Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya Anticipation Guide

Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya

Anticipation Guide • Use a scale 1 -4, where 4 = always and 1=never. • I believe in magic (things can happen which defy scientific explanation). • Someone can go away to war and come home unchanged. • Dreams contain special wisdom. • My father and my mother have different expectations for me. • The best kind of clergyman is not a deep thinker, but the kind of person with no doubts. • The presence of an owl is bad luck, or a sign of evil.

Setting • Guadalupe, NM • Begins during World War II (1944) • llano

Colorado New Mexico Texas Coachella Valley, CA on the other side of Arizona, to the west Old Mexico

Las Vegas, NM – it’s not Las Vegas, NV Guadalupe, NM It’s not a real town. But it would be in Guadalupe County, north of Puerto de Luna. Anaya grew up in Santa Rosa, NM. rio lunas = farmers llano vaqueros = cowboys/ horsemen

Setting • Introduction PPT

Characters • Tony (Antonio) – almost 7 at the beginning • father = Gabriel Màrez “The spirit of the horse was very close to the spirit of the man” (2). • mother = María • two slightly older sisters: Deborah, Theresa • three older brothers: León, Andrew (Andrés), Eugene (Eugenio) • grandmother = Ultima

Symbols • • The owl The river The golden carp The number 3

Motifs • • • Coming of age Loss of innocence Belief in La Llorona Belief in the Virgin Mary The “war sickness” Organized religion vs. mysticism • Europeans / Spaniards vs. Native Americans • Wondering if God exists • Unrealized dreams • Men drowning their sorrows in alcohol and other bad habits • Overprotective mothers • Belief in the occult (devilworship) / witchcraft • Modernization / losing the “old ways” (example: family harvest… ways of the vaqueros) More

Gabriel’s job He works on the highway. In the 1950 s, U. S. 66 became the main route to California from the East.

Today U. S. 66 is now Interstate 40. Santa Rosa, NM