Bless Me Ultima Literary Analysis

In all the novels provided throughout the history of man are aspects which they must follow. These aspects include characters, symbols, central themes, subthemes etc. Rodolfo Anaya’s novel “Bless Me, Ultima,” is one of the many novels that includes these characteristics. While reading this novel, one is able to put forth the depth and significance of these literary features.

The structure of this novel can be divided in two types- internal and external. The external view of the novel can be seen by the composure of twenty-two chapters. The internal structure of this novel can be seen with a first person narrative; the narrator being Antonio. The italics in the novel represent Antonio’s dreams which are also narrated through first person.

The

style of Anaya through this novel is very chronological and linear. It does not jump around much but the story flows nicely and is easy to follow. Anaya throws in some Spanish words but not many which gives the main language of English. Some techniques that Anaya uses is the insight to Antonio’s dreams. It is italicized and it gives insight to the reader about what Tony is thinking and it foreshadows many moments in the book, from the arrival of his brothers to Ultima’s owl and what it symbolizes to him.
The main characters of the novel, for the most part is one of the most critical parts of this novel. First there’s Maria Luna, the mother of Antonio. She is a devoted catholic, a very caring mother, and strives to live in a well civilized town, like that of her families. Secondly, there’s Gabriel, the husband of Maria and the father of Antonio. He is from the llano, a vaquero who wishes he could live on the llano once again. Gabriel put aside his pride and moved to a town where he is on the edge of the llano and yet close to town to make his wife happy. He finds himself drinking every Saturday in order to remember the good days that he spent in the llano with his brothers. Then there’s Antonio who is six years old. He is a very curious yet wise little boy. Tony feels like he is between a tug of war with his own blood. His mother’s blood which is the Luna’s blood, moon blood. It is described to be a very caring, peaceful, religious and blood of the farmers. Meanwhile, his father’s blood is of the Marez, the blood of the ocean. This blood is described to be relentless as the ocean, conquistadores, free and most of all, the blood of vaqueros. He is constantly trying to figure out his identity and contemplating which road to follow, his mother’s dream of him being a priest, or the dream of his fathers of being the one who becomes a vaquero. As he is stuck in between his two blood which runs through his veins, Ultima, a curandera also known as a folk healer, arrives in his town and this eases Antonio to understand where his destiny truly stands. Lastly, Ultima arrives in the picture. She is an old, wise, unfearful, old woman. She uses her wisdom of the plants that she has worked with her entire life for the good. Ultima, or la Grande as Maria refers to her as, is a very spiritual being who has been able to help many lives throughout the vicinity of the town. She never says no and accepts any challenge that is brought to her. Antonio’s mother takes her in as she is growing old and it’s only right to take care of someone who took care of her throughout all of the bearing of her children. Although many people in the town refer to her as a witch, one can be able to realize that she is not in fact a witch of bad witchcraft, instead he uses white magic. White magic can be defined as using supernatural powers for selfless reasons and for the good of the people. Ultima’s presence is able to bring a sense of wisdom and comfort zone for Antonio as he struggles finding his identity.
There is a variety of symbols that are seen throughout the book, but there are three main symbols that further increase the symbolism within the text.

One of these symbols is Ultima’s owl. The owl is seen to be taking care of Tony and of Ultima throughout the novel. Ultima’s owl can be seen not only as her own spirit but more of the wicked side of Ultima. When Ultima was trying to cure the soul of Tony’s uncle, the owl scratches and tears into the flesh of the wolves which are also the witches that casted the spell on the uncle. Another instance is when Tenorio is outside the house of the Marez and he mentions that the owl is the spirit of Ultima, the owl then proceeds to attack Tenorio and scratch his eye. Lastly, towards the end of the book, when the owl passes away and shortly after, so does Ultima; this further reassures the idea that Ultima’s owl is in fact her own spirit. The second major symbol in this novel is the Golden Carp. The Golden Carp is said to be a God who was transformed into a fish. When Samuel began to tell Tony about thus mythical creature, Tony began to become very curious about it. Finally, he is able to see the Golden Carp when Cico, Tony’s friend, takes him to the river where it is said to be seen. After this occurrence, Tony has a dream about it. He sees the Golden Carp and all the lives it has been said that it saved from the crying mermaid, in the middle of the hidden lakes up in the mountains. Tony had seen two men die and his close friend and

God was nowhere to be found, meanwhile the Golden Carp had saved the lives of many. With this being said, the Golden Carp symbolizes an alternative to God. Lastly, dreams is also seen as a symbol throughout the novel. Through dreams, Tony is able to see many insights that he may have never been able to see in real life. For instance, in the beginning of the novel Tony dreams about his own birth and who was present during that specific moment. He was able to see Ultima who helped his mother through his own birth, his uncles from both families and even what they fought about. After this dream, he went ahead and asked his mother about this moment. His mother confirmed his dream and dreams for Antonio never were the same. He found a new insight within his dream. His dreams throughout the novel only reassured his idea that his dreams weren’t actually dreams, but insights into the past, present and future. Later in the novel as Tony matures, his dreams also mature with him. Tony’s dream help him understand his own worth, life and culture.
The influence of culture on identity can be found as one of the many themes within this novel.

