| Bless Me, Ultima | |
|---|---|
Cover of the April 1994 printing |
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| Author(s) | Rudolfo Anaya |
| Cover artist | Bernadette Vigil and Diane Luger |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Bildungsroman |
| Publisher | TQS Publications |
| Publication date | 1972 |
| Media type | print, paperback |
| Pages | 262 |
| ISBN | 0-446-60025-3 |
| OCLC Number | 30095424 |
| Followed by | Heart of Aztlan |
Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya is the story of the coming of age of Antonio Márez y Luna with the guidance of his curandera, mentor and protector, Ultima. It has become the most widely read and critically acclaimed novel in the Chicano literary cannon since its first publication in 1972.[1] Teachers across disciplines in middle schools, high schools and universities have adopted it as a way to multiculturalize their classes.[2] The novel reflects Chicano culture of the 1940’s in rural New Mexico. Anaya’s use of Spanish, his mystical depiction of the New Mexican landscape, his use of cultural motifs such as La Llorona, and his recounting of curandera folkways such as the gathering of medicinal herbs gives readers a sense of the influence of indigenous cultural ways that are both authentic and distinct from the mainstream. Bless Me, Ultima is Anaya's best known work and was awarded the prestigious Premio Quinto Sol. It is included in the list of The Big Read, a community-reading program sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts,[3] and in 2009 in the list of the United States Academic Decathlon.
Bless Me, Ultima is the first in a trilogy followed by the publication of Heart of Aztlan (1976) and Tortuga (1979). Because Bless Me, Ultima contains adult language and because some of the content is violent, it has been included in the list of most commonly challenged books in the U.S.in 2008.[4] Those characteristics notwithstanding it is also important because it was one of three novels published in the last half of the twentieth century which gained academic respect for Chicano literature as an important and non-derivative type of American literature. [5].
Contents |
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Set in the small town of Guadalupe, New Mexico just after World War II, this novel tells the story of Antonio Márez y Luna (Tony) from the point of view of his adult self, who harkens back to his childhood and reflects on his growing up. Anaya uses the basic structure of the Bildungsroman to weave a tale of good and evil, of life and death, of myth and reality that challenges young Tony's beliefs about God, his family and his destiny as he loses his innocence at too early an age. His progress in learning about life is grounded in Ultima, an aged and wise member of the community who is highly respected by Tony's parents. Tony has a very special relationship with her, as she was the midwife at his birth. Throughout the story she passes on her wisdom and knowledge to Tony.
His parents, Gabriel and Maria, invite Ultima to come and live with them when Tony is about to turn seven --just reaching the age of reason. As Tony, with Ultima's guidance, searches for his true identity and his rightful destiny, he witnesses several deaths, assists Ultima in purging his uncle Lucas of an evil spell, experiences a crisis of faith in the Catholic tradition, embraces the myth of the golden carp, discovers the sordidness of his older brother, survives a harrowing illness and realizes that he may be the only heir to the cultural and spiritual legacy that was Ultima, for Ultima is the last of her kind.
Throughout the novel Tony struggles with his identity. In the first chapter Anaya establishes the roots of this struggle through Tony's dream --a flashback to the day of his birth. In his dream Tony views the differences between his parents' familial backgrounds. His father's side, the Márez (descendents of the sea), are the restless vaqueros who roam the llanos and seek adventure. The Lunas, his mother's side, are the people of the moon, religious farmers whose destiny is to homestead and work the land. Each side of the family wants control of the newborn's future. But, as the dream ends, Ultima intercedes and takes on the responsibility for knowing and guarding his destiny herself.
His father wants to help Tony make his own choice about his future. His mother's dream is for him to become a Roman Catholic priest, but over the course of the novel Antonio becomes disillusioned with the faith and through Ultima learns of other gods. Much of the novel is spent with Tony trying to reconcile both Native American religion with traditional Catholicism and the Lunas with the Márez.
Ultima, in her role as protector, uses her knowledge of healing and magic to neutralize the evil witchcraft the three daughters of Tenorio Trementina have wrought on Tony's uncle, and at the end her soul struggles against the evil of Tenorio himself.
In this story Tony asks questions concerning evil, justice and the nature of God. He witnesses many violent deaths, which force him to face the reality of life. Ultimately, the Catholic Church, concentrated on the Virgin Mary and a Father God, and on ritual, is unable to answer Tony's questions. At the same time, realizing that the Church represents the female values of his mother, Tony cannot bring himself to accept the lawlessness, violence and unthinking sensuality which his father and older brothers symbolize. Instead through his relationship with Ultima, he discovers a oneness with nature.[6]
Antonio Juan Márez y Luna - The young protagonist, almost seven years old at the beginning of the novel. Antonio is serious, thoughtful and prone to moral questioning, and his experiences force him to confront difficult issues that blur the lines between right and wrong. He turns to both indigenous and Christian spiritual traditions for guidance and struggles with the apparent conflicts between them. With Ultima’s help, he makes the transition from childhood to adolescence and begins to make his own decisions and to accept responsibility for their consequences.
