"Bless Me, Ultima" January 3, 2011

Well, it seems to be a general consensus that the ending of Bless Me, Ultima was not well liked by our class. For me personally, the ending did nothing to sum up the amazing story of Antonio. It was much too abrupt and gave us absolutely no insight onto Antonio's future. While my most favorite books all end happily, all of the books I seem to love the most have an actual ending or a specific insight into what the characters future will be. Anaya seemed to be unable to come to terms with the ending of the book as the only way we found out what a characters future would be if they died. Unfortunately, Lupito, Narciso, Florence, and Ultima all passed away in the novel. It was so sad to see those characters die because they were all good who had done no harm. I did not expect Florence's death at all. I predicted that he would develop a strong relationship with the golden carp but I never expected him to die in the process. Anaya's use of pathos when describing Florence's death was very descriptive and effective. He was just a young boy who let his curiosity win. Although it was predicted and I could see it coming, Ultima's death was upsetting. One of the worst parts of her death was the struggles Antonio went through to try to save her. He was so young and innocent and had already witnessed more deaths than one should in a lifetime. When Antonio saw Ultima's owl being waved around by Terenio, his hopes were crushed. He lost all faith in himself and God. I think that Ultima was Antonio's last hope in understanding the work of God as his confession and communion did not teach him anything. One of my favorite lines in the book was "I bless you in the name of all that is good and strong and beautiful, Antonio. Always have the strength to live. Love life, and if despair enters your heart, look for me in the evenings when the wind is gentle and the owls sing in the hills. I shall be with you--" (Anaya 261). Ultima had come to terms with her death and knew that the only thing she could do to help was to comfort Antonio. 

I wish that Anaya had given her readers a clearer view of Antonio's future. She left us at a bit of a cliff hanger, almost the type of ending that a book would have a sequel to. Anaya had many loose ends to tie up, especially with Antonio, his family and friends, Terenio, and his religious beliefs. If there was a sequel or a second part to the book that was about Antonio's future, this would have been the perfect ending. But, Anaya ended at Ultima's death to let us write our own endings. Overall, I enjoyed reading Bless Me, Ultima. I wish the ending had been a little more clear and specific as to how Antonio ended up but other than that I recommend this book to anyone looking for a quick read!