Bless Me Ultima Literary Analysis

Max Lerner, an American journalist and educator, explains that to grow up, children must discover the core of strength within themselves. Rudolfo Anaya’s novel, Bless Me, Ultima, shows through the use of dreams, that every child must eventually grow up. Bless Me, Ultima is about a young boy named Antonio whose family has been visited by a healer named Ultima. With Ultima there, Antonio will learn more about his family and himself, and finds out secrets that he never knew. Anaya uses dreams to portray Antonio as he goes through the struggles of growing up, including losing his innocence, the issue of what his parents want for him, and questioning his religion.
Antonio slowly starts to realize that as children mature, they are forced to lose
His two older brothers, Eugene and León, go in, but Andrew does not. Antonio begs Andrew to not enter, and he responds, “I will make a deal with you little brother, I will wait and not enter until you lose your innocence” (71). For the first time in this novel, Antonio discovers that innocence does not last forever, unlike what he previously thought. His brother, Andrew, represents Antonio’s innocence. According to the dream, Andrew will only be able to enter the brothel when Antonio’s innocence has been forsaken. When Narciso goes after Andrew, he goes to look for him at Rosie’s house, with Antonio secretly following him. He finds Andrew there, and Antonio remembers one of his previous dreams that claim he will lose his innocence when Andrew goes into the house. Antonio states, “And I remembered my dream. Andrew had said that he would not enter the house of the naked women until I had lost my innocence” (165). This is when Antonio knows that the inevitable has happened, that he has lost his innocence. In his head he starts to list all of the things that he had witnessed that may have altered his views, without him even realizing it. While
He questions if there are others gods that people believe in that he has never known before. In his dream, Antonio has been asked to forgive the sins of those who have turned away. He refuses, claiming that he is not a priest yet. They insist that he does it; for he has the blood of a Luna. As he attempts to touch their foreheads, they turn into animals. When he looks up, the Trementina Sisters, local witches and daughters of Tenorio, are there. They use Antonio to make an unknown potion. When the potion is finished, the sisters drink it, and Antonio becomes cursed. He dies, and is upset, because he died without ever taking the Eucharist. While lying there, Antonio remarks, “A long, dark night came upon me in which I sought the face of God, but I could not find Him. Even the Virgin and my Saint Anthony would not look at my face” (175). Antonio fears that he will not go to Heaven because of the curse laid upon him. In the dream, after he has died, Antonio’s entire family is murdered. Antonio begins to wonder why God would just let such bad things happen to good people. Antonio continues to question if there are other gods and why Ultima’s powers were stronger than those of a priest. He is confused and does not know if God in which he believes is the most powerful. Antonio imagines his brothers talking to him during the night. They ask Antonio to help them, but he claims that he has no