Gabriel Márez and María Luna de Márez - Antonio’s parents, whose frequently conflicting views make it difficult for Antonio to accept either of their cultural traditions. María, the devoutly Catholic daughter of a farmer, wants Antonio to follow her Luna family tradition by becoming a priest. Gabriel is the son of vaqueros, or cowboys, and he prefers that Antonio follow the Márez tradition of restless wandering across the llano, or plains. Both parents love and revere Ultima.
Ultima - An elderly curandera, a healer endowed with the spiritual power of her ancestors. Ultima is complex and one of a kind. Ultima’s power is at times and among some people misunderstood. She is sometimes referred to as a bruja, or witch. Even Antonio is confused about the moral nature of Ultima’s power —no one knows if she is truly a witch. Ultima is a firm believer in tolerance and understanding, however, and she teaches Antonio religious pluralism.
Narciso - The town drunk. Narciso is good friends with Gabriel because they share a deep and passionate love for the llano. Narciso demonstrates a strong appreciation for the richness of the earth —his garden is a lush masterpiece full of sweet vegetables and fruits. Narciso respects and loves Ultima deeply. Tenorio kills him because he supports Ultima and defies him. It is revealed that Narciso became a drunk when the young woman he married died in an epidemic that struck the town.
Tenorio Trementina and his three daughters - Tenorio is a malicious saloon-keeper and barber in El Puerto. His three daughters perform a black mass and place a curse on Antonio's uncle Lucas Luna. Tenorio detests Ultima because she lifts the curse on Lucas and soon after she does so, one of Tenorio’s daughters dies. Hot-tempered and vengeful, Tenorio spends the rest of the novel plotting Ultima’s death, which he finally achieves by killing her owl familiar, her spiritual guardian.
Cico - One of Antonio’s closer friends. Unlike most of Antonio’s friends, he is quiet and respectful. Cico introduces Antonio to an indigenous spiritual tradition when he takes Antonio to see the golden carp, a deity who lives in the river and only those who have faith in it are able to see it.
Florence - One of Antonio’s friends. Though Florence does not believe in God, he attends catechism to be with his friends. Florence’s active, vocal questioning of Catholic orthodoxy is partly a result of his own difficult past; both of Florence’s parents are dead, and his sisters have become prostitutes. Florence shows Antonio that the Catholic Church is not perfect.
Antonio’s friends: Abel, Bones, Ernie, Horse, Lloyd, Red, and the Vitamin Kid - An exuberant group of boys who frequently curse and fight. Horse loves to wrestle, but everyone fears Bones more because he is reckless and perhaps even crazy. Ernie is a braggart who frequently teases Antonio. The Vitamin Kid is the fastest runner in Guadalupe. Red is a Protestant, so he is often teased by the other boys. Lloyd enjoys reminding everyone that they can be sued for even the most minor offenses. Abel, the smallest boy in the group, frequently urinates in inappropriate places.
Lupito - A war veteran who has post-traumatic stress disorder. After Lupito murders the local sheriff in one of his deranged moments, he is killed by a mob in front of young Antonio. Lupito’s death provides the catalyst for Antonio’s serious moral and religious questioning.
Andrew, Eugene, and León Márez - Antonio’s brothers. For most of Antonio’s childhood, his brothers are fighting in World War II. When they return home, they suffer post-traumatic stress as a result of the war. Restless and depressed, they all eventually leave home to pursue independent lives, crushing Gabriel’s dream of moving his family to California.
Deborah and Theresa Márez - Antonio’s older sisters. Most of the time, they play with dolls and speak English, a language Antonio does not begin to learn until he attends school.
Antonio’s uncles: Juan, Lucas, Mateo, and Pedro Luna - María’s brothers are farmers. They struggle with Gabriel to lay a claim to Antonio’s future. They want him to become a farmer or a priest, but Gabriel wants Antonio to be a vaquero in the Márez tradition. Antonio’s uncles are quiet and gentle, and they plant their crops by the cycle of the moon.
"Lucas Luna" - Antonio's uncle, who gets a curse put on him when he tries to stop the Trementina sisters from doing their evil black magic. He eventually gets so sick that Ultima has to come and cure him. She puts herbs, water, and kerosene down his throat till he throws it up and she cures him.
