Bless Me Ultima, By Rudolfo Anaya

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

What do you want to be when you grow up? A question that is always asked to a young child or young adult. You never truly know until you grow up and experience life for yourself. You live your life in search of what you like or don’t like; what you believe in or don’t believe in. Growing up and finding your way is something all children experience, but what if your way of life is already planned out for you? What if you have no decision over your future? This life burden is evident throughout the novel Bless me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, the main character Antonio Marez did not have the ability to search for what he wanted to do in life. Antonio

The wisest man asks questions pertaining to the complexities of life. However, when no answers are delivered said man seeks answers in a place that seems most correct. The spiritual life relies on believers who have strong fundamental beliefs in hope. The unshaken foundation relies on believers who give their everlasting hope and have solace in this faith alone. The faith goes deeper than understanding, but full reliance on the church and its holy deities to solve the world 's most mysterious questions, cure even the most powerful illness and still have faith when such actions do not occur. In Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima Antonio sought to find the answers he was so desperately in search for, however he never received an answer. Antonio’s religious ambivalence is created through his journey of life from several encounters, life and death alike, and not receiving answers to the questions that he most desperately sought for. The aspect of Antonio’s ideal benevolent God verses the God he was presented, and external sources, would all create different epiphanies that would lead him astray from the traditional church and into other spiritual realms. These realms would be an outlet for him to receive enlightenment to the situations of which he was presented.

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.

As the story unfolds, Antonio is struggling with his own mind for an answer to the sinful nature of man and the forgiveness of his God. Under the guidance of Ultima, he learns that he must decide for himself the moral basis of life and live by it so as not to drown in the world of sin he lives in. The theme is expressed when Antonio excitedly enters the church for his first communion, thinking it will bring him an understanding of that that has been troubling his mind, ”A thousand questions pushed through my mind, but the voice within me did not answer. There was only silence.” When he feels nothing at the end of the communion and wonders why his God would not answer his questions, he begins to learn that he cannot rely on his church or his priest to provide him with what he needs to define morality. He learns that moral independence is important and as he fulfilled Ultima’s dying wish, he then understood and forged his own moral independence. Another theme is that culture and blood have a great influence of one’s identity. It can be easily seen that his family’s religious ways and the pride they carry in their blood is greatly troubling Antonio on his road to finding his moral

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.

Antonio’s conflict is that both sides of his family are trying to have influence in the type of person Antonio will grow into.

This is highlighted in the beginning of the book where Antonio has a dream of his birth where his mother and father’s family begin arguing about who he will become. “This one will be a Luna, the old man said, he will be a farmer and keep our customs and traditions…” (Page 5) Maria’s family believed that Antonio will become a farmer also later on the old man even stated “Perhaps God will bless our family and make the baby a priest”(Page 5) On the other hand, Gabriel’s family stated “He is a vaquero...His forefathers were conquistadors, men as restless as the seas they sailed and as free as the land they conquered..” This dream foreshadowed the conflicts that Maria and Gabriel’s relationship would face since their way of living are completely different. Although they have a family, although they are a couple they do not take the time to understand each other and find common ground to do what is better for the family as a whole. For example, Gabriel wants to move to California but what awaits for them over there? A better home? A better lifestyle? happiness? or is it just to be able to move from where they have been so long? On the other hand, Maria puts this expectation on Antonio to become a priest but how will this make Antonio happy, how will it help him face the obstacles as an adult or is it just to fulfill Maria’s longing for a priest in the family? They have their eyes set on these perfect outcomes of life without knowing how they will get there and

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.

Even though Antonio has cultural conflicts, his relationship with his brothers, parents, and uncles, are very close, which is extremely significant through the novel. Antonio comes from a very close family circle and he feels as if a big weight of pressure is coming from every side of his family when it relates to determining his future. While his mother and his Luna uncles want him to become a farmer priest like their side of the family, his father and Marez uncles want him to become a vaquero like them. “Gabriel, they shouted, you have a fine son! He will make a fine Vaquero!” (5). Antonio feels an obligation to answer

Gabriel and María’s clashing aspirations create inner conflict in Antonio. Gabriel is firmly opposed to María’s dream for Antonio. María wants Antonio to become a Luna priest who rules over a farmer community, and makes it clear what her expectations of Antonio are. However, Gabriel doesn’t have “good feeling[s]” towards priests; his father beat a priest for preaching against him, and Gabriel often makes fun of priests, calling them women, as they wear “long skirts” (29). When María suggests talking to the current priest about Antonio’s future, Gabriel snaps at her, saying that “it is not the priest who will decide when the time comes, but Tony himself” (31); Gabriel wants Antonio to make his own choices, not María’s. The conflicting messages Gabriel and María send Antonio create a divide between them; Antonio cannot

In the novel “Bless Me Ultima” by Rudolfo Anaya, the main character, Antonio, goes through many hardships. For example he feels very confused about his future, his brothers decisions, and his religion. His father's Marez blood that runs through Antonio is that blood of a people who live off the land and come from the sea. His mother's lunas blood gives Antonio his spirituality and faith in God. This confuses Antonio because he doesn't know whose footsteps to follow. I feel like I can relate to this because my two sides of my family are very different. I’ve also been very confused by both my fathers and mothers decisions. Recently i’ve began questioning my purpose and discovering a higher level of thinking just as Antonio has. Antonio also feels very confused about his religion just as I question our society. Antonio learns a lot about life through all his hard experiences.

Only a few books dare to discuss the confusion surrounded by a religious awakening. In Bless Me Ultima, Rudolfo Anaya, Premio Quinto Sol national Chicano literary award recipient, challenges standard religion and brings in different ideas through the perspective of a young and confused boy. Due to the new ideas that he is introduced to, the events that occurs especially deaths, and his eagerness for knowledge all leads Antonio to question his religious beliefs. At the end of his struggle to understand, the boy reaches the peace of mind he was seeking.

But the literature at its best invites the reader to compassionately experience the world as many of our fellow human beings see it.” (Bruce Holland Rogers, Para. 8, 1-2) Relating back to Rudolfo Anaya’s novel, Antonio was born into a culture where curandero’s and bruja’s were believed to be true. To many individuals, both curandero’s and bruja’s are seen as myths, and are not taken as seriously as they are seen to be in the novel. Because of this, Bless Me Ultima is considered a book of magical

There is a silent conflict between the both the Lunas and the Marez because the Lunas and natural born farmers, they are noiseless, simple people who keep to themselves, whereas the Marez are wild and outgoing people, they have to be moving around to remain satisfied. Both parents want different destinies for their son Antonio. Maria wants her son to become a priest, on the other hand, Gabriel wants his son to become a vaquero. Throughout the course of the novel,