Character Development - How Do People Make a Leap to Transform Themselves from Child to Adult?

Makenna Allen

Per.1

English

Character Development

How do people make a leap to transform themselves from child to adult? What obstacles must he or she overcome to finally reach the succeeding point to where we all want to be? Who in our lives are going to be responsible for influencing the decisions that we make that will soon shape our lives and how the outcome of our future will be? In the story Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, Antonio Marez must progress towards his own independent self and choose who he wants to be in his future. It was a coming-of-age experience for Antonio that would change his whole outlook on life forever.

In this novel a boy goes through many more experiences , than any other kid has, in the summertime days in New Mexico. He plays a witness to many deaths of his close family and friends. Many of his emotions are mainly expressed through his dreams, but then when he wakes up in his mind he is really confused. What happen in his dreams usually turn out to be true and actually happen in the near future. For example, in his very first dream, which was the day before Ultima arrived, it was about how Antonio was born and all of the family gather around together and witness Antonio’s arrival. Then the two sides of the families, which are the Lunas’ and the Marez’, fight over whose destiny Antonio will choose to foretake in the end.Then, also in his dream, Ultima goes in and was telling him that only she will know the outcome of his destiny. Antonio didn’t know it yet or even meet Ultima yet but what he dreamt was actually going to happen. As a young child Antonio has a difficult time understanding the world around him.

Antonio, a boy who had grown up on a llano, first starts out as an innocent child who is completely unaware of the dangers and tragedies that life can bring. As the story goes on, he starts to become more and more aware of all the good and bad things in the world. Throughout the whole novel Antonio comes past many obstacles that start to eat away at his innocence which starts to make him question God’s power and ability and injustice that this world may have such as , the death of Lupito, the Golden Carp, and the death of Florence. He even starts to become concerned aout his