Bless Me, Ultima ended up being better than I expected. Normally, I am not much of a reader. I read kind of slow and struggle to find books that I am interested in or even finding the time to look into them. However, this book ended up being a book I wanted to finish. I wanted to know what was going to happen next. I wanted to keep reading.
The story was very interesting. The struggle Antonio had throughout the book seemed to be that of many people. He was trying to figure out who he was and what he wanted to be, a very common struggle, especially during college years. Antonio was introduced to two very different choices early in his life. His mother was a Luna. She was very religious and wanted Antonio to become a priest. His father was a Márez. He didn't seem to have much faith and wanted Antonio to follow in the footsteps of his brothers: fight in the war. Antonio was torn between the two. Then, he began to grow closer with Ultima. Ultima seemed to be a caregiver to the family but she had something special: she had healing power. Antonio then sees this third option of learning the ways of Ultima. Throughout the book, his parents seem to be pushing him in their direction while he remains in learning the ways of Ultima. I find this very interesting. I can see some mirrors in this situation. Parents raise their kids and sometimes hope their child will grow to be in a certain profession. My dad is an engineer. My mom has an engineering degree but is a stay at home mom. My parents wanted me to pursue something with math, possibly engineering, because I love math. However, there is something nice about being able to choose your own life. I chose a different route entirely: something I didn’t hear from my parents but from family friends. It sometimes seems more exciting or captivating to choose something my parents didn’t suggest.
Another thing that struck me was the knowledge Ultima seemed to have. Towards the beginning of the book, Ultima is called upon to save Lucas. The family is desperate to keep him alive, no matter the cost or result. Ultima almost seems to hint at a result her healing could have. Before she agrees to heal Lucas, she asks them if they are willing to accept the results of healing him. She does mention that it may change some things in the future. They agree to accept the results and so she proceeds with the healing process. This healing process seems to have an impact on the three witch sisters. They begin to die. This causes Tenorio to develop a deep hatred for Ultima and a desire to seek revenge. In the end, this is what kills Ultima. This makes me wonder, if they wouldn’t have agreed to the consequences, or if she wouldn’t have healed Lucas for some other reason, would Tenorio have found a reason to hate Ultima? Would Tenorio’s three daughters still have gotten sick and passed away? This was something I found very curious: it seemed as though she knew what could happen and that it may put her life in danger. Yet, she agreed to help and fulfilled her journey here on earth.
The book was very interesting and had many aspects that would be interesting to discuss. However, to keep this post at a reasonable length, I will keep it at these two things.
I appreciate how you touch on the idea of following your parents footsteps. While I too identified with Antonio’s journey, one of the aspects I didn’t really extrapolate was the pressure to follow in your parents footsteps. I feel very lucky in that my parents believe it is important to make your own decisions; granted, they certainly don’t stay out of the way and let me choose whatever I want, but they make sure that I know that no matter what decision I arrive at they will be supportive.
ReplyDeleteLike you said, I think this is huge for college students: a lot of my friends have struggled with parental expectations of going to college to get your degree for a specific job, instead of just studying what you enjoy and letting the rest follow. In many ways, it appears as if Antonio chooses the latter, “studying” what he wants to and allowing that to shape his life how it will.
Krista, it's great that your parents have encouraged you to find your own career path without laying expectations on you that are too heavy. You do a good job of describing all of the expectations that weigh on Antonio.
ReplyDeleteYou make a crucial point about Ultima's healing work in the novel. As long as she is offering a special tea for sleep, or helping someone recover from a minor ailment, everything seems fine--but when she is asked to counter evil, and to restore the life of someone who has been subject to witchcraft, she knows she must pay a price because she will change the balance of things in the universe. Thus we see that Ultima has human limits, too--and it shows her wisdom that she acknowledges this.