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Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya: Summary

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Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya: Summary
ANTONIO –
Antonio is a young boy who is conflicted about his fate and current beliefs. He is the youngest son of mother who is a Luna and his father who is a Marez. His mom’s side of the family are farmers and once upon a time they had a priest in the family, on the other hand his dad’s side of the family are cowboys wild and free on the open llano. He wants to make both of his parents happy, but also learn from other experiences that make it difficult for him to agree with their wants. He works with Ultima helping her collect herbs and healing his uncle.
A significant action performed by Antonio is when stands up for Florence during the mock confession. When Florence says that he has never sinned and the other boys start to beat him up, Antonio sees that Florence truly believes he has never sinned and he tells him that he is forgiven and he gets no penance.
Antonio forgives Florence and gives him no penance during the mock confession because Antonio sees the truth in Florence’s eyes.
“I tried to pull their hands away from him to relieve the pain I saw in his face, but the trapping of the priest’s costume entangled me and so I could do very little.” (212)
Antonio is inquisitive, because he questions everything around him. He questions his God, he questions his beliefs, he questions punishment, he questions the powers of the church, and he questions Ultima’s powers. He wants answers to all his questions, but honestly some of his questions just can’t be answered.
At the beginning of Bless Me Ultima all Antonio wants to do is please his parents, but as time goes on and he witnesses things such as death and Ultima’s magic he sees that it isn’t that simple. He’s now conflicted between all of the possibilities of the world that he did not know about before. He goes from a young naïve boy to a boy who maybe knows too much.

ULTIMA -
Ultima is a healer who came to live with Antonio’s family for the last part of her life. Some people believe she is a witch

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