Ambivalence In Bless Me Ultima

Tony loves him so thats the main reason why she gives him another chance, but he also did allot for her to realise that she could be losing her soulmate, another person who helped her find that out was her friend Jone. Jone helps her out by kicking her out of her house and telling her what a great husband she has and how she has become a better person with him.

In contrast to John’s newly crafted dreams, Alfonso, Alexandra’s aunt, also had dreams that did not become reality. She relates her love story and dream of a future with Gustavo Madero. She eventually concludes: “What is constant in history is greed and foolishness and a love for blood and this is a thing that even God-who knows all that can be known-seems powerless to change” (239). According to Alfonso, dreams are “foolishness”. Furthermore, if the all-knowing God can not change destiny then dreams certainly have no role in the crafting of destiny. God’s inability to change destiny, further highlights conflict between John Grady’s destiny and his aspirations. Through out the novel he makes decisions based on his dreams. Alfonso insinuates the necessity for John to acknowledge the consequences of his actions as a result of his fantasies: “…if it were fate that ruled our houses it could perhaps be flattered or reasoned” (231). The decisions that John makes based on his fantasies affect his destiny.

     Although the characters believed they lived a good life, in my own perspective I saw the exact opposite. The good life is demonstrated through success, success through a career, education, goals, and love. The gangs only had one another and without the support of that gang, these boys would not exist as individual human beings. The Jets did not want to have jobs, and they mocked the ex-gang member, Tony, for leaving the gang to make a future for himself. Life outside the gang was not an option for the Jets. None of the boys had any future plans or felt the need for anything else in their lives. Tony did not live the good life, but he did have dreams. He knew there was a better life for him out there, and parting from the gang allowed him to search for that life. He wanted to get away from the city, have a peaceful home, and a wonderful wife. His future was important to him; he wanted to be a successful man. Tony’s character contradicts the beliefs of the Jets, allowing viewers to see into the minds of the gang members and their beliefs about the good life.

point in the way of Tony’s thinking. Rather than being torn between which side of the

In addition, Tony’s mother Maria was a staunch catholic who desperately wanted her youngest son to become a priest to a small community of farmers. Her roots were in farming and living off the land (having a mutually benefiting relationship-being connected to the land). She prayed during times of family toil constantly. Tony has a dream after his brothers beckon him into a whorehouse to sleep with the women at “Rosie’s House.” He refuses the offer and affirms that he will preserve his innocence in order to become a priest in the holy catholic faith. His brothers mock him. They try to tell him that in being a man and the son of a vaquero his need for bodily pleasure will become stronger. Here is where I believe Tony accepts the destiny that his mother supplies for him as a man of god, but again his faith in this religion fails. He feels that his catechism will protect him from being corrupted and that god will reveal himself during this ceremonial rite-but nothing happens. He thought that when he partakes in this ceremony all will be revealed to him, but it is not.

they do not know the whole story. In ways, Tony wishes Florence was with him,

Ten minutes later, it was Tony’s corner…Like a soldier after years of combat, Tony hated the war and wanted Wes to do whatever he could to avoid it” (Moore 28). In other words, even though Tony went through this shootout with the corner boys, he expected Wes not to go through the same things he went through in order to live a better life of his own. The text also says, “My grandparents knew that I was at a crucial juncture in my life. These forks in the road can happen so fast for young boys…

     Tony himself went through the process of growing up and losing his innocence as well throughout the novel. In the beginning of the whole story, Tony is concerned with nothing much but his own little world like every child ought to be. His worries and experiences are really nothing compared to what he had in store for him later on, but although his later experiences would be rather unreal it still would be how any child would grow up, very gradual learning and taking things in stride. So as the story

In the same dream, Tony admits to doubting God. And then sees his three brothers being whipped by the Trementina sisters. His brothers have asked for forgiveness for their sins, and this is when Tony admits he has doubted God, by saying, “...I am not a priest... I too have sinned! I have doubted the Lord!”

Cleansing and rejuvenation are themes that are suggested by the author, and symbolized through the use of water. In one of his dreams, Tony refers to the waters of the river, " I must lift the muddy waters of the river in blessing to our new home!" (Anaya 26) The cleansing qualities of the river show Tony's desire to put the tragic happenings of his life behind him, and begin anew. His desire is to be washed clean from the haunting memories if Lupito's death. Another reference to water is the waters of baptism. In Tony's dream his parents argue about what water he was baptized in. "Oh please tell me which is the water that runs through my veins." (Anaya120) The waters of baptism represent cleansing, but in the dream his parents argue over whether he was baptized with the holy water of the moon, or the salt water from the oceans. This represents his parent's pulling him in two opposite directions. Later in this dream Ultima explains to both of Tony's parents that in reality both of their waters are the same. This shows that Tony is rejuvenated by the idea that he dose not have to choose between one parent or another, but can take the best of both of them. Because of the water Tony is able to

Unlike his father, tony refuses to drink, which displays his transition from the more conservative Australian male to a more modern, sensitive male. Tony is unlike his father who controls with his feelings through violent as he expresses through his emotion when

ambivalence further increases because as these stars die one by one, he’s left wondering which

In the beginning, he distrusts the dream; he is unsure if he has to follow and accomplish the dream. But, later on, as he gets a prophecy from an old woman, who interprets his dream and confirms him to follow just his dream. Despite the confirmation, he is not so interested of the dream. This is mainly because of two reasons. One, he hasn’t enough courage to sell his sheep or leave them behind. Second, he falls for a beauty of a girl who

Tony refuses to divorce Brenda – based on monetary reason rather than a desire to keep her bound to him. Instead, he leaves his beloved Hetton and goes to Brazil. A series of events bring Tony to Mr. Todd, who is a very strange man. Tony ends up being nothing more than a prisoner of Todd. Unable to muster passion, Tony remains unable to take action. He was a victim of Brenda in his naive and almost innocent ways. He ignored Brenda, he could not even manage to see that she needed more from him than she was getting. Faced with the affair, which he could have outlasted, he ran away.

Tony Stark’s morality has changed over the course of his life by having him die a symbolic death and being reborn finding a new purpose in his life. At first, he was characterized as a man who did not care who was winning at war; he sold weapons and wanted to make profits. (pg 5) For an example in the article “The Comic Book as Symbolic Environment: The Case of Iron Man,” the author asserts that “Armor to operate properly, Stark made another detrimental sacrifice: his humanity. Pg 5-6 ” Tony connected himself through a machine that Tony himself stated, “Can the thing I have created survive? Pg 5-6" he asks himself "The thing which is less than human... yet, far more than merely human! Pg 5-6” Tony questions himself if the suit was a good idea for him to use because at first he was blood thirsty by being an arms dealer to the highest bidder for money. He realizes how something that’s not even human can make a better world. Tony decides to change his