Bless Me, Ultima II

anaya_ultimaThe phrase that gives Rudolfo Anaya’s novel its title, “Bless me, Ultima,” does not arise until almost the very last page, when Ultima is on her deathbed. She is dying not so much because she herself is sick or has been injured, but because the owl that in some way represents her soul (is her soul?) has been shot and killed. Placing the bird, wrapped in a blanket, by the old woman’s bed, Antonio, who has been her acolyte and intimate, “drop[s] to [his] knees” and asks

“Bless me, Ultima–” Her hand touched my forehead and her last words were “I bless you in the name of all that is good and strong and beautiful, Antonio. Always have the strength to live. Love life, and if despair enters your heart, look for me in the evenings when the wind is gentle and the owls sing in the hills. I shall be with you–“ (260-61)

And so the torch is handed on. Of course, Ultima has to die for Antonio to become what he will be, and to be in a position to chart his own path in the future. His childhood is now at an end, and so therefore is this narrative, which has described what its very first page described as a “magical time” (1) so evocatively. However much has happened in the twelve months or so that the book covers (from the beginning of one school year to another), it is understood that in many ways this was all an interlude, a respite from another form of reality, or perhaps another way of looking at the real, which will pick up again after the final page has been turned.

In fact, it is perhaps surprisingly Antonio’s father, otherwise portrayed as somewhat lost (all at sea in more than one sense of the term: both restless and left behind), who best captures this sense of impending transition. Talking of magic (and even beyond the mystical connection between owl and Ultima, there is plenty of magic in Anaya’s novel), he says: “To the child it is natural, but for the grown man it loses its naturalness–so as old men we see a different reality. And when we dream it is usually for a lost childhood, or trying to change someone, and that is not good. So, in the end, I accept reality” (248). Ultimately, Antonio will have to accept reality, to be fine with the fact that he will inevitably (like all of us) lose his childhood, and to learn that he cannot change anybody–not his mother, nor his father, or his brothers. (Again, the sisters get remarkably short shrift throughout the novel.) But if he cannot change anybody, he has to find some sympathy for them, perhaps precisely because of the recognition that they cannot be changed, that they are simply playing out their destiny. It is this sympathy, more than any hocus pocus with potions, that is Ultima’s true magic. Though, again, it is up to Antonio’s father to point this out, when he tells his son that “no greater magic can exist” (248).

As the novel heads towards this conclusion, it becomes ever less a specifically “Chicano” novel. These lessons, whatever one may think of them, surely purport to be universal rather than particular. Indeed, as Ultima exits the scene, urging Antonio to “gather my medicines and my herbs and [. . .] take them somewhere along the river and burn them” (260), her “magic” thus becomes transmuted from traditional, indigenous knowledge, located in place and time, to general human sympathy, applicable anywhere “the wind is gentle and the owls sing in the hills” (262). Of course, this raises the question of what a “Chicano” novel should be in the first place. Why shouldn’t it have aspirations to something like universality? Indeed, the fact that Anaya’s book so successfully and almost seamlessly (magically?) transmutes the particular into the universal is surely a large part of its remarkable success. And yet, I wonder what is lost in this procedure, which at times feels like dilution into rather banal uplift and cheer (“Always have the strength to live. Love life”). Especially given that the novel has in fact portrayed much that is far from lovely–not least the three deaths that Antonio has already witnessed at close quarters even before the book’s dénouement–I for one find its closing moral(ism) somewhat disappointing.

Bless Me, Ultima: Part 2

Alright here we go. I think this whole post is just going to be a rant how everything is so weird right now.

First of all, I’m sad (like actually) because we won’t be able to come in and do our discussions in person. It was impending but I guess I didn’t realize that our last class was probably the last class that I will get to see most of you guys. Trying to get myself to do things while sitting at home trying to stay away from the crowds has been rough so fingers crossed for the upcoming weeks.

Okay now I’m going to talk about the book. I might sound like I’m overreacting but I wish I wish I wish, oh how I wish that someone told me ahead of time that this book was going to  be “graphic”, if that is even the word to use to describe it. There were times that I would try to read the book late at night to just find myself setting it down after a few pages because some chapters just creeped me out, particularly the burial of one of the Trementinas. I find the book really interesting but the supernatural aspect of it is not sitting quite well with me.

Anotnio has had a very good coming of age in terms of experience I would say. I don’t know how I would have processed everything if I were him. Everything that he was taught or believed contradicted each other, and he has a clouded image of who God is and His character.

A scene I would relate to this is the school play. During the nativity play, the parts to be played by the girls had to be played by the boys. Maybe this is just my interpretation and I don’t know if it actually means something but it’s interesting how the boys had to fulfill the girls’ roles, but in reality it seemed like Antonio had more faith in the Virgin Mary than in God. Also, I think the whole play is a depiction of how people try to perfect religion and want to attain a certain level of morale with good deeds and “trying to be like God” when in reality, not a single person can attain that perfection.

With that being said, I don’t want to forget about the night with Ultima, Narciso, Gabriel and Tenorio. After reading this chapter and the chapter of this play, I saw the two ends of Antonio’s spectrum of beliefs almost being represented to be faulty.

