Character Analysis: Bless Me, Ultima By Rudolfo Anaya

Many people in the town love Ultima. They praise her and can’t thank her enough when she cures one of their loved ones. While many love and praise her, a select few in the town believe that Ultima is a witch and of ten accuse Ultima of it. One of these is Tenorio Trementina, the father of the three Trementina sisters who put a curse on Lucas, Antonio’s uncle. Even Antonio, who loves Ultima very much, once doubted if Ultima was really a witch or just a curandera. Some of Antonio’s classmates have also called Ultima a witch. Tenorio often besieges Ultima. Despite all this, Ultima is still very strong and remains strong until the day of her death. Ultima is also very brave strong. She is not threatened when Tenorio threatens to kill Ultima or when people make the sign of the cross to see if she really is a witch.

One consistent theme throughout Bless Me, Ultima is the influence of others’ expectations on identity. Antonio is under constant pressure from both his parents to conform to their respective family’s philosophies and beliefs—even Ultima, who appears to try to be impartial, does clearly contribute to this pressure. The Luna and Márez families clearly have different beliefs and hold different things to be important in their lives, as evidenced by the tensions between the two families in Antonio’s dream (6). The Luna are farmers, religious, and believe firmly in education, while the Márez are people of “unbounded freedom” (25) and explorers. Antonio’s mother desires that her son become a priest and receive a good education, and is diligently religious

In chapter 10, Ultima encounters a situation in which she must lift a curse from the body Antonio’s Uncle Lucas and cure him from the near clutches of death that was inflicted by Tenorio’s 3 bewitched Trementina daughters. With Ultima busy creating herbal preparations for Lucas’s cure she instructed Antonio to aide her with apprentice like duties such as making a fire and following her commands to helping his uncle drink the remedy. As the night grew longer Antonio witnessed Ultima use her magic to cure his uncle Lucas and rebound the cure back to its origin. Antonio witnessed Ultima mold three black clay dolls resembling the Trementina girls and chanting of prayers “You have done evil,” she sang, “But good is stronger than evil, “And what you sought to do will undo you…”(Anaya, pg. 101). Finally after the arduous process to cure Lucas’s curse, Lucas vomited a huge ball wiggling hair in which later Ultima burned by the tree of the evil Trementina’s dancing tree. As a result Ultima triumphantly saved Lucas’s life through the way of Curandera, and Antonio realized how the powers of church and doctors

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.

(Anaya 134). Ultima takes the saying “eye for an eye” quote quite literal. That being said, this goes back to Antonio’s grasp on forgiveness. If Ultima was purely good, she would not have taken revenge on the Trementios. She played the part of karma herself, which then spiraled into more hate between Ultima and Tenorio.

At Antonio’s birth, the Luna and Marez fought over which heritage he would inherit, but Ultima resolves the conflict by saying, “I pulled this baby into the light of life… only I will know his destiny” (6). So, when Ultima dies at the conclusion of the novel, the knowledge of Antonio’s destiny dies with her. Antonio then has the freedom to create his own future free from the pressure of choosing to be either a Luna or a Marez. Ultima’s death, while resolving his identity conflict, also forces Antonio to grow up and become more self-reliant. Before her death, Antonio depended on her for advice because his parents are biased with his identity struggle. Without her guidance, Antonio is forced to be more independent. Ultima seems to recognize this as she blesses Antonio before she dies saying, “I bless you in the name of all that is good and strong and beautiful, Antonio. Always have the strength to live. Love life, and if despair enters your heart, look for me in the evenings when the wind is gentle and the owls sing in the hills. I shall be with you—” (261). Ultima reassures Antonio that she will be with him because, without her, he has no one else to depend on for guidance. When Ultima dies, it concludes Antonio’s faith and heritage conflict because it gives him the independence to seek out his destiny as both a

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. While as, Mora also portrays the mysterious woman with a deep faith as she, “lights candles before/her sacred status” (104).

