Ultima

=//Bless Me, Ultima//= By: Rudolfo Anaya

The book centers around the main character, Antonio Marez, a seven year old boy who struggles with his own self-identity. According to Anaya, "//Bless Me, Ultima// has autobiographical elements in it, after all, a writer utilzies his life experiences" (vii). The reader is taken on a magical journey through the eyes and experiences of Antonio as he encounters various people throughout the coming years. His mother is a devout Catholic, and his father a wandering cowboy who eventually has to settle down. In a time when Catholicism and western religions make a sweep across the southwest, Antonio is introduced to other elements of belief when he starts to explore Paganism. Through his struggle with his culture and identity, he is witness to many events that cause him to question his beliefs; one being the murder of not one, but two family friends. In an introduction to the book, Anaya explains, "Perhaps, like Antonio, we have questioned our faith or beliefs, and we understand his search for the truth" (x).

Throughout the book, the reader is introduced to the another important character, Ultima; also known as la Grande. Ultima is the one person that Antonio is intrigued by, perhaps because she is a curandera, or a healer in other words. It was during their first meeting, that Antonio notes the "sweet fragrance of herbs that always lingered in her wake," when Ultima walks by him (Anaya 13). From time to time in the book, Antonio has nightmares when he sleeps, this started when he witnessed the death of a man his father had known (Anaya 26). The death of Lupito, a returned World War II veteran, became part of Antonio's journey of his growth into adolescence. Ultima close by, offers Antonio herbal medicines that according to Anaya, had "a strange power" (29). Herbal medicinal qualities were not the only form of guidance that Ultima gave to Antonio though. Later on in the story, the nightmares continue when Antonio encounters forms of Paganism which cause him to question his religion. Ultima utilizes her powers to enter Antonio's dreams to stop a nightmare from frightening him further and "then there was peace in my dreams and I could rest" (Anaya 126).

As part of Anaya's self-proclaimed autobiography, he states that he was "born in 1937 in the small village of Pastura, New Mexico" (vii). This also happens to be the general area where the story takes place. After looking through some internet websites, I found a decent looking map of the general area:



The town of Pastura is located just 115 miles east of Albuquerque, New Mexico, which equates to nearly 2 hours driving time in Interstate 40.

Reviews of the book include:

"This extraordinary storyteller has always written unpretentiously but provocatively about identity. Every work is a fiesta, a ceremony preserving but reshaping old traditions that honor the power within the land and //la raza//, the people." - //Los Angeles Times Book Review//

"Full of sensual dreams, superstitions, unexplained phenomena, and the dark night of Latin American theology." - //New York Times//

Works Cited: Anaya, Rudolfo. //Bless Me, Ultima//. New York: Warner Books Edition. 1999. Print.

Mapquest. 2009. Web JPEG file.