Rudolfo Anaya, "Bless Me, Ultima" (Part Trois)

November 17th, 2012

     I was totally thrown a curveball by Professor Mack when he revealed to the class that we would be responsible for both a new blog entry and "tweet analysis" over Thanksgiving break, but if it's one more opportunity to write about Bless Me, Ultima, I suppose that that's just an opportunity that must be seized. On the positive side, I have now finished the novel and have been able to piece together what I truly feel about Anaya's work. In my opinion, the following simple quote summarizes what Anaya wants the reader to take from Bless Me, Ultima ....

     My mother and I stumbled down the hill. I did not think she or my father understood what the owl's death meant, and I who shared the mystery with Ultima shuddered at what I would find. We rushed into the still house. "Mama!" Deborah cried. She held trembling Theresa. "It is all right," she reassured them, "it is over." "Take them to their room."I said to my mother. It was the first time I had ever spoken to my mother as a man: she nodded and obeyed.

(Rudolfo Anaya, Bless Me, Ultima, 259)

 



     After all of the discussion that we had in class, I think that it's easy to see the symbolism behind the various seasons, locations, and characters. Many parallels are drawn to Christ and his life throughout the novel as well (this always seems to be the case), yet for me that has never really been the main issue with Anaya's message. I felt an extremely strong connection, while reading and learning more about the characters, with Antonio and his journey towards a loss of innocence. That may appear to be an odd message for an author to transmit, but the losing of one's innocence does not necessarily imlpy the falling into sin or loss of one's soul. For Antonio, innocence is gradually lost as manhood increases within Antonio.

 

     Think of the events that transpired in the life of Antonio that form a troublesome childhood - the deaths of three men, continual peer abuse, the weight of adult dreams resting squarely on his shoulders, school, religous confusion, and the knowlege of Ultima's true identity and supernatural superiority. Of all of these events, one of the most impactful for Antonio had to be when he discovered the immorality of Andrew. Symbolically, Antonio's world had come crashing down. I easily identified with Antonio in that when I was younger I remember clearly looking at my parents and thinking that they were superheros. Invinsible! Nothing could hold them back and they could do no wrong! As maturation began to take hold, however, I realized that that was not the case. Illness, depression, pain, suffering, anguish and life's typical troubles afflict all and parents of the world are not immune. I suppose that to a certain degree it was assumed that when I returned from my mission, I knew something about the world because the relationship that my mother and I had completely changed. For the first time in my life she looked to me for advice on specific matters. It was almost as if we were equals. In my mind, that couldn't be further from the truth, but my mother really was needing of help and to her son she looked. Manhood, in our Mormon culture, is often thought to have been reached with the arrival of a mission call, yet, when the heros of my youth sought my counsel and applied it, in that moment I couldn't have felt more like a true man.

 

     The aforementioned quote embodies the manhood that was forced on Antonio by the events of his youth. Others had begun to look at Antonio as a priest of sorts. Physical prowess had already been reached in Antonios first fight and even in the winning of his first foot-race over the infamous bridge. Farming and manual labor had become a way for Antonio to pass his summers. That being said, Antonio's journey towards a premature manhood comes full circle with the acceptance by his mother of him as an equal and decision maker.