The Gods of New Mexico: Analysis of Rudolfo Anaya's Bless Me, Ultima

The Gods of New Mexico: Bless Me, Ultima “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference” (Reinhold Niebuhr). In the novel Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya, a young boy name Antonio Marez has faith to go through his childhood life to perceive in learning new aspects and independence in Catholicism in which he goes in the real world in order to create and establish new ideas and acknowledge himself into adulthood. Through the use of religious symbolism that connects to different cultural beliefs, the author, Rudolfo Anaya seeks to explain how New Mexico’s cultures can combine with each other to create a new culture with combined religious beliefs using knowledge. Antonio discovers more about the Lunas and how it relates to him and the world he is living in while also appreciating the Virgin of Guadalupe and the religious beliefs he has for the Catholic Church. Not only that, but also becoming a true believer and having struggles going through understanding religion as the golden carp appears. Anaya does this in order to compare and contrast New Mexico with Antonio’s rite of passage into adulthood and with the growth of others during World War II. The golden carp and the Virgin of Guadalupe are two different cultures, while the moon is the one that explain who Antonio really is. The Spanish word for Luna is the moon, which is representing The Virgin Guadalupe and the Virgin Mary in the Catholicism religion. In this novel, the moon shows up frequently expressing wisdom and how it relates to Antonio and the land he is living on. Not only that but also how it relates to the Luna of his family. For example, Antonio goes to his uncle’s house and hears stories about the power of the moon because “…the moon ruled… almost every part of their lives.” This is the reason why they are called the Lunas. At night, the moon would fill “the valley with her soft light… listening to