Bless Me, Ultima is a fiction novel published in 1972 by Rudolfo Anaya. Some of the main themes concern culture, the supernatural, religion and growing up. The protagonist is a six-year-old boy born in New Mexico named Antonio Marez. He is always ready to learn new things and faces difficult situations in life as he grows up. The other main characters are Ultima, Gabriel, Marez and Florence. The antagonist is Tenorio Trementina whose daughters and wife are said to be witches. The story takes place in the 1940s, in their town or in Antonio's home in New Mexico during World War II. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The story begins with Antonio recalling the time when Ultima, the healer, lived with him and his family. He talks about the day before Ultima moved in as he lies in bed and listens to his father discussing the fact that she lives alone near them. Antonio's father is called Gabriel, he was a cowboy. Maria Luna was his mother who insisted on moving to Llano. The move affected Gabriel and he started drinking and spent a lot of time crying because his sons left to fight in World War II. Antonio is happy that Ultima is moving in with them as he is grateful that she helped Maria after the birth and thinks it is not right for her to live alone. As Antonio goes to bed, he dreams of a woman giving birth and realizes that it is him she is giving birth to. After he is born, his uncle arrives and says he wants Antonio to become a farmer after he is born. While the cowboys want him to become a vaquero like them. Ultima tells them that only she will know what happens to the baby. The next morning, Antonio goes to school but is afraid of leaving his mother. His mother tells him that Ultima was there when he was born and that she wants him to become a priest. Later, Gabriel comes home with Ultima and as Antonio shakes his hand, he feels a power around him. Ultima has an owl hanging around their house and Antonio thinks it's evil until he dreams of the owl and the Virgin of Guadalupe carrying children to heaven. Everyone is happy that Ultima is moving in and she starts helping with household chores and listens to Gabriel talk about wanting to move to California, but cries because her sons are away fighting in World War II and doesn't think her dream of moving will come true one day. One night the owl is heard crying and Jason's father, Chavez, rushes to the family home to say that his brother was killed by a man named Lupito who shot him in the head. Chavez asks Gabriel for help in killing him and they go looking for Lupito and Antonio follows them before Maria can lock the children inside. Antonio hides and sees Lupito with a gun near the river. Gabriel and Chavez find him, and Lupito starts talking about the Japanese soldiers and disappears running towards Antonio. They tell a police officer named Vigil that they have to kill Lupito and they all start arguing. Gabriel's friend, Narciso talks to Lupito to convince him to surrender and he shoots towards the sky and the other men get scared thinking that he is shooting towards them, so they shoot back and kill him. Antonio runs to him and prays for Lupito's soul. As Antonio enters his house, Ultima helps him by giving him medicine and answers his questions about whether Lupito's soul will go to hell. Eventually he falls asleep and dreams of his brothers coming together to build a castle in the hills for Gabriel. As they cross the river to build thecastle, they hear a voice shouting Antonio's name and say that it is Llorona or Lupito who is calling him. When Antonio wakes up, he notices that Ultima's potions have healed him. He begins to wonder what happened to Lupito's soul and hopes that God will forgive him for his sin and wonders if his father also shot Lupito. As they all prepare to go to church, Ultima tells Maria how the day before was a difficult day for men. Maria tells her that Antonio is not a man, and Ultima tells her that he will be soon. Gabriel tells them that everything he goes through will make him a man. Maria says she hopes he becomes a priest to avoid the corruption of life. Antonia asks Ultima how he can help her father if he killed Lupito and Ultima tells her that she doesn't think he did it. As they pass a mansion, Maria makes them bow to a woman, but Antonio realizes that it belongs to an evil woman named Rosie. One night, Antonio dreams of the Virgin Mary. In her dream, she promises her mother that her sons will come home and that Antonio will become a priest. After he wakes up, Antonio's uncle Pedro Luna arrives to take him and his family to the farms to harvest. They visit Maria's father, Prudencio Luna, and stay with her brother Juan. Antonio overhears Maria and Juan talking about wanting him to live a life like the Luna family and stay in El Puerto. It's Antonio's first day back at school and before he leaves, his mother asks Ultima to bless him. As she blesses him, he feels a breeze and remembers the evil spirits of El Llano. Maria asks what Antonio's fate is and Ultima replies "a man of knowledge". On his first day, he learns to write his name but is bullied by children because he doesn't speak English. The war ends and Maria cries with joy after learning that her sons will return. Antonio dreams that his brothers are asking for help because they are dying. When he wakes