Father Byrnes - A Catholic priest who gives catechism lessons to Antonio and his friends. He is a stern priest with hypocritical and unfair policies. He punishes Florence for the smallest offenses because Florence challenges the Catholic orthodoxy, but he fails to notice, and perhaps even ignores, the misbehavior of the other boys. Rather than teach the children to understand God, he prefers to teach them to fear God.
Chávez - Chávez is the father of Antonio’s friend Jasón. Distraught and vengeful, he leads a mob to find Lupito after Lupito kills Chávez’s brother, the local sheriff. He forbids Jasón to visit an Indian who lives near the town, but Jasón disobeys him.
Jasón Chávez - One of Antonio’s friends. He disobeys his father when he continues to visit an Indian who lives near the town. He is described by Antonio as being moody.
Jasón Chávez’s Indian - A friend of Jasón’s who is disliked by Jasón’s father. Cico tells Antonio that the story of the golden carp originally comes from the Indian.
Prudencio Luna - The father of María and her brothers. He is a quiet man who prefers not to become involved in other peoples’ conflicts. When Tenorio declares an all out war against Ultima, he does not want his sons to get involved, even though Ultima saved Lucas’s life.
Miss Maestas - Antonio’s first-grade teacher. Although Antonio does not speak English well, Miss Maestas recognizes his bright spark of intelligence. Under her tutelage, Antonio unlocks the secrets of words. She promotes him to the third grade at the end of the year.
Rosie - The woman who runs the local brothel. Antonio has a deep fear of the brothel because it represents sin. He is devastated when he finds out that his brother Andrew frequently goes to it.
Samuel - One of Antonio’s friends. He is also the Vitamin Kid’s brother. Unlike most of Antonio’s friends, Samuel is gentle and quiet. He tells Antonio about the golden carp. It is here that Antonio starts questioning his faith.
Téllez - One of Gabriel’s friends. He challenges Tenorio when Tenorio speaks badly of Ultima. Not long afterward, a curse is laid on his home. Ultima agrees to lift the curse, explaining that Téllez’s grandfather once hanged three Comanche Indians for raiding his flocks. Ultima performs a Comanche funeral ceremony on Téllez’s land, and ghosts cease to haunt his home.
The flying man - This man was Ultima’s teacher and was also known as el hombre volador. He gave her the owl that became her spirit familiar, her guardian, and her soul. He told her to do good works with her powers but to avoid interfering with a person’s destiny. The invocation of his name inspires awe and respect among the people who have heard about his legendary powers and incites fear in Tenorio Trementina.
In the preface to his 1976 interview with Anaya reprinted in Conversations with Rudolfo Anaya (1998), Ishmael Reed states that as of the date of their interview July 1, 1976, Bless Me Ultima, had sold 80,000 copies without a review in the major media.[7]
Terri Windling described the 1994 reissue as "an important novel which beautifully melds Old World and New World folklore into a contemporary story".[8]
In a partnership with The National Endowment for the Arts' Big Read Program and Denver, Colorado's premier Chicano theater company, El Centro Su Teatro, Anaya adapted Bless Me, Ultima as a full length workshop stage production. The play opened on February 12, 2009, at El Centro Su Teatro, directed by Jennifer McCray Rincon, with the title roles of Ultima played by Yolanda Ortega, Antonio Márez by Carlo Rincon, and The Author by Jose Aguila. An encore production was done at The Shadow Theater Denver on June 26th and 27th 2009, with the title roles of Ultima played by Yolanda Ortega, Antonio Marez by Isabelle Fries and The Author by Jose Aguila.
The Vortex Theatre in Albuquerque, New Mexico in partnership with the National Hispanic Center produced a full stage production of the show March 26—April 25, 2010. It was directed by Valli Marie Rivera and adapted by the author, himself.[9] Juanita Sena-Shannon played Ultima to rave reviews.[10] The Vortex Production toured through various cities in New Mexico, in October and November 2010 The final performance took place at 7:30pm on November 19, 2010.
Variety (magazine) announced on March 2, 2009 [11] that Christy Walton, heiress to the Walton fortune, had set up Tenaja Productions company solely to finance an adaptation of Bless Me, Ultima for the big screen. Monkey Hill Films' Sarah DiLeo is billed as Producer with collaboration and support from Mark Johnson (producer) of Gran Via Productions (Rain Man, Chronicles of Narnia (film series)) and Jesse B. Franklin, Monarch Pictures. Carl Franklin (One False Move, Devil in a Blue Dress, Out of Time (2003 film)) was tapped as writer/director.
