Bless Me, Ultima is a fictional novel published in 1972 by Rudolfo Anaya. Some of the main themes involve 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. Other main characters are Ultima, Gabriel, Marez and Florence. The antagonist is Tenorio Trementina whose daughters and wife are believed to be witches. The story is set in the 1940s in their town or Antonio's home in New Mexico during World War II. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The story begins with Antonio remembering the time when Ultima, the healer, lived with him and his family. She talks about the day before Ultima moved in with them as she lies in bed and listens to her father discuss how she lives alone near them. Antonio's father is Gabriel who was a cowboy. Maria Luna is his mother who insisted on moving to the llano. The move affected Gabriel and he started drinking and spends a lot of time crying because his sons were away fighting in World War II. Antonio is happy that Ultima is going to live with them because he is grateful that she helped Maria after giving birth and thinks that it is wrong for her to live alone. As Antonio goes to bed, he dreams of a woman giving birth and realizes that he is the person giving birth. After he is born, his uncle comes in and says he wants Antonio to become a farmer in his placenta. While the cowboys want him to become a vaquero just 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 during his birth and that she wishes for him to become a priest. Later, Gabriel returns home with Ultima and as Antonio shakes her hand, he feels a power around him. Ultima has an owl hanging around their house and Antonio believes it is evil until he dreams of the owl and the Virgin of Guadalupe taking the children to heaven. Everyone is happy about Ultima moving and she starts helping with the housework and listens to Gabriel talk about wanting to move to California but she cries because her sons are fighting in World War II and she doesn't think her dream of moving will ever come true . One night, the owl is heard crying and Jason's father, Chavez, runs into the family home to say that his brother was killed by a man named Lupito who shot him in the head. Chavez asks for Gabriel's help to kill him and they leave to find 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 saying something about Japanese soldiers and disappears as he runs towards Antonio. They tell a cop named Vigil that they have to kill Lupito and everyone starts arguing. Gabriel's friend Narciso talks to Lupito to convince him to surrender and he shoots at the sky and the other men get scared thinking he is shooting at them, so they return fire and kill him. Antonio runs towards him and prays for Lupito's soul. When Antonio enters his house, Ultima helps him by giving him medicine and answers his questions about whether Lupito's soul will go to hell. He finally 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 the castle, they hear a voice calling Antonio's name and they say it is la Llorona or Lupito calling him. When Antonio yeswakes up, 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 everyone prepares to go to church, Ultima tells Maria how the night before had been a hard day for the men. Maria tells her that Antonio is not a man, and Ultima tells her that soon he will be. Gabriel tells them that everything he is going through will make him a man. Maria says she hopes he becomes a priest to avoid the corruption of life. Antonia asks Ultima how she can help her father if he killed Lupito and Ultima tells him she doesn't think he did. 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 has a dream about the Virgin Mary. In his dream, he promises his mother that his children will return home and Antonio will become a priest. After waking up, Antonio's uncle, Pedro Luna, arrives to take him and his family to the farms for the harvest. They visit Maria's father, Prudencio Luna, and stay at her brother Juan's house. 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 it reminds him of the evil spirits of el llano. Maria asks what Antonio's fate will be and Ultima replies "a man of culture". On the first day he learns to write his name but is bullied by the children because he does not speak English. The war ends and Maria cries tears of joy after learning that her children will return. Antonio dreams that his brothers ask for help because they are dying. When he wakes up, he sees his brothers walking towards their house. The three brothers suffer from trauma and spend most of their time sleeping and dating women. The three brothers hope to live their lives independently and do not listen to their father's desire 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. Leon and Eugene think that he will eventually enter her brothel. They both enter while Andrews waits because he doesn't want