Anaya's Use of Imagery. Anaya uses powerful images to evoke a multiplicity of responses from his readers. He draws readers into the story through prophetic dreams, idyllic scenes of harmony, episodes of spontaneous horseplay among children, scenes of mystical dynamism, and episodes of violence and death. Each of them is richly detailed and provides readers with a sense of closeness to the characters and to the forces of nature.
Oppositional Forces. Opposition is a technique widely used by Anaya in the novel to create conflict at many levels. Antonio's parents are opposed in their backgrounds and in their visions and aspirations; religions are opposed in their viewpoints and demands on the individual; cosmic forces are opposed in the forms of good and evil; and forms of nature are opposed in their dry and fertile manifestations. The novel contains psychological, social, cultural, and physical conflict. Indeed, conflict is pervasive in Antonio's life.
Tripartites. Anaya uses tripartites to structure the novel. Again and again, things occur in "threes." There are, for example, three cultures, three brothers, three Trementina sisters, three prophetic dreams, three revelations of Ultima's identity, three Comanche spirits, three interferences by Ultima in the destinies of others, and so on. While numerology is not a salient feature of the narrative, it is clear that numbers structure the plot.