 

Bless Me, Ultima Part 2:

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.

Bless Me, Ultima Part 2:

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.

Bless me ultima part 2: knowledge.

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.

Bless Me Ultima: Part II

As I kept reading the story, I kept trying to contextualize this story among the broad group of Chicano literature. On the cover, the author is deemed to be “one of the nation’s foremost Chicano literary artists”. I am trying to understand why this statement was made. This story is very little like those we have read so far and yet it is placed at the heart of Chicano literature.
It is really hard to perceive these things as symbols, since through the child’s perspective is made so real. For example, Tony’s dreams, are they truly dreams or visions, or prophecies? Is time linear in the book, how are supposed to take it as readers? Would the conception of ‘magic’ found in this novel be involved in the writing of book itself? I cannot help thinking that that might be one of the reasons why this novel is so well known. This adds on to the power of the story of having a child as it’s protagonist. To further discuss the reasons of why I think this novel is labelled as a canonic piece, I believe it has to do with the journey made by the protagonist through learning and exposure to different belief systems. Anthony becoming his own man, someone outside of what other’s want of him can be translated to the integrity of the Chicano culture. That in a world of dualisms: marez/Luna, sinner/priest, nomad/settler, vaquero en el llano/farmer, llano/town, peace/war, religion/atheist, faith/superstition, this cultural expression finds its way of including both and more, of mixing, of conceiving something new. And that is what Anthony discovers for himself, that is the ‘enlightenment’ lived by the character, I think one of the pillars of the novel.
            Ultima seems to guide him through this process of acquiring knowledge slowly. When Antonio’s parent’s ask ‘La Grande’ what their son will be she replies “He will be a man of learning” not what either of them wanted him to be: neither a priest nor a llanero. In this moment Antonio sees his mother for her dreams, his father for his rebellion, and Ultima for her wisdom. Almost from the start, through his inquisitive nature, Antonio charts is way as a man of learning and Ultima is the only one that knows. One other aspect that puzzled me was why Ultima called him by his second name Juan. There I see the biblical reference, as John being the only disciple that followed Jesus when he sacrificed himself for humanity. In this case, Antonio is the only one that follows Ultima. If this is a valid interpretation, we can see this as what sets this literature apart as Chicana literature. Its very roots are embedded in both religion and indigeneity. On one aspect Antonio plays the role of John the apostle following God, but in the act of a pagan ritual of curing one of his uncles. There are many other examples of this, on how he connects with the llano, the golden carp belief. However, this is all done in harmony with a devotion to the Virgin of Guadalupe and the Catholic rituals and conceptions of sin.

Bless Me Ultima: Part II

As I kept reading the story, I kept trying to contextualize this story among the broad group of Chicano literature. On the cover, the author is deemed to be “one of the nation’s foremost Chicano literary artists”. I am trying to understand why this statement was made. This story is very little like those we have read so far and yet it is placed at the heart of Chicano literature.
It is really hard to perceive these things as symbols, since through the child’s perspective is made so real. For example, Tony’s dreams, are they truly dreams or visions, or prophecies? Is time linear in the book, how are supposed to take it as readers? Would the conception of ‘magic’ found in this novel be involved in the writing of book itself? I cannot help thinking that that might be one of the reasons why this novel is so well known. This adds on to the power of the story of having a child as it’s protagonist. To further discuss the reasons of why I think this novel is labelled as a canonic piece, I believe it has to do with the journey made by the protagonist through learning and exposure to different belief systems. Anthony becoming his own man, someone outside of what other’s want of him can be translated to the integrity of the Chicano culture. That in a world of dualisms: marez/Luna, sinner/priest, nomad/settler, vaquero en el llano/farmer, llano/town, peace/war, religion/atheist, faith/superstition, this cultural expression finds its way of including both and more, of mixing, of conceiving something new. And that is what Anthony discovers for himself, that is the ‘enlightenment’ lived by the character, I think one of the pillars of the novel.
            Ultima seems to guide him through this process of acquiring knowledge slowly. When Antonio’s parent’s ask ‘La Grande’ what their son will be she replies “He will be a man of learning” not what either of them wanted him to be: neither a priest nor a llanero. In this moment Antonio sees his mother for her dreams, his father for his rebellion, and Ultima for her wisdom. Almost from the start, through his inquisitive nature, Antonio charts is way as a man of learning and Ultima is the only one that knows. One other aspect that puzzled me was why Ultima called him by his second name Juan. There I see the biblical reference, as John being the only disciple that followed Jesus when he sacrificed himself for humanity. In this case, Antonio is the only one that follows Ultima. If this is a valid interpretation, we can see this as what sets this literature apart as Chicana literature. Its very roots are embedded in both religion and indigeneity. On one aspect Antonio plays the role of John the apostle following God, but in the act of a pagan ritual of curing one of his uncles. There are many other examples of this, on how he connects with the llano, the golden carp belief. However, this is all done in harmony with a devotion to the Virgin of Guadalupe and the Catholic rituals and conceptions of sin.

Bless Me Ultima: Female Characters and Liminality

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.

Bless Me, Ultima (Part 2)

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.

Bless Me, Ultima: Lost Innocence and New Discovery

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