up, he sees his brothers walking towards their house. All three brothers suffer from trauma and spend most of their time sleeping around and dating women. The three brothers hope to live their lives independently and do not listen to their father's wish to move to California. Antonio has another dream in which his brothers tell him to go to Rosie's brothel and he tells them he can't because he is trying to become a priest. Léon and Eugène think that he will end up entering his brothel. They both go in while Andrews waits because he doesn't want to lose his innocence. Ultima appears and tells him that this only happens in El Llano, in the wilderness. Antonio wakes up to his brothers and parents screaming that they want to live their own lives and the next day, Léon and Eugene leave. Antonio stays and finds a job in a market and when asked what he wants to become, he replies that the war made him grow up too quickly. Gabriel is unhappy that his sons are leaving and Maria is sad that her brother is getting sick. They believe the witch cursed him. Pedro Luna asks Ultima if she can help heal him and she agrees but warns them of the consequences. Pedro accepts responsibility and explains that Lucas was in a poplar forest when he saw the daughters of Tenorio Trementina dancing and performing a satanic ritual. They saw Lucas and attacked him, but he gave up and scared them away but as they were walking away, they cursed him. As Ultima and Antonio are on their way to help Lucas, they see an omen that would be good luck for Lucas. When they arrive, they ask everyone to leave the room and ask to speak to Tenorio. As they enter his room, he is seen with a cruel look on his face. Ultima explains that she is here tocure the curse of his daughters. Tenorio gets angry at Ultima for blaming his daughters and says he will kill her. Ultima tells him that his daughters must face the consequences. As they leave, Tenorio attempts to hit them with his horse, but they move just in time to avoid him. As Ultima enters the room Lucas is in, she begins using an herbal remedy and makes atole. She ends up saving Lucas and calls Prudencio to tell him that her son is cured. One day, while Antonio is by the river, he hears Cico calling him. He asks if he thinks the golden carp is God and he replies that he only believes in one God because of his religion. Antonio promises Cico never to hurt a carp. Antoine and Cico are both invited to play ball and their friend Ernie tells them that a witch lives in Antonio's house. Antonio is asked to do a magic trick and suddenly vomits carrot juice which scares his friends. As Cico and Antonio run to a pond, they find a golden carp. Cico says that the carp lives in the same place as a mermaid and warns him never to go there because the mermaids would kill him. Cico tells Antonio that the golden carp predicts that the amount of sin committed by one person will cause the earth to sink. Antonio tells him that it is unfair to men who do not sin and Cico tells him that everyone sins. When Antonio returns home, he discovers that Ultima already knows about the golden carp. One day, Narciso comes running to the Marezes and tells them that one of Tenorio's daughters is dead and Tenorio tells everyone that he found herbs under her. bed left there by Ultima. Narciso warns Ultima that he is coming to kill her. Tenorio arrives and Gabriel asks him to identify himself and why he is there. Cross-shaped needles are above the door and Narciso explains that if Ultima can pass through the door, it means she is not a witch. Ultima's owl arrives and cuts out Tenorio's eye. Ultima is able to get through the door but Antonio was the only one to notice that the needles weren't pinned to the door but he doesn't know how they came off. The next day, Pedro takes the family to help with the harvest and brings Gabriel. throughout this period. As they drive, Antonio begins to wonder about the punishment of the golden carp and if there is a God who forgives instead of punishing. While they harvest, they talk about the "Black Mass" that will be celebrated over Trementina's dead daughter. Antonio dreams of the black mass but instead of the girl Trementina being in the coffin, he sees Ultima. When he wakes up, he sees Ultima at Trementina's funeral. When Tenorio and his daughters try to enter the church, the priest blocks them and the burial must take place on unholy ground. When Antonio returns to school, he tells Samuel that he saw the golden carp and that the other children will not understand the reason. for defending Ultima. Ernie tries to start a fight with Antonio by calling Ultima a witch and he defends her by fighting. As Antonio returns home he sees Tenorio fighting two guys and before leaving he promises to kill Ultima after another one of his daughters gets sick. Narciso and Antonio go to Rosie's house to ask for Andrew and this makes her wonder if Andrew has lost his innocence. Suddenly, Antonio hears gunshots outside and sees Tenorio and Narciso fighting. Tenorio pointed his gun at Antonio but his gun did not fire. Antonio returns home and has a dream in which the Virgin says she will not forgive Narciso after begging God and the Virgin to forgive Andrew and Narciso. He also sees Lupito and Narciso's blood in a river and they ask Antonio to forgive them but while Antonio,.