Analysis Of Bless Me, Ultima By Rudolfo Anaya

For people who struggle with sight, glasses are a general source of clarity and comfort. But, the second the glasses become fogged up, life becomes an intimidating blur which causes confusion. However, once the frames are cleaned, that uncertainty is alleviated. The seemingly impenetrable fog that accumulates on glasses coincides with the fog that materializes in the mind of an adolescent. Transitioning between childhood and adulthood is accompanied by a disconnection from comfort that will eventually clear with growth and maturity. This correlates to the life of Antonio Marez, a young boy finding his way through the stages of childhood and adulthood in the novel Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya. Throughout the story, Antonio struggled to

The concept of the priesthood was instilled in him since a young age, but the sudden illness of his uncle altered his views. “The power of the church had failed to cure [Antonio’s] uncle. Now everyone depended on Ultima’s magic. Was it possible that there was more power in Ultima’s magic than in the priest?” (pg 99). This was the moment that Antonio began to wonder if the priest was as powerful as everyone believed. He realized that ideas he once thought were true may not be. After this moment Antonio’s doubts increased, and the last resort of answers would come with the day of his communion, when he would finally hear the word of God. Once Antonio ate the flesh of God, he was sure that all of his questions would be answered, however, when he asked God all he received was “...the whistling of the wind filling the empty space” (pg 187). He needed answers in this moment more than ever, and “...could not understand how the power of God could fail. But it had" (pg 106) . He finally began to see that God would not always be there to help him. As of a result of this realization, Antonio would need to come out of his shell and confront these obstacles on his own. With the intention of receiving answers, Antonio would need to break away from what was comfortable and move more toward