Juniper Tree In Bless Me Ultima

The Juniper Tree: Bless Me, Ultima
Bless Me, Ultima enlightens the reader on death and how it can be peaceful. Death is usually seen as a negative or bad situation, in which the novel does well at correcting. The release of a soul should be peaceful and is accepted in many cultures in that sense. In Bless Me, Ultima the juniper tree helps in representing death in harrowing situations. The connection is made when Narciso is found by the juniper tree, dead, while also conveying the peace that the tree represents.
As mentioned, the first nuance of the juniper tree is death. Antonio, the main character, witnesses a murder of his friend, Narciso, who asks Antonio for blessing, in which afterwards he gives the words of his dying breath “’It is good

to die on a hill of the llano, beneath the Juniper—‘ were his last words” (170). The juniper tree is the scene of the first murder that Antonio witnessed. Narciso found his peace as the juniper was an ideal place for him to die. He needed the blessing of Antonio to find his peace. The last murder (of the novel) that Antonio is the dear Ultima, a curandera, or healer, who has become an important part of his life, who gives him instructions of burying her owl in which carried her soul “Now, take the owl, go west into the hills until you find a forked juniper tree, there you will bury the owl. Go quickly—“ (260). As said, this was another death at a juniper tree, this time it is Ultima’s soul that is being buried. The owl is an essential part of the novel that is laid to rest at the foot of a Juniper. Ultima has Antonio lay the owl under the tree as it is seen as a peaceful and well deserved burial ground.
Furthermore, it is believed that Death can happen in the most peaceful of ways. After Ultima sends Antonio to lay her soul to rest, he finds the juniper and buries the owl and observes the scenery around him “I placed the owl in the grave and I put a large stone over it so the coyotes would not dig it out, then I covered the hole with the earth of the llano, when I stood up I felt warm tears on my cheeks. Around me the moonlight glittered on the pebbles of the llano, and the night sky” (261). The burial is described as a harmonious matter. In the havoc of the owl’s death, Antonio observes the peacefulness of the llano and of the site of the burial. The entire situation helps in proving that death can be placid. In addition to having the juniper represent death.
The juniper tree brought placidity to situations of death. It was both the corpse of Narciso and Ultima’s Soul that was found at the base of a juniper tree. Antonio was shown that death is not always a bad things, and that it should be seen in a peaceful manner. Death should not be put in negative connotation as the soul is being tranquilly released. In Bless Me, Ultima we learn that although death is grim and not a desirable situation from the Juniper, there is peace upon it.