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| Edition: | Wheeler Pub Inc (Paperback) |
| Author: | Rudolfo Anaya |
| Published: | October 2008 |
| Pages: | 463 |
| ISBN 10: | 1597228354 |
| New: | $25.65 (14) |
| Used: | $9.97 (8) |
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Bless Me, Ultima is a novel by Rudolfo Anaya, published in 1972. It is part of a trilogy along with Heart of Aztlan and Tortuga. It is included in the list of most commonly challenged books in the U.S. It is also important for helping Chicano literature gain academic respect as an important and non-derivative type of American literature.
Plot summary
Set in the small town of Guadalupe, New Mexico during World War II, this novel follows the story of Antonio Márez, a young boy who meets a curandera named Ultima. The main plotline involves Ultima's struggle to stop the witchcraft of the three daughters of Tenorio Trementina, the main villain. In the story Antonio, who is witness to several deaths, is forced to deal with religious and moral issues.
As Antonio grows up, he finds that he must choose between the two opposing families from which he came: the Márez; wild and untamed vaqueros from Antonio's father's side, and the Lunas; quiet, religious farmers from whom his mother descended. His father wants to help Antonio make his own choice about his future. His mother's dream is for him to become a Catholic priest, but over the course of the novel Antonio becomes disillusioned with the faith and through Ultima learns of the broad awareness and possibilities of other gods. Much of the novel is spent with Antonio trying to reconcile Native American religion with traditional Roman Catholicism as well as the Lunas with the Márez.
In this story Antonio asks questions concerning evil, justice and the nature of God. He witnesses many deaths, which force him to mature and face the reality of life. Ultimately, the Catholic Church, dominated by female imagery, by concentrating on the Virgin Mary and a vengeful Father God, on ritual and superficiality, is unable to answer Antonio's questions. There is an unawareness throughout the novel of any Biblical concept of Christianity. Realizing that the Roman Catholic Church represents the female values of his mother, Antonio cannot bring himself to accept the lawlessness, violence and unthinking sensuality which his father and older brothers symbolize. Instead through his relationship with Ultima, he discovers a oneness with nature, with no value judgments.
