Character Analysis: Bless Me Ultima

When he lifts his hands into the air, instead of speaking to God to save his brothers, he speaks to the presence of the river. This shows that he will have some religion dilemmas between God and the Golden Carp. In his last dream, Antonio witnesses “Tenorio capture the night spirit of Ultima and murder it, and Ultima died in agony” (244). Soon after this dream, Tenorio kills Ultima’s owl. Antonio then understood that the owl is her living soul.

The final source of understanding for Antonio is God. He is expected to understand God, because his mother dreams for him to become a priest. He is also expected to believe in God because his mother is Catholic and that is what is expected of Antonio. "I hoped that in a few years the taking of the first holy communion would bring me understand"(77). Antonio is basically going through the motions that are expected of him. He is not genuinely excited to be taking his communion; it is just something that he feels he needs to do. He thinks that if he takes his first communion maybe he will have some answers for why there is good and evil going on around him. He says, "I want to know. I want to know the mysteries of

In the book, Bless Me, Ultima, Antonio witnesses four deaths when all is said and done,

Narciso and Antonio do not have many direct encounters in the novel, yet Narciso has a profound effect on Antonio’s religious maturation. Narciso, who is considered the town drunk, is present in many important conflicts as a mediator figure. He goes to great lengths to help his friends, which is shown when he attempts to convince the townsmen not to rashly kill Lupito after he had shot the sheriff. Once Lupito is killed Antonio worries about the fate of the men on the bridge who shot him, including his own father. Antonio wonders "Did God listen? Would he hear? Had he seen my father on the bridge? And where was Lupito 's soul winging to, or was it washing down the

Along these lines, Lupito’s death was a suicide. He wanted to escape the liability of the sin he committed. Antonio questions the ultimate of Lupito’s soul. “Did God listen? Would he hear? Had he seen my father on the bridge? And where was Lupito’s soul swinging to, or was it washing down the river to the fertile valley of my uncles’ farms?” (Anaya 23). Antonio knew it is a sin to commit suicide, but he did not physically commit that sin himself, so what will God do? Before dying, Lupito asked Antonio to bless him. Antonio knew only a priest can bless him, but he wasn’t sure if he had that power. At that moment he questions the justice of Lupito’s actions and God’s punishment. Lupito was shot in the leg. He bled out into the river and his blood will forever be there, flowing to other places, scarring other places. On that Occasion, Antonio a future priest, witnessed death. Antonio was no longer pure. Losing the purity meant he

While his brothers are at war, a man named Lupito returned from that same war and Antonio witnesses his insanity drive other men’s hands to kill him. This sparked a turmoil inside of Antonio to question the world, forgiveness, and the grace of his God. As the story goes on Antonio sees more and more deaths like that of Narciso by the hands of Tenorio, it brought about wondering of hell and the sins that condemn a man to go there. Antonio’s classmate tells him about a golden carp who chose to protect his people by swimming with him. The golden carp is symbolic of morality and being one with god, but it contradicts his religion and beliefs. Antonio feels that it is wrong to believe the story because he thinks that he is abandoning his God by even believing in the golden carp because his religion calls for only one god and it is a sin to worship any other

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.

Lupito has just killed the town sheriff, and all the men are out for his blood. They are searching the bridge and the bushes looking for him when Narciso comes down and tries to calm everyone down. He shouts at the the group of men: “Let us act like men! That is not an animal down there, that is a man. Lupito. You all know Lupito. You know that the war has made him sick-,”

experiences, result in the loss of innocence. Even though it was tough going through all these events, Antonio receives strength that will assist him extremely throughout his life, with fights and revelations. His incidents have developed the brawny, grown man he will soon be. Transformations are always needed for us to be fully grown, even though it can be hard and

He still goes back to the idea of his preordained future in priesthood, as destined by his mother. As a child first witnessing the horrors of life, his mind instinctively goes to his mother. As if seeking validation, if he were to fulfill his mother’s hopes in becoming a priest, he would be gratified and he would be innocent again. This brings about an obvious turmoil within him and his perceived responsibilities within priesthood. Anaya also uses symbolism to show the stark contrast between blood and the river. The idea that Lupito’s blood was spilled as a result of his sinful actions is now tainting and defiling the purity and sanctity of water could be paralleled to Antonio’s innocence defiled and diluted by the horrors he had just witnessed. Arguably, Lupito’s death is an unjustified persecution of an ill man. His actions—actions that he was not completely conscious of—stemmed from the horrors of war which brings about the question of justice. Why would God let this man—a man not fully conscious of his actions—be held responsible, punished, and persecuted when he had done nothing wrong?

‘God! Why did Lupito die? Why do you allow the evil of the Trementinas [bruja sisters]? Why did you allow Narciso to be murdered when he was doing good?’...A thousand questions pushed through my mind, but the Voice with me did not answer...The mass was ending, the fleeting mystery was already vanishing. (Anaya 221)

Religion is a cultural event that occurs in the life of the Lunas. Antonio’s mother brings that aspect with her when she marries with a man that has Marez blood. The presence of religion stays with Antonio throughout the course of the novel. It can easily be said that religion defines an enormous portion of who he is from the point of birth. He makes his best efforts to stay away from horrible experiences and put his thoughts out of anything that may make him doubts and God and heaven. But even for him it reaches to a point that he can’t bear with much more. But religion remains present even at home. While Antonio’s three older brothers, Andrew, Leon and Eugenio are away at war, Antonio and his family pray for them all the time and even when they have returned. They do this on a day to day basis to keep the presence of religion alive.

The mother, in particular, was a lifelong church member and at some point must have reflected on the possible consequences and repercussions of her faith. It is almost certain that she was probably aware of members of the congregation who had been placed in similar situations, and yet she still kept to her religious obligations. However, determining the religious commitment of the sixteen-year-old boy is a more complex scenario. Even though he is old enough to comprehend the issue, it is not clear whether he had truly thought out the consequences of these wishes and beliefs.

Her mother and father were both raised in lower-income households with high levels of enthusiasm towards the Protestant religion. They descended from the English,1 so it made sense. But, they demanded this same loyalty of their kids. I think this ended up pushing some of my family away from religion.

Parenting methods have been affected by numerous factors over the years. Parenting is something that is obviously successful or in the worst case, has failed miserably! We found that the parents' religious affiliation affects the way they raise their children. "The particular theologies theory posits that different religious affiliations put varying efforts into emphasizing family-formation strategies" (Pearce 2002: 325). Religious affiliations, inspired parents to be fervent on implanting strong morals, maintaining close relational ties within their family, and encourage positive community involvement with their particular religious affiliation.