Summary Of Utiima By Ultima

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.

The leisurely read of Bless Me, Ultima isn’t always high on hand to hand actions; however, it is abundant with internal conflicts on the main character, Antonio. Through the high points and low points of his life, Antonio struggles to find an answer for his life. Antonio’s internal conflict about his fate, leads to him questioning his religion and who the people around him actually are, as people. But when Ultima joins them at the house, Antonio has a person who he can relate with to talk out his misfortunes. Antonio’s quest for his fate and religion is a painstaking journey that extends until the last few pages of the novel.

In the novel a pathetic situation was created when Tenorio kills Ultima’s spiritual owl. Actual life was created when Antonio was stuck in a dilemma to choose what path he was going to take when he grew up.

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

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.

As Antonio is going through life, Ultima uses her wisdom to guide him through his

In contrast to Ultima, Tenorio is often regarded as evil without the need for much thought. After murdering Narciso, Tenorio did not receive a kind penalty for his actions. The townspeople simply dismissed Narciso’s death because he “was the town drunk” so he “had died during one of his drinks” (Anaya 177). Due to this character, Antonio realized that life is not always fair. From Antonio’s perspective, Tenorio did not deserve forgiveness for killing Narciso. Antonio became biased for obvious reasons; however, he overlooked the justification for Tenorio’s forgiveness. Like Narciso, the deaths of Tenorio’s daughters were left unpunished. Tenorio was also described as “an evil man” by Antonio’s mother before his character was properly introduced (Anaya 89). Despite labeling him that, an explanation for why he is evil is never provided by her. Tenorio was called evil, but for what reasons? Is it just simply because he is in a family of witches? While his actions can register as wicked, his intentions for revenge against Ultima are regarded as good. Ultima was responsible for why “Tenorio’s daughter died” because of “Ultima’s

After Tenorio was defeated when he tried to accuse Ultima of being a witch, he harbors a more intensive hatred for Ultima. Narciso and Tenorio are drinking at the same bar, and they get into a fight. When Tenorio and Narciso are separated he swears that he is going to kill Ultima, and then drives away in his truck. Andrew does not heed Narciso’s urge to go home and warn them, so he takes it upon himself to go through the hazardous blizzard to save Ultima’s life once again. In the middle of the blizzard, Tenorio confronts Narciso with a gun. Narciso is seen claiming: “Ay diablo, you have shot me in cowardly fashion”(Anaya 168). He dies the death of a martyr, taking the shot through his body while trying to protect Ultima. However, the town will never know this because the police rule it as an accident, and “Because Narciso was the town drunk, nobody cared much” (Anaya 177). He was killed in the cold blood of hatred, but no one knows because the fate of a town drunk is beneath them.

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).

Lucas enters the forest where he sees the Trementina sisters dancing as fireballs and casting evil spells. This shows that the Trementina sisters and Tenorio are the truly the ones that are evil. Besides all the good and evil mentioned in this novel Antonio learns about all this with the guidance of Ultima leading him through it.

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.

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

Throughout the book Antonio is introduced to many new ideas. The first is the experiences he has with Ultima. Ultima is a healer who learned

Even though they are fascinated they treat him very well without mistreating him. Recalling to the book, Bless Me Ultima, in chapter 10, Tony's uncles asks ultima to help cure Lucas from a curse. Ultima uses herbs and magic to lift the curse. The doctors nor the priest could heal Lucas from his sickness. Overall the knowledge of a doctor and the powers of the church has failed to cure Antonio's uncle Lucas.

Ultima teaches Antonio of this magical strength as she tries to help him understand the murder of Narciso. The townspeople do not seek justice because Narciso had been the town drunk and his life seemed worthless, “Because Narciso was the town drunk, nobody cared much”. Ultima explains that Narciso had died trying to help a friend and that was honorable. Once Narciso had been a respectable young man but hard times had fallen upon him after the death of his young wife. Narciso had turned to alcohol to ease the pain but had remained forever indebted to Ultima for trying to save his wife. Ultima uses the death of Narciso to teach Antonio the ways of his ancestors. She explains, “The old people…always helped each other; through good or bad they stuck together, and the friendships that were formed in that desolate llano were bonds for life”. It was through Ultima that Antonio discovers life is not what is always seems. Narciso had died trying to warn Ultima but few remembered anything good about him. Narciso had an inner goodness that had been hidden by his use of alcohol. Ultima taught Antonio to see the magic in Narciso, just as she had thought him to see the magic in the river and all that surrounded it.