Bless Me, Ultima is a coming of story about a young boy’s journey towards spiritual awakening. Below the surface of this deceptively simple story lie powerful elements of binary opposition and symbolism that the author, Rudolfo Anaya, uses to help provide the backdrop to Antonio’s immersing journey and reveal the “curious mélange of elements” taught to him. Through these literary strategies, Anaya develops the intense conflict between the two sides of Antonio’s family, the mysticism of his surroundings and experiences and glimpses of what lay ahead.
Antonio is a six-year-old boy who grows up in a home with conflicting lifestyles. His mother belongs to a devout Catholic family known as the Lunas, who consider themselves masters of the land and skilled farmers. They pride themselves in their humility and strong faith. Contrasting, is the Mares family, from which Antonio’s father was raised. The Mares are a wild bunch of vaqueros, horse-mounted workers, with a burning desire for adventure who take pleasure in handling their own matters without any one else’s authority. This poses a major conflict that is visited through the entirety of the book, between Antonio’s mother and father. While his mother prays incessantly that young Antonio grows up to be a priest and leader of the Lunas community, his father, contrastingly, hopes that his son will follow in the Mares footsteps as Antonio may be his last hope of leaving New Mexico and moving to the wilds of California.
This binary opposition shows a more rooted sense of itself in Antonio’s personal characteristics and his bold spirit to question deep issues. The story of Bless Me, Ultima takes place over the span of roughly two years. When we pick up the story, Antonio is six, almost seven years old, but he is very different from other children his age. While most children Antonio’s age have short attention spans and are intellectually immature, we find Antonio’s personal character to be very thoughtful and mature. His heightened since of his surroundings and the questions about his own destiny, the weight of sin, and faith are very arcane topics that do not commonly typify children of his age.
Almost everything and everyone that Antonio encounters is a symbol for the struggles in his own heart and mind. Throughout the course of the story we see Antonio’s struggle with faith but upon Ultima’s arrival marks the birth of rationality and we start to see Antonio question previous beliefs. The introduction of the golden carp and the dream that follows depicts a battle between his father’s and mother’s beliefs while Ultima remains in neutral ground as to suggest that all the questions that Antonio can be answered by him alone. Although outside forces may influence him, the responsibility solely lies within his hands.
One way in which Ultima encourages Antonio to seek his own destiny and faith is by exposing him to nature. She teaches him many things about herbs and plants, their rarity, and their many uses, and most of all to be appreciative of what the Earth gives forth. Seeing that Antonion’s mother is from a farming stock and his father is of the vaquero it seems that Ultima subtly uses characteristics of both sides of his family to teach Antonio about the earth. She desires for him to be wild and free on the land, but to also have an understanding of its many uses and how to reap its gifts.
Along the way we see Antonio preoccupation with nature develop. From the beginning of the story we see that he is a special boy whose notice of the intricacies of his surroundings are described in awe inspiring and vivid detail. Often, Antonio’s descriptions take life-like characteristics and somehow he feels a physical connection to what his senses perceive. Upon being in Ultima’s presence for the first time Antonio describes the encounter as feeling the pulse of the earth through his bare feet. Additionally, when Ultima takes Antonio’s hand he states that it felt like all four directions of the llano had met inside him and that the white sun was shining in his soul. Through our reading we are made aware that Ultima has a deep connection with the environment but these examples allude to the birth of Antonio’s connection with the elements that surround him.
Additionally, Antonio is taught to listen to the groaning of the Earth. Possibly, he is beginning to realize that, although the world around him is his habitat, it is a life-force, a living, breathing creature. With a studious and quizzical mind he can begin to learn more about himself. With the arrival of Autumn, Antonio describes himself as being strangely aware of the new world opening itself up to him. He also has a realization that he not lost in the enormous landscape of the hills and the sky, but instead, a very important part of the teeming life of the llano and the river.