Bless Me Ultima By Rudolfo Anaya

His parents have ideas which conflict each other when it relates to their precious last son’s fate. Like a hawk swooping down on its prey, Ultima, an elderly curandera comes to occupy a room in the Marez residence. To everyone else in the house Ultima staying with them is negligible, but the bond Antonio and Ultima soon begin to create is the first step into Antonio’s quest in finding his fate. “When she came the beauty of the llano unfolded before my eyes, and the gurgling waters of the river sang to the hum of the turning earth. The magical time of childhood stood still, and the pulse of the living earth pressed its mystery into my living blood.”(Anaya 1) Ultima’s presence alone lifted Antonio’s spirits, even the little things such as the llano he lived on all his life that had become mundane to him, began to glisten with great importance.

Hardship in childhood can cause children to be wise beyond their years. A child 's experiences are what shape their future, making them evolve both mentally and spiritually. In Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, Antonio’s system of beliefs is greatly influenced by the perception of God that is instilled in him mainly by his mother. His understanding of God is forced to evolve as Antonio goes through many experiences throughout the course of the novel, including the tragedies that befall Narciso, Florence, and Ultima and his exposure to these characters. God is a being that is characterized by his punishment of those who sin and his protection of those who do not. As the events in this novel unfold, Antonio sees on many occasions how the God that he believes in does not perform the roles that he believed he did.

Personal ideologies provide an aspiration for a fools paradise. That endeavor contrived a blindness that makes their perfect world, someone else’s ordeal. Individuals might convoke others for guidance to an explicit ambit to discover their own dogma. However, humanity has a type of ignorance in a sense that compels them to force their own beliefs onto others. Distinct mentalities collide due to their own belief of being “right” which in turn causes further separation between religions, nations and even families. In the book “Bless Me Ultima” by Rudolfo Anaya, the predominance of Antonio’s parents impulses him to have an

A clear theme in Bless Me, Ultima is Antonio’s struggle to find who he is amidst two sides of himself: the Lunas and the vaqueros. He fears for his future, where he believes he will have to decide between the two parts of himself, and inevitably disappoint one half of the people in his life. He fears what his life will be. He fears the river. This all changes when Ultima arrives. She teaches him to love the presence of the river, and to love his life however it may come. She shows him that the river is the lifeblood of the herbs she uses to heal and save, and that he can use his life to help others as well. But her spirit, in the owl, also shows him that life, and the river, can be very dangerous (Anaya, 14).

When we think of childhood we think of blissful, exhilarating moments, like being pushed on a swing higher and higher feeling as if you could stretch your hand and grasp the clouds, as you experience the cooling air of a hot summer day on your blushed face, as you yelped to be pushed further into the clouds. We do not think of the anguish and questions that the sight of death brings. But that’s exactly what happens to six year old Antonio Marez in the novel Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya. When young Antonio witnesses the death of a local War Veteran, a family friend, and a classmate, it leaves him with transforming effects, prompting him to question death, sin, morality, and in the end leading him to be ambivalent towards his Catholic beliefs. Through every mortifying act that he witnesses, he has the guidance of Ultima, an elderly “curandera,” healer, who uses her wisdom to lead Antonio to answer his own questions.

In the book “Bless Me Ultima,” by Rodolfo Anaya, the role of duality goes very into depth with its many controversial topics. Some of these topics include the contrast between Catholicism and indigenous mysticism, good witchcraft and evil witchcraft, and men and women. Since Antonio must struggle to find his own identity and place he must battle between his family, beliefs, and self. This can be seen between his parents, who’s frequently conflicting views make it difficult for Antonio to accept either of their belief systems, his struggles between the English and Spanish language, and how evil and good affected his innocence.

Bless Me, Ultima has many recurring motifs that surface during key points in the book, such as Antonio losing his innocence. After his brothers returned he had a dream of them entering a local brothel and in his dream, he pleads for them to not enter this evil place. His brothers ridiculed him for not entering and only his brother Andrew said he will not enter until Antonio has lost his innocence. His mother was also in this dream and she said "You are innocent when you do not know, but you already know too much about the flesh and blood of the Marez men". (Anaya 76) His priest tells him you are only innocent when you do not know, innocence is lost with the arrival of understanding. Antonio has seen 3 deaths, you can begin to say that he is no longer pure of innocence as it has become tainted by those deaths he has witnessed firsthand.

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

This is a turning point for Antonio because all of his hopes and anticipation of knowing the answers are dissolved and he is left with nothing. This is when he relies most on Ultima’s great wisdom: “Ultima was a practitioner of ancient religion of the earth, curing people with medicine,” (Sparknotes) and performing exorcisms on villagers’ homes. Ultima and her ways led Antonio’s beliefs and faith in a separate direction from that of the Catholic Church.

There is this complexity that becomes evident with the arrival of Ultima. Ultima comes to live with Antonio's family when Antonio's mother, Maria, finds out she has no one else with her. Maria describes Ultima as a healer and someone Antonio could learn a lot from; a sort of role model figure. Before she arrives, Antonio has this vision where an elderly woman, later revealed as Ultima, states “I pulled this baby into the light of life, so I will bury the afterbirth and the cord that once linked him to eternity. Only I will know his destiny.” (Anaya 6) Antonio was

In the novel, Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya, with the guidance from Ultima, a curandera, Antonio is conflicted in the search for his identity with his parental expectations and background influences. Ultimas beliefs assist Antonio in deciding who’s path he wants to take when he’s older, his mother’s expectation of him

Antonio needed to make a transition from a naïve six-year-old boy to a grown mature man. His experiences continued to put his cultural beliefs into question, and diminish his innocence. Bless Me, Ultima was a transformative story, based on a series of events that Antonio experienced. During the book, Antonio was required to transform from boy to man. The numerous amounts of tensions of opposites everywhere in his life caused him to question everything he was ever taught. Antonio looked upon different opinions, religious beliefs, and independence as a chance to grow into his own person. When Antonio witnessed constant deaths, the magic of the golden carp, and the indescribable healing powers of Ultima, he obviously questioned his Catholic upbringing and potential future dedicated to the priesthood. When God failed to come down and respond to Antonio's questions, especially during his First Holy Communion, he was no longer positive in the power of God. He was unsure of the differences between right and wrong, and good and evil. When faced with the unique chance to travel to El Puerto with his uncles to learn their work, Antonio received answers regarding Ultima, her spirit, and the owl. This single experience, along with Antonio's passion for success, authorized him to diverge into his religion and spirituality and come of age, through his

In Bless Me, Ultima Antonio’s character development and culture leads him to figure out that only he can decide who he is. Antonio’s mother wants him to become a priest. She teaches that her way of life is the “right” way. His mother is a Luna, a farmer’s daughter, who is very religious, “My mother was not a woman of the llano, she was the daughter of a farmer. She could not see the beauty in the llano, and she could not understand the coarse men who lived half their lifetimes on horseback… This one will be a Luna, the old man said, he will be a farmer and

2. As he tells the story, how does Antonio make sense of the conflict he encounters? Does he seem to prefer the world and viewpoint of his mother and her brothers, his father, and the vaqueros, Ultima or some other influence? Which of these influences seem dominant in his eyes? Antonio is trapped into a conflict between being what for his parents either being a vaquero or a priest but because of

“‘Why are you so thoughtful, Antonio?’ Ultima asked” (Anaya, 33). Ultima understands how Antonio evaluates situations well beyond his years. “It was during one of these moods of thought” (Anaya 187). Antonio sets asides portions of his day just for thinking about emotions, religion, and the world around him.