Bless Me Ultima Analysis

Of the many religions that exist in the world, Christianity is quite dynamic by the very nature of God. A devout Christian knows that He works in mysterious ways to make them a stronger individual. Usually, when God puts a person to the test, they are mature and they can handle it if their faith is strong. They don’t question God over what He does. But, what happens when the recipient of the test is a six year old boy? In Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima this is exactly what occurs. Antonio’s faith is put to the test in several powerful occasions, but it is when death strikes Antonio’s world that he really questions God as an omnipotent and benevolent being. The deaths of the war veteran Lupito, his family friend Narciso, and his own close …show more content…
Narciso is a friend of Ultima and Antonio’s family. During a winter storm, he gets into a fight with the antagonist of the novel, Tenorio, the greatest harbinger of conflict. Tenorio Trementina is the father of the witches who placed a curse on Antonio’s uncle Lucas and purely hates Ultima for making the curse backfire on his daughters. Tenorio threatens to hurt Ultima and Narciso heads into the storm to warn her. The storm symbolizes Tenorio’s virtually unstoppable evil. His evil corrupts all it blankets including the llano, the townspeople, Narciso, Ultima, and of course, Antonio. In the case of Narciso’s death, God allows the embodiment of evil in the novel take the life of pure goodness. Narciso is weakened by the evil and ultimately is killed. “‘Then pray for me,’ he said weakly and closed his eyes, ‘you are pure of heart’” (170). This is Narciso’s last wish and once again, Antonio is thrust into the role of a priest. He listens to Narciso’s confession and hopes that God absolves him of his sins. Although Antonio is pure of heart, Tenorio’s evil begins to corrupt Antonio’s innocence. Why does God allow good people to die and let evil people go unpunished? This is the harshest point of religious ambivalence that Antonio fosters so far. And he has a right to question God on this end. How can a child be expected to …show more content…
Florence, a good friend of Antonio, lost both of his parents and his sisters became prostitutes. As a child, this is too much a burden for him to bear and he comes to the realization that God can fail. He failed Florence and for this, he outright rejects the idea of religion. Antonio begins to think that maybe Florence needs a forgiving god to worship and he believes this is the Golden Carp. The Golden Carp is a legend some children of the llano believe in and the story goes that an ancient god turned himself into a fish to have the sinners of the land forgiven. “I could almost hear him say as he peered into the waters ‘At last, a god who does not punish, a god who can bring beauty into my life’” (238). The fact that Antonio utters these words as words Florence would say shows that he has given up on trying to get him to believe in God. This can show a form of religious ambivalence that was developed after witnessing the deaths of Lupito and Narciso. Florence is never able to learn the beauty of the god that is the Golden Carp as he drowns while swimming in a lake he wasn’t supposed to be in. Florence drowns an atheist and Antonio for a third time recites the final Act of Contrition to try and absolve Florence’s sin of not believing, knowing that it would have no change in outcome. The fact that Antonio knows that praying

Show More