This novel has been quite interesting in giving the reader an interesting view of the different issues a child may face as they are progressing through life be it related to identity, religion, or culture. One of the main ideas of Bless Me, Ultima, is witnessing the process of Antonio leaving his childhood behind and acquiring his own knowledge as he goes through the process of maturing. At first, the reader is witness of an innocent boy who is unaware of the dangers and difficulties that life has to offer. We accompany Antonio through this loss of innocence and his realization of the good and evil in the world. With this loss he acquires other qualities which  can be seen as wisdom and maturity.  Throughout the novel we see this transition in many experiences that Antonio witnesses or is involved in. An example of one of these experiences is witnessing the murder of Narciso. He sees how Narciso’s life is taken away by Tenorio, a villainous man who has an obsession with seeking revenge against Ultima. After witnessing Tenorio shoot and fleeing the crime scene, Antonio hears Narciso’s last confession. In order to give the dying man comfort in what he wants to share, we witness Antonio listening to the man’s last dying words which can be perceived as him taking the role of a priest. Another scene that touches on the loss of innocence is when Antonio witnesses his brother Andrew at Rosie’s house. We can view this scene as one that may relate to Antonio’s earlier dream, where Andrew tells Antonio that he would not enter the house until Antonio loses his innocence. If Andrew’s entrance to Rosie’s house relates to the past dream Antonio had, this means that he has lost his innocence, which is related to the naïve and childlike perspective he begins with in the novel. We also start noticing how Antonio begins to defend his beliefs and grows a sense of confidence about them. This can be seen with his conviction to defend Ultima against the mob who come to his house with Tenorio in seek of vengeance. He is willing to speak up and to partake in the defense of Ultima. As I read through the novel, I was able to witness a coming of age story through the perspective of a young boy and witness his growth and maturity into becoming a man.

A recurring theme in Bless me Ultima is about knowledge, and more specifically about who possesses the knowledge and how that knowledge is central to the maturation process.

First of all, several sources of knowledge are presented throughout the book and are embodied by different characters. The parents represent the knowledge that comes from tradition, namely a past linked to the land on the Luna side and the tradition of the Llano on the Marez family side. Each of the parents embodies a form of ancestral knowledge about traditional ways of life that are passed on from one generation to the next to be reproduced and perpetuated. The priest represents God’s knowledge, that is to say, knowledge beyond the reach of men that allows God to judge the sins of people. Ultima represents another form of ancestral knowledge, of an indigenous type, originating from a culture whose aim is to preserve earthly harmony. Finally, these ancestral forms of knowledge are counterbalanced by two new sources of knowledge. Firstly, the school is represented by the two teachers who guide Antonio during his first and third grades. Secondly, science plays a minimal role through the evocation of the doctor and the atomic bomb.

Curiously, one notices when reading that traditional knowledge is much more important than the knowledge acquired through school and science. While Antonio laconically describes his experience at school, showing at the same time that in reality it had only a limited influence on his childhood, he insists on his experience in the church and all the knowledge it brings him. Thereby, while his passage to the fourth grade is not even mentioned, a great moment in antonio’s life corresponds to his first confession and his communion. Moreover, while traditional medicine did nothing to improve his uncle’s condition, the traditional medicine of Ultima seems to work miraculously. This pervasiveness of traditional knowledge in contrast to modern knowledge is one of the central aspects of this book. It allows us to understand the traditional structuring of villages in New Mexico in the 1940s and the importance of the nuclear family in this organization.

Finally, the acquisition of new knowledge is key to Antonio’s growing process. Indeed, each new piece of knowledge allows him to question the structuring of the world, the importance of inequalities, the legitimacy of religion. In reality, this book describes a process by which the child loses his innocence. Each new piece of knowledge brings new questions due to the paradoxes that Antonio tries to solve. Through this process, he ends up developing a form of autonomy as well as a capacity for taking decisions. This ability is exemplified at the end of the book when he courageously decides to run 10 miles in a desperate attempt to save Ultima.

