I had 0 idea about what was going on in this essay. the teacher said write and a wrote. was it good? No. Was it worth it? Probably not.
Did I write it all in one day cause I'm stupid and procrastinate...
ofc!
AP Lit
October 9, 2022
Songs of innocence and experience
Fate rules the beginning of our lives, we cannot control the circumstances of our birth and yet it is human nature to make decisions for ourselves after going through pain and loss. In both the works Rappaccini's Daughter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and Bless me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, fate and personal destinies are major plot points. In the short story Rappaccini's Daughter Rappaccini, a scientist father decides that it is best for his daughter to become a poisonous woman for the sake of her safety. Nearly any living thing that she comes into contact with dies which causes her to live in complete isolation from the rest of the world with no other company than that of her father. Rappaccini constructs a garden of poison for Beatrice to live in but also a prison that isolates her from mankind. Her father decided her fate, choosing a path for her before she was even born. Much like in Bless me Ultima, Antonio lived the beginning of his life with his path being carved out before him. His mother wanted him to be a priest and she filled his days with her own dreams of his future. Everywhere Antonio looked, external influences whispered in his ear, pushing him to follow a certain path and he saw nothing wrong with it. Until the arrival of Ultima, he didn't even have a slight consideration of choosing a path for himself.
Antonio and Beatrice gained the knowledge to make their own choices through the experiences and tragedies that they went through. Beatrice is introduced to the audience as a woman who is beaming with innocence and love for everything that she encounters but she longs for human connections. When she meets Giovanni, there is an instant attraction between them, she viewed him as her only source to learn about the world and to Giovanni she was "not unlike what the maiden of a lonely island might have felt, conversing with a voyager from the civilized world. Evidently her experience of life had been confined within the limits of that garden" (Hawthorne). From what she learns about the outside world she realizes that she has been robbed of a better life. Antonio on the other hand witnessed great tragedy. While Beatrice had been sheltered in a garden her entire life, Antonio witnessed nearly everything there was to witness at a very young age. After witnessing the death of Lupito Antonio wonders for the first time, "Oh why did my mother dream for me to be a priest! How would I ever wash away the stain of blood from the sweet waters of my river!" (Anaya, 25). Antonio is expressing to himself how he does not want to be a priest, this begins his journey with questioning why things happen and self discovery. Through this trauma Antonio will define himself as the person he wants to be, he is not vocal to others about it yet but the shovel to dig his own path has been placed in his hands. Soon he will learn to stand up for himself. This sentiment is shared between both protagonists as Beatrice also stands her ground against Rappaccini. ""My father," said Beatrice, feebly--and still, as she spoke, she kept her hand upon her heart--"wherefore didst thou inflict this miserable doom upon thy child?" "Miserable!" exclaimed Rappaccini. "What mean you, foolish girl? (Hawthorne), from what we can infer from the passage this is the first time Beatrice has become vocal about the misery she went through and Rappaccini doesn't understand that his choices had consequences for her. She has never stood up for herself in this way before and this shocks her father, she has finally gained a voice thanks to what she has learned from Giovanni. Similarly Antonio, near the end of the novel remains steadfast in who he wants to be. After being bullied into the role of the priest in a childish game, Antonio refuses to punish his atheist friend Florence because he truly believes he has done nothing wrong. This costs him the good will of the rest of the school children and they beat him but Antonio does not change his verdict. ""You could never be their priest," he(Florence) said. I looked at the open door of the church. There was a calm in the wind and the bright sunlight made everything stark and harsh. The last of the kids went into the church and the doors closed. "No," I nodded." (Anaya, 227). With his newfound beliefs, Antonio would never be able to be the priest that the church wants, nor the priest his family wants yet he has found the path that suits himself.
The cruelty of the world pushes people to grow up faster, thus forcing them to mature more swiftly. After her confrontation with her father Beatrice made the decision to protect Giovanni rather than herself knowing that she could possibly die. ""Give it to me!" said Beatrice, extending her hand to receive the little silver phial which Giovanni took from his bosom. She added, with a peculiar emphasis: "I will drink--but do thou await the result.""(Hawthorne). Beatrice knew the venomous nature of man; she didn't trust the "antidote" given to her. Yet near the end of her life she says. "I would fain have been loved, not feared," murmured Beatrice, sinking down upon the ground.--"But now it matters not; I am going, father, where the evil, which thou hast striven to mingle with my being, will pass away like a dream--like the fragrance of these poisonous flowers, which will no longer taint my breath among the flowers of Eden."(Hawthorne). In the end, she drinks it and this kills her. In this moment she had full control of her fate and the choice she made reflected that of her true self. The part of her that wanted to protect Giovanni, the part that wanted to prove her father wrong, and the part that wanted to be rid of the curse of the poison. Antonio on the other hand had a longer period of growth due to different discoveries and traumas. He knows who he is and while he is still very young he still has a better comprehension of self than most fully grown adults. After the death of Florence, Antonio is sent to work with his uncles on the farms to heal himself mentally. During his last few days there both he and Pedro, his uncle talk about his identity. Pedro talks of the Luna, his family and offhandedly Antonio says "I am a Marez," (Anaya, 265) which shocks his uncle. Antonio has always been pushed by his mother to follow her family and become a priest, yet this is one of the first times Antonio embraces the Marez side of his family. He blends both of his identities to make a completely new one, an identity that encompases the entirety of who he is and essentially, that is maturing into an adult.
In conclusion both Beatrice and Antonio gain the courage to speak up for themselves and make their own decisions but this would never have happened if it were not for the struggles they witnessed and went through. Beatrice and Antonio were the pinnacles of innocence and while they still are "innocent", they have learned much about the cruelty of the world that they live in. In both cases Beatrice and Antonio seem to have their fates set, their destinies pre-laid out in front of them. Yet through their own choices they break free.