Bless Me Ultima

In life we face conflicts on a daily basis and usually find a resolution to them, but what happens when you're conflicted between the unknown and known? In religion we believe and have faith in what we can't see and are usually in a battle with believing what we can see. Rudolfo Anaya presents us Antonio Marez, son of a Catholic mother and a skeptic vaquero father in a tale known as Bless Me, Ultima. With faith in what he believes, Antonio goes through a resurrecting encounter with the last; Ultima.

" the beginning that came with ultima " (1) is one that Antonio Marez will surely never forget. Perceived as an outsider, Ultima is a curandera, one who knows the herbs of the earth and the remedies they provide. Ultima has known the family for

His worries, responsibilities and his intelligence all ponder different points in his struggles between his spiritual and secular thoughts. The absence of Antonio's 3 older brothers who are at war incites a pressure on Antonio to be the "golden child". On top of that, Antonio has to deal with the burden of parental expectations; his mom wanting him to be a priest and his father wanting him to fulfill the dream that neither he or his brothers could accomplish. Acres of room for Antonio to go completely insane but this is where the importance of the oh so wise Ultima comes

Maria puts pressure on Antonio to be a priest while Antonio feels an inner peace when he's with Ultima but this does come with a crucial realization. It could be argued that by having glimpses of Ultimas lifestyle Antonio has realized he has been within sin and that he lost his innocence a long time ago. His mind and beliefs are not confined to the thought of religion as they used to. This all ties with the idea of wisdom being an interpretation of experiences; the idea of being ascertained to sin and realizing he was no longer innocent made Antonios struggle between secular and spiritual thoughts even more gargantuan than it already was. A harbinger of Ultimas role in a relentless