to lose his innocence. Ultima appears and tells him that it only happens in el llano surrounded by nature. Antonio wakes up to his siblings and parents screaming about wanting to live their own lives and the next day Leon and Eugene leave. Antonio stays and finds work in a market and when asked what he wants to become he says that the war made him grow up too fast. Gabriel becomes unhappy about his children's departure and Maria is sad that her brother has fallen ill. They believe the witch cursed him. Pedro Luna asks Ultima if she can help cure him and she accepts but warns them of the consequences. Pedro agrees to take responsibility and explains that Lucas was in a cottonwood forest when he saw Tenorio Trementina's daughters dancing and performing a satanic ritual. They saw Lucas and attacked him, but he made a cross and scared them but as they walked away they cursed him. As Ultima and Antonio are on their way to help Lucas, they see an omen that is believed to be a good omen for Lucas. When they arrive, they ask everyone to leave the room and ask to speak to Tenorio. When they enter his room, he is seen with a cruel look on his face. Ultima explains that she is there to cure her daughters' evil curse. Tenorio gets angry at Ultima for blaming his daughters and says he will kill her. Ultima tells him that her daughters mustface the consequences. As they walk away, Tenorio tries to hit them with his horse, but they move just in time to avoid him. When Ultima enters the room Lucas is in, she begins using a herbal remedy and prepares atole. He ultimately saves Lucas and calls Prudencio to tell him that his son is healed. One day, while Antonio is by the river, he hears Cico calling him. She asks if he thinks the golden carp is God and he replies that he believes in only one God because of his religion. Antonio promises Cico never to harm a carp. Antonio and Cico are both invited to play football 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. While Cico and Antonio run towards a pond, they find a golden carp. Cico says that the carp lives in the same place as the 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 sins committed by a person will sink the earth. Antonio tells him that it is unfair to men who do not sin and Cico tells him that every man sins. When Antonio returns home, he finds that Ultima already knows about the golden carp. One day, Narciso comes running into the Marez house and says that one of Tenorio's daughters has died and that Tenorio is telling everyone that he found some herbs under her. bed left there by Ultima. Narcissus warns Ultima that he will come to kill her. Tenorio arrives and Gabriel asks him to identify himself and why he is there. Above the door are cross-shaped needles and Narcissus explains that if Ultima can pass through the door, it means she is not a witch. Ultima's owl comes flying in and cuts out Tenorio's eye. Ultima manages to get through the door but Antonio was the only one who noticed that the needles were not pointed at the door but he doesn't know how they came off. The next day Pedro brings the family to help with the harvest and brings Gabriel along this time. As they drive, Antonio begins to wonder about the punishment of the golden carp and whether there is a God who forgives instead of punishing. While they reap, there is talk of the “Black Mass” that will be celebrated over Turpentine's dead daughter. Antonio dreams of the Black Mass but instead of his daughter Trementina in the coffin, he sees Ultima. When he wakes up, he sees Ultima at Turpentine'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 Samuele that he saw the golden carp and that the other boys won't understand why. for defending Ultima. Ernie tries to start a fight with Antonio by calling Ultima a witch and he defends her by arguing. While Antonio is returning home, he sees Tenorio arguing with two boys and before leaving he promises to kill Ultima after another of his daughters gets sick. Narciso and Antonio go to Rosie's house to ask about Andrew and this makes him wonder if Andrew has lost his innocence. Suddenly Antonio hears shots outside and sees Tenorio and Narciso arguing. Tenorio pointed the gun at Antonio but his gun doesn't fire. Antonio returns home and has a dream in which the virgin says that she will not forgive Narcissus after begging God and the virgin to forgive Andrew and Narcissus. He also sees Lupito and Narciso's blood in a river and they ask Antonio for forgiveness but as Antonio walks towards them, they suddenly transform into the Turpentine and cut Antonio's hair to mix it with the bat blood. Antonio also dies after Ultima's magic and becomes a new sun. Antonio has been suffering from pneumonia for a few days and the medical examiner declares that Narciso's death was accidental. Tenorio finds Antonio one day and tells him,.