Analysis Of Bless Me Ultima By Rudolfo Anaya

A belief is something one has trust, passion, faith or confidence in. Let me ask you, are your beliefs similar to your parents? If so, then you are like the vast majority of people. Although, as children tend to grow up and mature they develop their own independence, their parents influence on them as young toddlers have stuck with them. Therefore families tend to have the same ideas and morals. In “Bless me Ultima” by Rudolfo Anaya, Antonio, a young boy is torn between his fate to be like his mother of the land or her nomadic father of the Llano. When Ultima-the curandera of the land- arrives, tension raises between the surrounding people. As the book progresses, Antonio faces issues where he learns his own moral ideas from. Antonio is becoming

This is first demonstrated when Antonio is praying the rosary after supper. While Tony is thinking about how painfully long kneeling for the prayer takes, he sees the statue of Virgin Mary. When looking at the statue, he feels her open forgiveness to all whereas “God was not always forgiving. He made laws to follow and if you broke them you were punished. The Virgin always forgave you” (44). Anaya using repetition of moments like these enforces the idea of Tony learning his own way. But in this moment particularly, the irony of Tony praying to God while thinking about the loveliness of Virgin Mary is also very prevalent. Which is significant in showing his independent growth during times where he should be following his family’s footsteps. As the book progresses, we see Tony again looking to the Virgin when God leaves him alone and distraught. Antonio’s family has always said the rosary together, at the same time each day. Therefore, Antonio has been indoctrinated or forced to say rosary because his family is Catholic. As Antonio thinks about the Virgin and compares her to God, he is showing his own independence by hinting that he prefers her over his traditional God. Antonio is again spiteful of his moral independence and his own choice in gods whilst completing catechism. Although there are many

Only emptiness. I turned and looked at the statue of the Virgin. She was smiling, her outstretched arms offering forgiveness to all” (221). Yet again we repeatedly see Tony turning to The Virgin when he doesn’t receive what he wants from God. When God doesn’t answer him like Tony had always expected, he starts to question his belief and philosophy of the Catholic God, furthermore discovering his own truths. Antonio has blindly