Juxtaposition In Bless Me Ultima

Is there one real god? Are all gods ideally perfect? The main character Antonio in Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima is torn between which god he must choose. On one hand there is the Virgin, a forgiving god, or God, a wrathful and critical god. In Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima he uses juxtaposition to reveal the differences between God and the Virgin to show the two halves of Antonio’s personality thus revealing that in life people need to be critical and caring towards others. Throughout the novel Anaya uses juxtaposition of God and the Virgin. Antonio has just witnessed the death of Lupito in the novel and is wondering , would “God forgive him and grant him Purgatory?”(Anaya 27). This quote highlights one of the main characteristics of God depicted in the book and that is unforgiving. This quote also defines a point in the book where Antonio has already started to question God. In accordance, Antonio describes God as “not always forgiving while he talks about the Virgin as “always [forgiving]” (Anaya 44). There is a clear juxtaposition here with God and the Virgin. He talks

Then the Virgin tells Antonio that she will also only forgive both and not only Narciso (Anaya 173). Antonio never bothered to see Tenorio in a good light and was thus always critical of him. His good half wanted Narciso forgiven but overlooked that in being critical of Tenorio he forgot that wishing forgiveness of all means all the people. In an earlier part of the book, Antonio says “It is not easy to forgive men like Tenorio” (Anaya 138). Antonio was once again being critical just showing that he is also human and he is like the God and Virgin in that he is composed of a caring and critical personality. Ultimately, showing that humans strive to judge people that have wronged them and care for people that have been nice or are close to