Bless Me Ultima

Title: Bless Me Ultima

Author: Rudolfo Anaya

ISBN: 978-0446675369

Publisher: Warner Books

Copyright: 1999 (1973)

Genre: Historical Fiction

Age Range: 13+

Reader’s Annotation: Antonio Márez y Luna is shown how to navigate the future and connect to the past by Ultima, a curandera who takes Tony under her wing to teach him the healing herbs of the desert and the ancient ways of its people. 

Plot Summary: Antonio Márez y Luna (Tony) tells the story of his youth as an adult. He describes the condition of the small town of Guadalupe, New Mexico post World War Two. Tony begins the story when he is about to turn seven and Ultima, the midwife at his birth, comes to live with them. Reaching the age of reason, Ultima guides Tony through different deaths he sees, assisting her with the purification of uncle Lucas from the Trementina sisters, and surviving through a mysterious illness.

            Tony is conflicted. Does he follow the golden carp his father’s people use to worship?  Or, does he pray to the Virgin Mary and God the Father? After receiving his first Holy Communion, Tony is disillusioned about religion because the Host did not explain all of the questions he had about life and knowledge. Tony battles with the divide between the pagan, wandering background of his father’s cattleman side and the grounded, staunch Catholic beliefs of his mother’s farming side. Its lack of enlightenment pushes him more toward Ultima and the truth found in nature.

Critical Evaluation: Bless Me, Ultima is easily one of the best known Chicano books of all time. Anaya’s work is a Quinto Sol award winner. It is a remarkable book that explores what spirituality is. We follow Tony as he figures out that there are the Old World ways of believing the various myths of the land and stories of ancestors. Anaya explores the possible hang-ups that come with organized religion. He asks the tough questions that some need further proof or explanation. Through Tony, Anaya blends together the old beliefs with the new religion of thought as Tony tries to learn how to blend his two families together.

Author Information: Rudolfo Anaya is professor emeritus of English at the University of New Mexico. He was one of the first winners of the Premio Quinto Sol National Chicano literary award. Winner of the PEN Center USA West Award for Fiction for his novel Alburquerque, he is best-loved for his classic bestseller Bless Me, Ultima. His other works include Zia Summer, Rio Grande Fall, Jalamanta, Tortuga, Heart of Aztlan , and The Anaya Reader. He has also written numerous short stories, essays, and children's books, including The Farolitos of Christmas and Maya's Children. Source - http://www.amazon.com/Bless-Me-Ultima-Rudolfo-Anaya/dp/0446675369

Curriculum Ties: Folklore, Spanish, History

Challenge Issues: Magic; Language; Violence; Sexual Inferences

Booktalk Ideas: Folklore – A librarian could use the folklore of the surrounding native cultures, especially desert, to draw teens into the mindset of Ultima’s world. History – This is a novel during World War 2. One could draw in teens by explaining the post WW2 culture and the shifts in the American Southwest