Bless Me, Ultima Is the Essay

Antonio cannot avoid the darker side of human emotions. He dreams that a mob calls out for Ultima's blood. Through this dream Antonio subconsciously acknowledges that his desire for revenge against Tenorio is just savage.

His religious believes are not so strong anymore, this is also contrasted in his discussion with his father on the topic.

Antonio takes his first Communion and waits for God to answer the questions that haunt him about the moral understanding of the world but the answers doesn't seem to be reveled. Antonio's despair of understanding why evil exists actually leads him to greater spiritual understanding. In his conversation with his father Antonio expresses the desire to be both a Luna and a Marez, but Gabriel admits that the vaquero's way of life is fading, so he is ready to end the long conflict with Maria. Antonio meditates out loud that it is possible to make a new religion; he asks his father if the priest who led the Lunas to El Puerto was actually their father in more than the metaphorical sense. Gabriel confirms his suspicions. He also asks him why there is evil in the world, Gabriel replies that people call things they do not understand "evil." He explains that understanding comes only with life experience.Antonio's maturation and self-discovery are strengthened by Ultima's blessing before her death: "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."Antonio will have to manage his life and to make his own choices without Ultima's guidance from now on; she will accompany him only spiritually.

In this novel Anaya presents Antonio's maturation from the point in which he is regarded as being ignorant, naive and insecure to the point in which he is able to find his identity, understand the cycle of life and death, leading him to wisdom and to a deeper knowledge.

Bibliography

Bless me, Ultima, by Rodolfo Anaya, Warner Books (April 1, 1999)

Analysis of the novel and the characters from the Internet at http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/LitNote/id-41,pageNum-2.html

http://mchip00.nyu.edu/lit-med/lit-med-db/webdocs/webdescrips/anaya1332-des-.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bless_Me,_Ultima

Bless me, Ultima, quotation from Chapter 11

Bless me, Ultima, quotation from Chapter 22.....