Bless Me, Ultima

The image is of the Virgin of Guadalupe or Christianity's mother Mary, framed by two moons and a crown of thorns. It represents the beauty of the protagonist's search for faith and religious sanctity in his surroundings including his mother's unwavering faith in the church, his grandmother-figure's wisdom in the ways of the earth, and the terribly awesome power of mother nature. Placed in the lower left corner of the image is the main character, Antonio Marez, blending in with the color that binds the image and makes it whole. He is but a young boy searching for religious peace when the story begins and continues through his experiences with his surroundings and heritage. The explanations he seeks to remedy his pious, humble confusion are brought to him in dreams; his subconscious attempts to make sense of the beliefs surrounding him by conveying "The waters are one...You have been seeing only parts , she [the Virgin of Guadalupe] finished, and not looking beyond into the great cycle that binds us all" (Anaya 121). Antonio was at a loss to connect the beliefs and faiths that he was absorbing through his childhood. His mother believed in salvation through the church, his father through the blood of his ancestors within the river, his friends, a "Pagan" carp that created life, and his grand-mother figure Ultima, an herbal healer of sorts. The dream tells him that these beliefs are true, none of them are right, wrong, or superior to one another. This forces Antonio to pick his own independent path of religious faith without any influence, allowing him to finally grow into himself and become a man by his own standards and not society's, which seem so lost. It is the only way Antonio can find internal peace and not be "lost to the sin's of his people."