I was reading an analytical essay on Bless Me Ultima, as an attempt to understand the novel better and came across an interesting description of females in this book. This author claimed that the female characters can be categorized into two groups: good vs. evil. On one side of the dichotomy is Maria Luna (the mother) and the Virgin of Guadalupe, while the other side is represented by some prostitutes and three witches. On the “good” side of the dichotomy, we arguably associate daughters, wives and mothers as they are often modest and the heart of the home, and their chore work and dedication to husbands and children are what define their role in society. In fact, we see this in the first pages of the novel with the description of Maria as Antonio describes her in the kitchen as “the heart of [their] home, [his] mother’s kitchen”. This perspective of his mother remains unchanged throughout the novel, even though the relationship between Antonio and his mother may have shifted; we see that as Antonio becomes more mature Maria loses some authority as a mother, so she relegates to her role as a wife and by the end Antonio speaks to her mom more as a man and she simply “nod[s] and obey[s]” without question.

Ultima, however, is not so easy to define; while she is the main female character, she does not seem to fit into either category. For while she does complete housework, spew patriarchal ideas and criticizes the three witches to Antonio, she is also a curandera whose habits do not follow a traditional patriarchal role for women. What is also interesting about Ultima, is her religious and spiritual practices; while she respects Catholicism and uses religious expressions in her language, she also exercises magical practices and folk medicine. This relates to another topic discussed in the aforementioned article; liminality (@Craig). While this term has come up in class a multitude of times, I never really knew the full definition. One definition states that it is “a borderland state of ambiguity and indeterminacy, a transformational state characterized by a certain openness and relaxation of rules, leading those who participate in the process a new perspective and possibilities”. However, relating it back to the book and its characters we can say that “the features of liminality are ambiguous; that is, they are outside of all society’s standard classification”. Relating it back to Ultima, her character is rather ambiguous and hard to place; she does not fit into one classification and stands between the positions that are traditionally assigned by laws, customs and conventions. This is certainly visible in her peculiar blending of religious and spiritual practices, particularly in regard to her death. She states to Antonio’s father “as she peered into the dying fire and smiled” that “perhaps this would be the best burial you could provide me.” Here, she signals that she would rather be burnt than buried in a cemetery. In the same breath, Ultima expresses that she does not want to use a traditional Catholic casket because she “think[s] the confines of a damp casket will bother [her] too. This way the spirit soars immediately into the wind of the llano, and the ashes blend quickly into the earth”. Earlier in the novel, we saw that the Trementina sisters were “proved” to be witches since they did not use coffin, but rather a “basket woven of cottonwood branches”. As such, this scene depicts a stark contrast in Ultima’s character from the beginning of the novel, that is to say,  Ultima’s connection to witchcraft seems to be stronger by the end of the novel which further pushes the liminality of her character. In the end, her body will be buried in a cemetery as a good Christian does, but her soul is buried in a non-Christian way by Antonio burying the owl under a juniper tree. Ultima’s expressions in these scenes (wanting to be burnt instead of buried, and symbolizing the owl as her soul) are clear examples of her liminality and certainly speaks to her very interesting character.

To be completely honest, the second half of this book caused me some confusion, so I am just going to ramble a bit in this post.  First off, does the owl symbolize Ultima?  In the first half of the book I didn’t really know what to make of the owl, but now it seems like the owl represents Ultima.   Of course, Tenorio tells us that the owl represents Ultima’s spirit: “‘It is the owl! Do you hear, little bastard! It is the owl that is the spirit of the old witch'” … but is there anything more to this?  At the end the owl dies, and shortly after that Ultima does as well.  Then, upon burying the owl, Antonio realizes that he has buried Ultima. Throughout the book however, the owl does not seem to have the “qualities” (for lack of a better word) that Ultima does.  For example, Ultima is known as the healer and we don’t see a lot of violence from her.  On the other hand, we see a lot of violence from the Owl, like when it rips out Tenorio’s eye.  There definitely are similarities between the owl and Ultima, perhaps one of the most important things that stood out to me about them both is that they are protectors; the owl protects Ultima like Ultima protects Antonio.  There are endless layers to Ultima, and her connection with nature is very obvious through the owl; it seems that the owl shares its soul with a ‘human being’ – they are both connected by the same spirit.  However, this brings me to my next question: is Ultima a human being?  I get the sense that she is, but that her strong connection to nature, especially the fact that (from my observations) she shares a spirit or soul with the owl, is what makes her appear to be non-human.  I found that my questions about Ultima distracted me from what I think this book is truly about: Antonio growing up and learning how to form his own opinions and build his own path.  At the beginning of the book Antonio seemed like a shy, somewhat anxious child who seemed to be torn between two sides that he didn’t even fully understand.  However at the end, Antonio has now learned so much more than he ever thought possible, and most importantly, has realized that his future depends on him and his actions, not anybody else’s.  He also learns how to navigate himself through the ‘magic’ that exists all around him.  It’s even weird for adults to attempt to explain spiritual or magical things, so imagine trying to figure all this stuff out as a child.  At that age, it’s hard to figure out that there isn’t just one single truth, and Antonio realizes this at the end.

