Bless Me, Ultima - Religion

"I pray to the God within me for the strength to ask Him the real questions." (p.5)

“I pray to the God within me that He will give me the strength to ask Him the right questions.” (5)

After this I went to church; and having never been at such a place before, I was again amazed at seeing and hearing the service. I asked all I could about it; and they gave me to understand it was worshipping God, who made us and all things. I was still at a great loss, and soon got into an endless field of inquiries, as well as I was able to speak and ask about things. (Equiano, 82)

The way it gets its prey is by using its long tongue. This tongue has a sticky spot on the tip just like frogs. It can use this tongue for like a grip. If it happens not to use its tongue, it can use its powerful jaw.

chocolate without actually taking a bite of it and feeling it melt in your mouth?

questions about faith as there seemed to be answers. She had grown to admire her father's ideals

     After reading the book, Bless Me Ultima, I realized the integral importance of religion and need for religion and answers to life’s questions. At first, while reading this book, I thought it was just about relationships and the meaning in them but as the plot progressed I realized the book, is more than that, it questions the structures that decide the rules, morals and values that society is composed of. There were three types of religion that I identified in the book that young Anthony chose to pursue. The first was the paganistic rituals of Ultima. Ultima came into the life of Tony at a very young age and had great influence n the child. Ultima saved the life of Lucas through Tony’s

Moché teaches him that he must seek to ask God the right questions, even though we will never understand the answers he gives us.

Christianity, Judaism, Islam. These are only a few of the many religions in this world. How does one choose which religion to follow? Is it their background, nationality, belief, or because that’s the only thing they have always known or come in contact with? The concept of religion is a complex one, a concept to be investigated and questioned. This is the journey that Antonio Marex Luna explores in Rudolfo Anaya’s (1972) Chicano novel Bless Me, Ultima.

that anyone can look forward to eternal happiness with God. Henceforth, a newly transformed Alfred

He assumes that it his destiny to improve upon the knowledge he has been given. Another is,”That is all my story…..they had been men, neither gods nor demons.” This represents the ultimate truth learned by the narrator, when he discovers that they weren’t really gods; they were men. This is the beginning of the narrator’s changing beliefs based on his known truths. He realized they were no different than his people are today, so they are capable of the same feats. This makes him feel powerful. For the narrator knowledge is power, and this is the ultimate truth.

of the human mind to a new influx of light and power; he believes in inspiration, and in ecstasy.

There is so much incredible joy in learning. To stop learning is to settle, something I hope to never do. I know there will always be more beauty to uncover, more experiences to have, and more souls to connect with. To stop discovering is to think I have sucked this life dry of all possible joy. The day I believe I have learned enough about myself or the world around me is the day I have failed myself. There is so much magic and mystery in this incomprehensibly vast universe; I’m going to seek all that I can until my very last day in this body. There is so much mystery inside of myself that I will never be able to know all of it, let alone the world around me. To me, discovery boils down to two crucial elements. The first: wonderment. I believe this is the most critical trait a person can lose. Without wonder, life would be very dull. There aren’t words to adequately express just how magnificent life is. There is beauty in everything, no matter how large or small. The crinkles in the smile of someone you love. The details in the curve of the bark on a branch. Golden sunlight, just before sunset. The stillness of morning. Eyes with love in them. The intricate veins of a leaf. Though society tries to squeeze this sense of awe out of us early on, I think it’s so important to never stop looking at anything or anyone with fresh eyes and a curious mind. When we lose this sense of wonderment, this is when joy begins to slip from our

And another is to understand a parable like an old story about the God helping the people mentally or something like that.

Descartes and Augustine, in their respective examinations of the mind and God, come to the conclusion that the true understanding of all things derives from the withdrawal of the self from foreign influence and the necessity to look inward. Although each thinker’s journey or course of understanding was different, and at times rather contrasting, their ultimate realizations about knowledge are very coherent.