Initiation Theme In Bless Me,Ultima

Rudolfo Anaya (1937-) is a famous novelist, dramatist and poet who is acclaimed as the "Godfather of Chicano Literature". His first novel Bless Me, Ultima is widely acknowledged as a classic of Chicano literature and wins Anaya international fame. Using myth and folk legend, Anaya vividly reveals Chicano history and culture. As the epoch-making work of Chicano literature, Bless Me, Ultima is an important work in the history of American literature and Anaya’s best novel. But domestic critics didn’t pay much attention to this novel until recent years, so there are very few critical articles on it. The study on this novel could enrich the study on Chicano literature. It could help reader have a better understanding of Chicanos and their culture. This novel is of great research value because of its diverse thematic concerns, artistic features, social and cultural values. Studies on this novel could help readers have an in-depth insight into the living state of the Mexican Americans in a multicultural society.Bless Me, Ultima has been studied by foreign critics in various perspectives. Foreign studies mainly focus on myths, images, culture, binary oppositions, narrative techniques, genre, etc. Few studies have been made by domestic critics on this novel. Only four Chinese academic papers on this novel appear in recent years. Their study includes cultural conflicts and fusion, identity construction, universal wisdom and social and historical context. Compared with foreign criticism, domestic research on this novel is limited in scope and depth.Domestic critics have not studied initiation theme in Bless Me, Ultima. Domestic study of initiation story did not come until about a decade ago. Their discussion of English and American Bilungsroman always focus on white adolescents’perplexity and maturity in different historical and cultural circumstances. Critics study initiation novels mainly in the perspectives of narrative structure, cultural conflicts, feminism, etc. Although, in China there is much comment on the initiation themes of ethnic literature, their focus is mainly on black literature and Chinese American literature. Domestic critics seldom study the initiation theme in Chicano literature.Bless Me, Ultima is a classic of Chicano literature and a typical initiation story. There is yet no paper discussing the initiation theme in Bless Me, Ultima. Besides the traditional concerns of moral growth, this thesis studies the initiation theme in Bless Me, Ultima in the perspectives of post-colonialism and ecocriticism. This study broadens the research content of initiation story and enriches the study of initiation story in China. This is a new perspective in domestic study of the novel. This thesis will enrich the domestic research of Anaya’s works.This thesis explores the protagonist’s moral growth, recognition of natural bonds and consolidation of cultural identity as a Chicano boy growing up in dominant Anglo-American cultural context. The story is told in first-person narration. It records Antonio’s growing consciousness about the world around him from the age of six to eight who lives in the town of Guadaplupe New Mexico in1940s. With interaction with his environment, Antonio obtains a better understanding about self and the world. He witnesses how men are scarred mentally and psychologically by World War Ⅱ. He is frustrated by man’s irrational violence and failure of justice. Instead of being enslaved by Orthodox Catholicism, he develops independent thoughts in belief. He comes to understand the complexity of evil, which is often so labeled by man’s ignorance or bigotry. He believes that good will eventually triumph over evil and even evil people sometimes deserve our sympathy. Death is not a thing to fear and it is a part of the great circle of life. Ultima’s animistic thoughts enlighten Antonio’s views on nature: human and nature are equal and human should respect nature. Antonio knows that it is important to be in harmony with nature. He laments his father’s loss of traditional lifestyle and his brothers’alienation in city life, which is inevitable in modern circumstances. He recognizes and is tortured by the conflicts within Chicano culture and conflicts between Chicano culture and mainstream culture. Chicano culture is assimilated by mainstream culture. Cultural hegemony is practiced:Spanish and Indian tongues are restricted; Indian culture, as a part of Chicano culture, is suppressed; curandera’s (folk healer’s) power is denied. Antonio develops doubts over Catholic God, who is jealous and intolerant, denying the existence of other gods. Growing up in a dominant Catholic community, he develops a new vision of God, which is not monolithic but plural, embracing the beauty of life as manifested by the golden carp-an Indian pagan god. Trying to adapt to the changing society, Antonio accepts and fuses different cultures and constructs hybrid cultural identity.The thesis consists of six parts:Chapter one gives a brief introduction to Rudolfo Anaya, the novel’s plots, literature review, theories of initiation story, and thesis significance. Chapter two explores the features of initiation story and defines Bless Me, Ultima as an initiation story by analyzing the autobiographical elements, theme, plot pattern and initiation guide. Chapter three analyzes the moral growth of the protagonist Antonio. Antonio achieves a better understanding of war, justice, death, evil, life, etc. Chapter four discusses Antonio’s recognition of natural bond under the influence of Ultima and Gabriel. Chapter five studies the consolidation of Antonio’s cultural identity. Facing and solving the conflicts within Chicano culture, the Chicano-Anglo cultural conflicts, and religious conflicts, Antonio constructs his new cultural identity. Chapter six summarizes the main findings of this thesis.