Ultima's curing of Antonio's uncle is an instance where her powers have proved to work while God's has failed. His uncle was cursed by the daughters of Tenorio Trementina after confronting them during a satanic ritual. Ultima was then called to try and save him from dying. "The church would not allow your grandfather to let me use my powers. The church was afraid that... The priest at El Puerto did not want the people to place much faith in the powers of la currandera. He wanted the mercy and faith of the church to be the villagers' only guiding light."(Anaya 97) The Lunas waited to call Ultima because the church didn’t want the prosperity of her powers cause religious ambivalence amongst their followers. Antonio was able to witness la currandera work her magic and cure his

Ultima throughout the story shows signs of being a curandera rather that being a witch. When Ultima is first introduced she is described a curandera who knows her herbs: “Ultima was a curandera a woman who knew the herbs” (P4 L12). Ultima is a Curandera because curanderos in our world heal people using the herbs they know and find in the forest or plains which perfectly describes Ultima as she helps and cures Antonio's family using herbs as well. Furthermore, there is a video Tittled “The Curandera” which is about a Curandera and her practices as a curandera which the central character states

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).

Another example of Antonio's sense of development in good and evil is his home. It is means a lot to Antonio, because the people living in it makes him feel protected and provide warmth to him. When Tenorio and his men came to his house to take Ultima away, Antonio’s father "You walk on my land! That is my business" (Anaya 130). This make Antonio feel that he would be protected by the presence of his father., Gabriel. However, Antonio's mother made home very fond and ardent for him. She had always been affectionate towards him and would show him care. Most importantly, Ultima was the one who contributed to the goodness of Antonio's home. She made Antonio feel as though her presence filled the home with love and safety. It was Ultima who calmed Antonio down after he had seen Lupito die. Whenever he had a nightmare, Ultima would always be right beside to comfort Antonio and " could sleep again" (Anaya 34). Ultima's fearlessness against Tenorio and his three daughters made Antonio feel that he would be safe wherever Ultima was. Overall, the

Ultima has some people accusing her of being a witch. There are quite a few people that believe she is a witch. They have some good reasons for thinking this. She does use voodoo dolls against Tenorio’s daughters, that doesn't help her case. “ When she was done she stood the three dolls around the light of the flickering candle,and I saw three women. Then Ultima spoke to the three women. “ You have done evil,” she sang, “ But good is stronger than evil, “And what you sought to do will undo you...(101).”That’s not the only thing she uses that could be considered black magic. She uses herbs from the llano to help people. She believes that the herbs she gets can do a number of things.” Ultima and I walked in the hills of the llano, gathering the wild herbs and roots for her medicines. We roamed the entire countryside and up and down the river. I carried a small shovel with which to dig, and she carried a gunny sack in which to gather our magic harvest (39).” She also believes that to pick an herb you have to speak to it.”For Ultima, even the plants had a spirit, and before I dug she made me speak

To further illustrate the comparison of Ultima to Christ is the aura of power Ultima's character seems to possess, and to which she gains respect as a healer. The instance in the text where

Ultima is an old curandera, which means healer in spanish, who comes to El Puerto to live with the Marez family after she is left alone in the town of Las Pasturas. When she arrives and turns to greet him, Antonio feels awestruck. According to Antonio, he “felt the power of a whirlwind sweep around me (Anaya 12).” A series of events occur throughout the story which makes Antonio overprotective of La Ultima. For instance, when Antonio and Ultima go to his grandfather’s house to cure his uncle, “Some women bowed their heads, other made the sign of the cross (Anaya 104).” Crossing your forehead in front of someone who is helping your family is a sign of disrespect. I feel that if I were Antonio, I would feel very offended because Ultima is my friend and nobody should be disrespected in front of the people you care for the most. As Antonio grows, he finds himself questioning his religion and comes to accept that everything is not what it seems. For example, Antonio realizes that the people of the town can be very judgemental and will blindly follow anyone because they fear the unknown. Antonio has to deal with is brothers who are led astray by the prostitutes of the town and their unrealistic dreams. After the war ended, his brothers came back, but with different plans for themselves. They leave because they want to be free, but I believe that they chain

Bless Me, Ultima is a story about the maturation of a young Mexican-American boy, Antonio M’arez, struggling with many questions about his destiny, life and death, and good and evil. Ultima who comes to live with Antonio becomes his caretaker and his teacher. Antonio learns there are powers in the world that differ from his beliefs in the Catholic faith. Ultima teaches Antonio “that the tragic consequences of life can be overcome by the magical strength that resides in the human heart”. Ultima shows Antonio how to experience the magic of life with his heart and not with his eyes. For the first time, he sees the river not as something to be feared but as a source of life, “I had been afraid of the awful