Antonio is in a constant battle of finding his identity due to the opposing cultures within his blood. The blood of the Marez and the blood of the Luna’s run through his veins yet he finds himself unlike any of them. He is able to find his identity through learning Ultima’s ways and truly knowing what he loves to do and what he aspires to be. Next is the conflict within his town between its religious and native cultures. There is evidence of this conflict in the distinct tension between Ultima’s mystical witchcraft and the Catholic Church. This can be seen when Maria’s brother was in his deathbed due to the curse that was put on him by the sister witches in the novel. In the beginning Antonio’s grandfather asked the church to lift the curse but the priest was not able to do such a thing because he did not want to fight against their witchcraft. The last resort was Ultima, which ultimately was able to lift the curse and save the life of Antonio’s uncle. As seen above, the Catholic Church is prejudice against the use of witchcraft even when it includes a life of a devoted catholic. After the work of Ultima, many people in town called her a “bruja” in a negative context but one of Antonio’s aunt’s defended her. The tension of the Catholic Church and witchcraft is seen throughout the novel, whether the witch has evil intensions or has good intensions. Another theme that is seen

throughout the novel is the importance of being independent. Through the novel, Antonio finds himself abiding by both of his parents cultures although this makes him more confused of who and what he is meant to be and what pathway is meant to be his destiny. As he grows, he learns that in order to find himself and his true identity he must make his own decisions. He begins to question the power of God versus the power of Ultima’s magic. One example can be the moment of the book when Antonio’s uncle is under the curse of the bad witches; “Would the magic of Ultima than all the powers of the saints and the Holy Mother Church? I wondered,” (97). Through this, Antonio becomes discouraged of the Catholic Church and his faith. Ultima begins to be his vehicle through the understanding of life’s most vital values. One being the importance of being independent. Antonio once believed in his religion and faith, but once that starts to fade, Ultima begins to show him how to think for himself and find his own solutions to his various questions about life. Lastly the last theme a reader can see is the loss of innocence. In the beginning of the novel, this is brought up continuously. Antonio’s mother, Maria, mentions that all boys lose their innocence as they grow up to be men; “’and what a sin it is for a boy to grow into a man-,” (31). This part of the novel explains how boys lose their innocence just by growing into men. His mother says that growing up to be a man is a sin but yet, it is a part of life. Maria goes on to say that life destroys the pureness that God gives in the beginning of life. Partially this is true. As Antonio grows up and the book goes on, Antonio is presented to good and evil. This can be seen through the various deaths that he witnessed. The first moment where he is presented to evil is the death of Lupito, the man who was killed because he shot a sheriff at point blank. Antonio was able to see the evil and insanity that lurked within Lupito through his eyes. Before Lupito passed away, he asked Antonio to “bless him” but Antonio is so frozen with fear that he could not do such a thing. The second death was the death of Narciso. Narciso was known to be the drunk of the town but yet he put forth a lot of wisdom for being an alcoholic. He was said to only drink in the spring because of the bad blood that stirs during that time. As Narciso laid dying on the dirt, Narciso asked Antonio to hear his last confession. In both of these deaths, Antonio is asked to play the role of a priest. Lastly, the last death which Antonio witnessed was the death of his very close friend, Florence. Florence died drowning, it was an accident but his drove Antonio to further lose his faith in hid religion and in God. After these deaths, when Antonio does his first communion, he sought the presence of God, but when this was happening, God remained silent to him. Through these significant moments in the novel, Antonio is able to realize that the loss of innocence is one of the most important consequences of growing up.
Through these themes in the novel, one is able to figure out the central theme lurking within the text; spirituality. This spirituality, through the novel becomes the most important factor of his personal and cultural self. Antonio is constantly overwhelmed by, what is described at first, the mystical powers of Ultima. “She took my hand, and the silent magic powers she possessed made beauty from the raw, sunbaked llano, the green river valley, and the blue bowl which was the white sun’s home,” (1). Although Tony finds himself losing his faith in his religion, he quickly is able to turn to the mystical powers of white magic through Ultima. To Tony, it seems like Ultima has all the answers and in contrast, the Catholic Church did not. Ultima put forth her knowledge of the earth and what it holds within it. She shares her insight and her wisdom with Tony which leads Tony to start feeling the inner peace within himself. She is able to share her insight and wisdom by taking Tony to the llano and pulling various weeds from the earth’s ground. Not only does she include him in her findings of weeds but she also includes him in her practices; making remedies, helping lost souls and even dying people. Soaking in all the knowledge Ultima puts forth, Tony is able to find is own spirituality and finally feel at peace knowing who he is and his identity.
Through all these aspects of the novel, one can see how important they are and how one can be able to analyze a novel in depth through these characteristics. These characteristics of the novel tie the entire novel together and allows the novel that much gratifying to the reader.