Monday, February 21, 2011
Antonio's mentality.
As we see in this book, Tony comes along a few friends. Some bad and some, well less bad thatn the others. we notice that these friends wil help decide what future Antonio will have. Priest or Vaquero. They help him to realize that God may not be as just as was once thought. "[He] was not satisfied. The god [he] so eagerly sought was not there". So my question to you today is; do you think Antonios final decision of God is just, using textual support from our essay and the book, why?
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ReplyDeleteAlvin Mei
ReplyDeletePeriod 7
Your question was not clear to me, but if what you are asking if Antonio still believes in God or not, then my answer is yes I do believe that Antonio still believes in God. As he shouts "Oh God!" to the many things that he has experience, he believes that everything happens for a reason, and that reason is 'los[ing] [his] innocence" (Anaya 165). He questions God, but he knows that he must not, for God is always there for him. When Antonio and Florence were arguing about God in page 196, Antonio stood his ground and fought for what he believes in, and that's what a true believer does. At the end of the book, he talks about "crossing the bridge to go to church" and becoming a priest, he must always be with God, and, Antonio, already having his mind set, will live a long life with God beside him (Anaya 261).
I think that Antonio's judgement was slightly justified because of the things he had to go through as a Catholic. For example, he had to deal with giving three of his close friends their "last confession on earth", and experience their deaths first hand, ranging from bleeding out to drowning (Anaya 243). He also had to deal with his dreams in which God laughed at him and called him a "foolish boy" (Anaya 173). The combination of these experiences makes it understandable that he would give up on God. But not only does he give up on that, he gives up on all religion because of the flaws found in them.
ReplyDeleteJae Phan
ReplyDeleteI think that Antonio's perspective of God is warped towards the end of the book. Antonio dreams of God the night of Narciso's death. The God he sees is very frightening and terrible, "he condemns [Andrew] to hell for eternity" for sinning with whores (Anaya 173). Antonio previously believed his God was a merciful God, but due to his dreams and past experience on life, God became a jealous God who is unforgiving to sinners. Not knowing who God was anymore, he cries out "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me!" in the end of the novel(Anaya 244).
Leo Huang
ReplyDeleteLike Alvin, I'm not really too sure of what you're asking either, but if your question is whether Antonio still believes in God, my answer would be yes. Antonio is shown to have a strong liking for education and a strong attachment to the church. He feels sad and discouraged whenever he goes against the church. He still believes in God because Antonio says that he would "build my own dream out of those things that were so much a part of my childhood" (Anaya 261). The church and Christianity was a major part of his childhood, so in the future Antonio will live a dream that is tied to Christianity. Because of this, he still believes in God.