Bless Me, Ultima By Rudolfo Anaya

Living with Ultima since seven, Antonio quickly learns the struggles between his two family cultures. His mother’s side, the Lunas, who is obsessed and pushes Tony to become a priest. On the opposite, his father wants him to follow the Marez tradition, being of the son of vaqueros, riding horses across the plains. Leaping from child to adult, he begins to understand the tragic between both religious, overcome obstacles to unknot the family ties that bind him from finding his own identity. In his bildungsroman Bless Me, Ultima Rudolfo Anaya uses imagery and point of view to illustrate the protagonist, Antonio’s loss of innocence.

Ultima helps Antonio with his anxiety and uncertainties throughout the book. After ultima goes to live with the marez family is when Antonio becomes able to be independent and move away from the responsibilities he has in his family. Ultima shows him that he has to think for himself and make his own decisions and conclusions. In the book Ultima tells Antonio “You are growing, and growth is change. Accept the change, make it part of your strength.” This quote from the book shows the relationship between Ultima and Antonio, it also shows her helping Antonio with his uncertainties and telling him to be and stay strong while he is

Ultima’s role as demonstrates how Chicano culture is a mixture of multiple, conflicting influences. When Spanish Catholics arrived, they claimed curanderismo is a form of witchcraft. Thus, they killed those that practiced the act. But their interaction brought about a mixed culture where curanderismo existed in harmony with Catholicism. Anaya shows this religious blend by describing Antonio’s mother as a devout Catholic who also respects the Ultima’s powers.

As the story unfolds, Antonio is struggling with his own mind for an answer to the sinful nature of man and the forgiveness of his God. Under the guidance of Ultima, he learns that he must decide for himself the moral basis of life and live by it so as not to drown in the world of sin he lives in. The theme is expressed when Antonio excitedly enters the church for his first communion, thinking it will bring him an understanding of that that has been troubling his mind, ”A thousand questions pushed through my mind, but the voice within me did not answer. There was only silence.” When he feels nothing at the end of the communion and wonders why his God would not answer his questions, he begins to learn that he cannot rely on his church or his priest to provide him with what he needs to define morality. He learns that moral independence is important and as he fulfilled Ultima’s dying wish, he then understood and forged his own moral independence. Another theme is that culture and blood have a great influence of one’s identity. It can be easily seen that his family’s religious ways and the pride they carry in their blood is greatly troubling Antonio on his road to finding his moral

Wisdom can only be gained through experience and clarified by speaking with others. In the novel, "Bless Me, Ultima," by Rodolfo Anaya, the main character, Antonio Luna Marez, is on a quest to understand all of the issues present in his life, and gain the wisdom necessary to make important decisions regarding his future. It described the hardships of a young child and how these lessons helped him to begin to understand life. There were many characters within the novel I felt aided in the spiritual development of Antonio, but the one that stands out the most is Ultima, who came to stay with the Marez family because of her old age. Ultima was an essential part of the story, because she provided Antonio with the guidance he needed and yearned

An important motif in “Bless Me, Ultima” are Antonio’s dreams. His dreams foreshadow major events and make him question his beliefs, especially revolving around religion. The dream that Antonio had subsequently

It is the inner bond that draws one person to another, not words.” The bond shared between Antonio and Ultima is a powerful remarkably moving one to its readers. Evolving him to greater stage of critically thinking unfogging the questions arising with his baptized soul. Ultima convers the boy who called her Ultima while everyone else called

In this situation when Ultima walks through the door and passes the test and “they could not understand the power of Ultima. But she had walked through the door so the power of la curandera was good” (135). Evidently Ultima had passed the test by walking through the door with holy nails above for if she was a witch she would not have been able to do so proving she is not evil. Even one of the men from the mob said that ultima was free of the accusation after she had passed the test. Lastly Ultima brought Antonio closer to nature and taught her ways to him, this was shown when she made Antonio speak to a plant he was going to pull out “for Ultima even the plants had a spirit, and before I dug she made me speak to the plant and tell it why I pulled it from its home in the earth” (39). Ultima gets Antonio involved with nature which helps get him more involved with the luna side of his

“It was warm in my attic, as I lay listening to the sounds of the house falling asleep and repeating a Hail Mary over and over in my thoughts, I drifted into the time of dreams.” (pg4) In Antonio’s dreams his conscience often screens the thoughts and words that he cannot bare to address. Antonio’s first dream is quite perspicuously affected by the talk of Ultima’s coming, although it is unannounced. “My soul wandered…... I recognized Las Pasturas and my heart grew happy.” (pg5) That night it was not the llano or adobe huts that kept young Antonio Márez asleep, it was the idea of such an embodiment

Antonio and Ultima become fast friends, as he spends a lot of his time in the llano gathering herbs and learning about the flora with her. Being the youngest son and the only one of his brothers not drafted into the war, he has a youthful innocence that is eventually broken throughout the story. His innocence is first threatened when he witnesses the death of Lupito, a returned World War II soldier who is suffering from post-traumatic delirium. In his crazed state, Lupito murders the town sheriff, and an angry mob, instead of helping the shaken-up man, chases him down and shoots him. Antonio worries about Lupito and whether he will be going to heaven or hell.

Instead, Antonio grew in a deep disappointment when God remained silent. Through the events he witnessed, with Narcisco's death and Tenorio's evil doings, Tellez's haunting territory, Antonio began to question the nature and existence of God. He realized why was Ultima's magic so powerful, but the priest cannot make miracles. Antonio saw how Ultima does her power, but never saw how God did his. Florence's death also led him into darkness.

She is certainly the person that Antonio admires most, and has an extremely prominent influence on Antonio. Since Antonio was the last child that she birthed, Ultima came to live with his family. She was very protective of him for the same reason and teaches Antonio about being a curandera (her job). In addition, she allows Antonio to fill a role that could be called a protégé. Her willingness to allow him to be with her helped to boost Antonio’s confidence.

In the beginning of the story, Antonio was just about to turn seven when his parents, Gabriel and Maria invite Ultima to come and live with them. Throughout the story it is clear that both Antonio and Ultima have magical powers. Antonio is able to foretell the future through his dreams and his dreams seems to foreshadow the events throughout the novel. Up until the point

The thoughts we think, ways we speak, express ourselves, voices heard, and means of imagination define our identity but can branch out as they are grown from the influences and nourishment of others. The social roles of each character in the novel Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya propel Tony so he doesn’t need to feel suffocated by choices, but embrace them as elements to life that lead to growth. Death and rebirth being a prevalent theme in the novel that can symbolize more than what is depicted in just the story of Antonio. The concept of rebirth exists not only within certain events but also in the unraveling of each character.

Ultima can be viewed more as a motherly figure then Antonio’s own mother Maria in so many ways that Antonio would feel much more comfortable in what he had to deal with throughout the novel. As much as his Maria would smoother her son with love and affection she strives for Antonio to become a priest.