Bless Me, Ultima

Bless Me, Ultima is set in Guadalupe, New Mexico against the changing social backdrop of post-WWII America. Antonio’s childhood home is bordered by two towns that hold narrative significance: Las Pasturas on the llano, and the farming town of El Puerto. The llano is the territory of the vaqueros, the cowboys who first settled New Mexico after Spanish colonization. El Puerto is the agricultural land of the Lunas, who value domesticity and adhere to a traditional Mexican Catholic faith. Anaya’s placement of the family home at the nexus of these two locations symbolizes its influence on Antonio’s search for identity.

Antonio is a passive and anxious boy, preoccupied with what will become of his future. He is keenly aware of the conflicting desires of his parents, the holy life of the priest vs. the adventurous life of the vaquero. Antonio notes that his mother “always [cries] when she thought we were learning the ways […] of the Márez” (8). The pull of their disparate wants establishes Antonio’s central journey—cultivating an independent identity as he comes of age. For the time being, he takes a passive role in his self-development, allowing himself to be buffeted by the wants of others.

Exacerbating Antonio’s anxieties is his mother’s attitude toward his growing up. Though María is forward-thinking in some ways, like her support of Antonio’s education, her perspective on his coming of age is steeped in the idea that innocence is the greatest good and that becoming a man means becoming sinful. He can’t help but hurt her just by growing up, and the guilt he feels about this is reflected in the dream in which she takes the form of la Llorona. In Hispanic American mythology, la Llorona is a ghostly woman who cries for deceased children. In some versions of the myth, la Llorona is the one who killed the children, hinting that María’s protective influence might be harmful to Antonio in the long term.

Anaya imbues Antonio’s dreams with vivid imagery and symbolism that reflect his inner turmoil. His first two dreams are centered around his uncertain future, with various loved ones inserting their opinions on who he should become. In these dreams, Ultima intervenes in a savior role, asserting that she alone knows his future. In this way, Anaya positions her as Antonio’s mentor and the keeper of his identity.

Bless Me, Ultima loosely follows the structure of the hero’s journey, a common mythological framework, first recognized by American writer and folklorist Joseph Campbell. The hero’s journey broadly involves a protagonist going on an adventure, overcoming adversity, and returning home a changed person. Campbell defined three major steps in the hero’s journey as departure, initiation, and return. Each step can comprise any number of smaller steps, which move the plot forward and bring the hero closer to his transformation.

These first chapters take place within the departure section of the hero’s journey. Anaya first introduces Antonio’s familiar life in Guadalupe, which is the point of departure for all would-be heroes. Antonio receives the call to adventure when he witnesses Lupito’s death: Seeing Lupito die in distress makes him question the Catholic faith for the first time, but he initially refuses the call to adventure through his reticence to grow up. Ultima provides the outside intervention that will break Antonio out of his reluctance to move forward and initiate his adventure.

Thematically, these chapters contain the first stirrings of Antonio’s crisis of faith. He largely accepts the concepts of good and evil handed down by the church, such as the idea that Rosie’s brothel is a place of sin. After Lupito’s death, however, Antonio begins to grapple with the weighty question of forgiveness. Catholicism holds with the Christian doctrine of original sin: Because Adam and Eve sinned, each person is born tainted by sin, and forgiveness is granted only through penance and confession. Antonio has an inkling that this punitiveness system doesn’t sit right with him, but he still is far from being able to extricate his own morality from the church’s, especially because María believes so strongly.

Amidst Antonio’s turmoil over his religion and destiny, Ultima acts as a neutral party. She practices a magic derived from the natural world and demonstrates to Antonio a new way of relating to the world, outside of the church and the expectations of his parents. She stresses the oneness between humans and nature and teaches Antonio that is not his place to “judge who God forgives and who He doesn’t” (33). Though Antonio eagerly presses her for advice, Ultima is never prescriptive about his future. Instead, she encourages him to “listen and be patient” (34) in order to receive the enlightenment he seeks.

Rich imagery pervades these chapters, with a particular focus on religious iconography and figures from Indigenous and Mexican American culture. María keeps a shrine in the house, and Antonio is drawn to her statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe, who represents a point of connection between Indigenous Aztec cultures and the Spaniards who colonized the land that became Mexico. Antonio’s connection with her illustrates his desire for a more forgiving deity and foreshadows his later exploration of Indigenous folklore and religion.