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“Her eyes swept the surrounding hills,” Antonio, the novel’s narrator, says of his first meeting with Ultima, “and through them I saw for the first time the wild beauty of our hills and the magic of the green river.” With Bless Me, Ultima (1972), Rudolfo Anaya achieves a similar effect on the reader through his portrayal of New Mexico’s beauty and the magic of growing up and forging an identity at the intersection of two cultures.
Set near the end of World War II, the story is told by the adult Antonio (Tony) and spans his sixth year to his eighth in the small, fictional town of Guadalupe. In that brief time, Tony grapples with difficult yet beautiful truths about his heritage(s). His patronymic is Márez, which translates to son of the sea, while the name he takes from his mother is Luna. Tony’s father, Gabriel, comes from the vaquero tradition, which is rough, roaming, and wild, like the ocean. His mother Maria’s family history is just the opposite: tranquil, fixed, and forgiving, like the moon. The youngest son of the union of these two traditions, Tony will have to choose to either follow in his father’s footsteps and work in the vineyards of California or please his mother by settling down and becoming a Catholic priest. This conflict drives the narrative, and its potential reconciliation is embodied in the character of Ultima, a patient and wise curandera.