Walton (Executive Producer) and DiLeo (Producer) share a passion for the book. DiLeo succeeded in convincing Anaya to agree to the adaptation over six years ago. [12] Shooting was scheduled in Abiquiú area and then to resume in Santa Fe for some interiors at Garson Studios on the Santa Fe University of Art and Design campus during the last week in October 2010. [13] Filming wrapped in Santa Fe, NM in late 2010 and is in post production. [14] It was scheduled for release in 2011, but as of the end of that year there was no trailer or other signs of release available.
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Baria, A. G. (2000). Magic and mediation in Native American and Chicano/a literature author(s). PhD dissertation, Department of English, The Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, Baton Rouge, LA.
Calderón, H. (1990). Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima. In César A. González-T. (Ed.), Rudolfo A. Anaya: Focus on Criticism (pp. 64-99). La Jolla, CA: Lalo Press.
Campbell, J. (1972). The Hero with a Thousand Faces (2nd Ed.). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Candelaria, C. (1989). Rudolfo A. Anaya. In M.J. Bruccoli, R. Layman, & C.E. Frazer Clark, Jr. (Series Eds.) and F. A. Lomelí & C. R. Shirley (Vol. Eds.), Dictionary of literary biography: Vol. 82. Chicano writers, first series (pp. 24-35). Detroit: Gale Research.
Cantú, R. (1990). Apocalypse as an ideological construct: The storyteller’s art in Bless Me, Ultima. In César A. González-T. (Ed.), Rudolfo A. Anaya: Focus on Criticism (pp. 64-99). La Jolla, CA: Lalo Press.
Carrasco, D. (1982, Spring-Fall). A perspective for a study of religious dimensions in Chicano experience: Bless Me, Ultima as a religious text. Aztlán, 13, 195-221.
Estes, C. P. (1992). Women Who Run with Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype. New York, NY: Ballantine Books.
Fernández Olmos, M. (1999). Rudolfo A. Anaya: A Critical Companion. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.
Gingerich, W. (1984). Aspects of prose style in three Chicano novels: Pocho, Bless Me, Ultima, and The Road to Tamazunchale" In Jacob Ornstein-Galicia (Ed.), Allan Metcalf (Bibliog.), Form and Function in Chicano English (pp. 206–228). Rowley, MA: Newbury House.
Henderson, C. D. (2002). Singing an American Song: Tocquevillian reflection on Willa Cather’s The Song of a Lark. In Christine Dunn Henderson (Ed.) Seers and Judges: American Literature as Political Philosophy (pp. 73-74). Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books.
Holton, F. S. (1995, Fall). Chicano as bricoleur: Christianity and mythmaking in Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima. Confluencia, 11, 22-41.
Johnson, Elaine Dorough (1979). A thematic study of three Chicano narratives: Estampas del Valle y Otras Obras, Bless Me, Ultima and Peregrinos de Aztlan. University Microfilms International: Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Kanoza, T. M. (1999, Summer). The golden carp and Moby Dick: Rudolfo Anaya’s multi-culturalism. Melus, 24, 1-10.
Kristovic, J. (Ed.) (1994). Rudolfo Anaya. In Hispanic Literature Criticism (Vol.1, pp. 41-42). Detroit: Gale Research.
Lamadrid, E. (1990). Myth as the cognitive process of popular culture in Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima. In César A. González-T. (Ed.), Rudolfo A. Anaya: Focus on Criticism (pp. 100-112). La Jolla, CA: Lalo Press.
Lee, A. R. (1996). Chicanismo as memory: The fictions of Rudolfo Anaya, Nash Candelaria, Sandra Cisneros, and Ron Arias. In Amritjit Singh, Jose T. Skerrett,Jr. & Robert E. Hogan (Eds.), Memory and Cultural Politics: New Approaches to American Ethnic Literatures (pp. 320–39). Boston: Northeastern UP.
Lomelí, F. A., & Martínez, J. A. (Eds.) (1985). Anaya, Rudofo Alfonso. In Chicano Literature: A Reference Guide (pp. 34-51). Westport: Greenwood Press.
Magill, F. N. (Ed.) (1994) Bless Me, Ultima. In Masterpieces of Latino Literature (1st ed., pp. 38-41). New York: HarperCollins.
Milligan, B. (1998, August 23). Anaya says absence of coverage will kill Latino culture. San Antonio Express-News, p. 1H.
Rudolfo A(lfonso) Anaya. (1983). In S. R. Gunton & J. C. Stine (Eds.), Contemporary Literary Criticism, 23, 22-27. Detroit: Gale Research.
Tonn, H. (1990). Bless Me, Ultima: Fictional response to times of transition. In César A. González-T. (Ed.), Rudolfo A. Anaya: Focus on Criticism (pp. 1-12). La Jolla, CA: Lalo Press.
[14] retrieved December 28, 2011
[16] retrieved December 28, 2011