturalization of the classes. This literary creation explicates the Chicano culture of the years around 1940 within the context of a rural New Mexico. The usage of Spanish, his numinous illustration of the landscape of the New Mexico, his usage of the culture-based patterns such as La Liorona, and his consequential recounting of Curandera folkways: for example the assortment of curative herbs gives the reader a sense – the dominant influence of native cultural habits, which are both genuine and highly distant form conventional observations. The themes explicated through this novel include: the loss of innocence, conflicting cultures, good versus evil; myth, as an underlying premises in the cultural code surrounding Antonio; family expectations, the dreams of the parents as opposed to those of the new generation, and that of World war two (Anaya, 1994). Loss of Innocence – A Childhood of Loss My name is Janet, and my world shattered at the age of four years old after the separation of my parents, and I suddenly could not see my father as often as I wished to. As if that was not enough, I was later, told that he had forgotten all about our family, and that he had started another family with another woman, who had become the center of his focus. Only a year after the separation of my parents, it was so painful to witness the rape and the murder of my mum – who was the only relative and the close ally that I could tell of at the time. After the inquiry into the murder, it was unraveled that her brother, who they commonly owned a substantial investment – was the one that had sent the killers to murder my mother. That knowing, that my only uncle could kill my mother, as well as the nature of the violence and the murder of my mother – which I was a witness to, left my life changed and full of unanswered questions. Not long after my mother was reported dead, my grandmother – who I used to call Nanny, proposed that I should live with the cruel uncle: the one who had killed my mum, because my Mum did not have any other relatives. Soonest, I was living at my uncles place, where my grandmother and my four older cousins lived. At my uncles place, life did not grow any simpler, but rather harder – as my four cousins loved tormenting me; enjoying the sight of my crying moments. That made me picture life, like an empty shell, where happiness was only an illusion and a situation that never existed. At my uncle’s place, being the five year old child I was, I did not realize that I was at the risk of being murdered also, considering that he must have imagined that I would grow to demand the portion of the property, which belonged to my late mum. This fact, came clear to me a year later, after I overheard my uncle conversing with a crime-ally over the phone, saying that he had taken care of his sister – and that the child was too naive to understand anything. He continued to say that he would terminate the child’s life – if only they started showing the signs of understanding things. From the conversation, I could tell that he was referring to me – because he mentioned that he had been housing the child – and the only other children at his house were his biological children. My safety was always in question – a situation that made me really uncomfortable, as the only person who showed a, little love and concern was my grandmother, though she was helpless when it came to my situation. However, she could tell me that – a day would come when no one would torture me, and when life would be so beautiful for me. She could tell me stories of people whose life had changed – and tell me of the beautiful family that life would give to me. The consolation that I got from my Grandma did not last long – as she son died of Pneumonia, a situation she had developed three years before. I watched my grandmother dying painfully, at her death bed, and the only thing she uttered using her last breath was, “my dear your life is designed for greatness, love and happiness.” The death of my grandmother left me in the hands of only enemies, not considering the helpless that I felt, being a child of only six years. However, like my grandmother had taught me on a certain occasion, I went to school and completed my elementary, secondary and college education – thanks to my cruel uncle. Giving education to me was the only good thing that I could associate to him. After the completion of my college education – I got a sponsor – due to the good grades that I attained and the closeness of a friend at college. The sponsorship saw me go to the United States for further education – after which I swore never to go to my home in China, as it only could remind me of the agony and the cruelty of life. The events of my life, as I may say – were only a way of shedding off innocence from me, at the age of between four and six years, leaving me with a full understanding of the fact that life can be really cruel and uncomfortable. The story written above is a work that clearly explains the life of Janet, a child who faces a hard life and difficulties at the tender age of four years, a situation that forces her to shed her childhood nature of having a person closely checking her. The story also clearly shows how her innocence is lost, as a fact that she had to live with – knowing and realizing the evil and the good that faces people, from the case of her mum. The inspiration behind this story is the passion to clearly explicit the cruelty of life, which contains the power to change a virtuous man into a beast-like person or a drunkard into a clergy-man, depending on the nature of the difficulties. The inspiration and the themes contained in the changes that are likely to be imposed on the life of people by life, namely: shedding of innocence, and change of attitude towards life, is comparable to the themes in ‘Bless me Ultima.’ The themes that are common in the two stories are that of loss of innocence, which leads to the understanding of good and evil, which further lead to the development of wisdom and maturity in the victims of such situations. The other theme – which cuts across the two stories, is that of good and evil, where the evil of the evil is clearly depicted. The situation of Jane is similar to that of Antonio, who at a tender age – unaware of the tragedies and the danger within the society is exposed to a transition from innocence to wisdom. This happens after he witnesses the murder of Lupito and Narcico, and other trying moments, which led to a full change of understanding and outlook to life (Anaya, 1994). The tale of a culture in conflict with education For many children of the 21st century, going to school is an issue that they are used to, and supported to do – by parents, siblings and parents – not to mention societies like churches and other social institutions. However, the story of Asha, a Southern Sudanese girl tells a different account. Asha lives in Southern Sudan, a country with one of the lowest rates of school attendance in the world, since the ending of the War a few years back. The government and NGOs have continued to campaign for the education of children, especially girls, which goes against the cultural values there. At eighteen years of age, Asha is still in class six, a privilege to her, as it has allowed her get some education so far – as a result of a scholarship by her local church’s associate who is an American. Unlike other girls within her area, she is passionate about attending school, and is so eager to go to university level and become a doctor after acquiring substantial training in medicine. However, pursuing her education has not been an easy task, with their traditional cultural beliefs placing barriers in every step of the education highway. In the Yei society, where she is attending Yei primary school, the education of girls is considered a waste of resources and time, as according to the cultural code – the place of a girl is marriage and the destination of being a housewife. At the age of 15, her Uncle had made plans to marry her off, despite her objection and the mother’s wish to see her go through school. At their region, the voice of the woman is also insignificant; therefore the intervention of church members and other authorities has been quite helpful in seeing her to where she is now. This story is an explicit account of the cultural conflict which takes place within societies where there are conflicting cultural values in operation – in the current case, the traditional cultural values and modern values, on the basis of which education is a core aspect of life and the expectations of life from every young person. The Uncle in this case is the supporter of the traditional cultural values, while Asha and her mother are the victims of cultural conflict, and the church, the sponsor paying for Asha’s education as well as other authorities are the supporters of the modern cultural values. The inspiration of this story, was the need to portray the cultural conflicts present in societies where traditional values are not in agreement with the mainstream values of education, as the case is – at many African countries – most of these third world countries. The other inspiration is the need to give a way out for the victims of cultural values, who are often helpless and not in any way powerful to resist the cruel cultural requirements. In this case, such victims are Asha and her mothers, who are for education, but who cannot push for it due to their powerlessness and the lack of material resources. In this case, the case of Asha and her mother can be compared to Antonio during his childhood, who has to choose whether to emulate the Luna or the Merez cultural views – the Luna being devout agriculturalists who revere the moon and the sun; and the Merez, who are free-spirited cowboys revering the horses and the sun. The case of Asha is also comparable to that of Antonio, who has to speak Spanish and adhere to the cultural expectations established; but at school, he is forced to adapt to the English-speaking academic world, as well as interacting with the children brought up on the basis of English cultural values. The theme that cuts across the two stories is that of cultural conflict and the helplessness of the characters in question (Anaya, 1994). Reference List Anaya, R. (1994).Bless Me Ultima. New York: Grand Central Publishing. Read More