The last half of Bless Me, Ultima was quite hard to get through as there were many violent and thought provoking scenes. For example, when the boys outside the church pretend that Antonio is a priest and they confess their worst sins to him; very difficult to get through as both Antonio and the confessors are participating against their will. Two other examples are when Antonio sees his brother come out of what is assumed to be a brothel and when he must bury the Ultima’s owl. These three scenes really resonated with me and I will examine them further.

Chapter 18 sees Antonio and his friends practice going to confession, as they name Tony as the priest that listens to the others’ sins. As Tony feels guilty and wonders “how [a] priest could shoulder the burden of all the sins he heard”, he bears witness to many evil things that the other kids have seen and done. Hearing stories of stalking girls in the school washroom to seeing a couple have sex in public, Tony’s innocence and desire for priesthood slowly withers away. But as Tony can barely take the strain of his role, Florence, a non-religious boy, says he has not sinned against God, but God has sinned against him. The mob of children demand a harsh penance for Florence’s word, but Tony remembers the tale of the golden carp and how people’s “sins will sink the town into the lake” and forgives Florence of all his wrongdoing. This is a pivotal moment in the book, not only because Antonio realizes the burden of being un sacerdote, but because Tony amalgamates his beliefs and creates one solution. He recognizes (and is discussed later) that the Catholic church punishes people frequently, but Tony values the importance of forgiving and not being so harsh on those who have made mistakes. This small detail reinforces the idea that Tony will not simply be a follower, blindly obeying the rules of a certain faith or belief, but will create his own path and own way of being that attempts to rid the world of its previous pitfalls.

Another scene in which Tony understands more about the realities of the world is when he sees his brother emerge from the doorway of a brothel. As Tony is following Narciso, who is trying to protect Ultima from Tenorio, he sees his brother Andrew walk out from Rosie’s, a place that was rumored to be evil. Tony sees scantily clad women surrounding Andrew, begging him to come back inside. His seemingly good and pure brother has been tainted by the sinfulness of provocative women. Tony feels as though he has “lost [his] innocence” and that the presence of God “was far away.” His connection to God has diminished for this period of time, but because of this, turns to his other faith of the golden carp. Remembering that, “sins of the town would be washed in the waters of the golden carp,” Antonio believes there is hope for his brother by turning to another belief system further strengthening this idea that Antonio’s identity will be something that he consciously creates himself.

Finally in chapter 22, the the final major event that happens is the burial of Ultima’s owl, or as we learn in later chapters, Ultima herself. As Tenorio kills Ultima’s owl, Ultima becomes frail and weak and asks that Tony bury her owl under a “forked juniper tree.” All goes well, but in the final couple lines of the book, we realize where Antonio’s faith lies. Throughout the book there was reference to the major importance of burial on sacred ground; blessed ground of the Catholic church. However, as Tony buries Ultima’s owl (and her spirit as well), Tony says that her church burial was only “the ceremony that was prescribed by custom” showing that he does not believe in the sacred powers of the church but rather trusts the word of Ultima more. This change of heart hints at Antonio not becoming the priest his mother wants him to, but a healer like Ultima was.

Throughout the entire book, Antonio never was a carbon copy of what those around him wanted him to be. Antonio’s identity, characteristics, and future were constructed by no one besides himself showing that he is wise beyond his years. While other characters throughout the book were static, clinging to their dogmas and old mannerisms, Antonio absorbed the knowledge and stories of those around him, truly meaning he has become “a man of learning.”

See everyone tomorrow online!

-Curtis HR

In this second part of the book, I am glad that Antonio has had the strength of being in charge of his own destiny. The conflict between the different interests of his maternal and paternal side, finds a coherent and nice conclusion at the end of the book. Antonio decides to go with the Luna’s family and try to understand their way of live. Gabriel, his father, finally comes to terms with the sweeping changes that are destroying the vaquero way of life, and accepts that Antonio should live the life that he aims to, not what him or his wife wish for him. The most valuable life suggestion that Gabriel gives to Antonio, is to learn that a man builds something new from his past echoes. Ultima also helps Antonio to get to this conclusive decision. She recommends Antonio to make change a part of his strength.

However, Antonio’s final decision was not so easily taken either. Before he has come to this realization, major changes had to occurred in Antonio’s life. Through this part of the book, we can see how the conflict between Antonio’s maternal and paternal heritages ceases to be the major preoccupation. The main conflict now becomes Antonio’s struggle to find a coherent way to understand his past experiences. Antonio no longer finds answers either in Catholicism or in the teachings of Ultima for his evolving doubts regarding death, eternity or the forgiving/punishment of sins. In other words,  Antonio struggles to understand why there is evil in the world.

Yet, once he decides to not fight more for complicated and maybe impossible answers, he understands that change, and distance from his past experiences, is what he really needs. This helps him to affirm both, his Luna and Márez heritages. He feels at peace with his identity, once he understands that his maternal and paternal heritages can be compatible. I see this, as if Antonio finally understands that his life, his culture and his family represents a syncretism between the Spanish and the indigenous traditions. He is a mix of languages, cultures, beliefs, and ways of seeing life. His religion is only one manifestation of how complex, but also how rich, his identity is. More than being always incompatible, he reflects syncretism. Finally, it is nice to see how once he has accepted the complexity of his identity, he is able to recognize that change also brings wisdom and a deeper understanding.

Pamela Chavez

In the first half of Bless Me, Ultima; I found a very reiterative topic. This is the syncretism between Catholicism and the Indigenous spiritual practices that were referred as witchcraft, and that persisted in many cultural traditions of Mexicans, and of people in the Border. Antonio is a very interesting character that continually struggles in finding a way out between the strict Catholic rules that his mother aspires him to abide, and the more open and unknown experiences that Ultima offers to him. In a sense, this novel is a bildungsroman, who shows us the moral growth of Antonio, analyzing how afraid he is of losing his innocence, and of falling at the mercy of sin.

This bildungsroman is also influenced by the conflicted nature of his parents’ marriage. Essentially, Antonio is caught between two opposing cultures, each of which carries its own set of expectations and preconceived ways to see the world. The vaquero lifestyle favored by his father’s family highlights the values of independence, freedom, and mobility; which can be reflexed in the love that vaqueros have for el llano. In contrast, his mother’s family (The Luna family) lifestyle emphasizes stability, productivity; which can be manifested in his mother’s desire to fence the llano and build towns.  In this sense, Antonio’s life is hanging between these two competing alternatives. Moreover, I see the continuous and bizarre dreams that Antonio has, as manifestations of the anxiety that this pressure causes on him.

This novel is very creative in the way that it represents how Antonio’s maternal and paternal heritages result from conflict between Spanish and indigenous cultures. Therefore, this book is rich in showing us the syncretism of all the diverse cultures of New Mexico.

One more example that portrays how difficult it is to reconcile cultural differences in this book, can be seen when Antonio enters into school. There, he is faced with the conflict of not being able to speak English. Language plays a large role in his identity conflict at school, where he becomes alienated because of this language barrier. In this new environment, Antonio addresses the conflict between Anglo and Chicano cultures. These are a new set of identities for him to deal with, along with the Spanish vs. Indigenous  (Luna vs. Vaquero) identities.

Until now, this book is very interesting. I like the character of Ultima, and I am looking forward to see how the story continues in the second part of the book.

Pamela Chavez.