Authors: Rudolfo Anaya
9. Your insight into the mind of the child is evident in your novels and children’s books. Is there a specific reason you are particularly drawn to the child as subject or object?
When I was a child, I thought as a child. As a writer I wanted to compose that world again. I think it’s that sense of loss and what we experienced as children that leads us to write about childhood. I also realize that reading is very important to people, especially young people. I want to hook them into reading.
10. What was your adolescence like?
Raised in the small town of Santa Rosa, New Mexico, on the Pecos River with the Chávez and Gonzáles friends nearby, it was an experience I wouldn’t trade. My family, and most people, were poor, but the setting was perfect for me. The extended family always visited. Playing along the river, attending school and church, experiencing small town incidents, the magic of the storytellers, all were material that later found its way into
Bless Me, Ultima.
Some say that I romanticized the hard times because my focus was on the magic in childhood. One cannot capture every aspect of a community in a novel, so one writes the themes one has to develop. Economic poverty was there, but the spirit of the people sustained us through the most difficult times.
11. What has the role of religion played in your life?
My mother was a very religious person, much like Antonio’s mother in the novel. I grew up completely imbued with the Catholic cosmology. Later I discovered there are many religions in the world, many spiritual paths. These paths are part of our inheritance as Nuevos Mexicanos. They stretch from Mesoamerica to the Indian Pueblos of the Río Grande, but the Catholic church in Mexico and in New Mexico had tried to wipe out the indigenous religions.
Bless Me, Ultima
begins to uncover the indigenous myths and teachings of the New World. Antonio is learning not only his Catholic Spanish heritage, but through Ultima he is discovering his Native American side. He must bring these divergent views together, i.e., create synthesis instead of opposition. That sense of discovery of a spiritual path has been my life’s work. Readers will find the theme in all of my books.
12. You have a special fondness for New Mexico. Why?
Economically, New Mexico ranks low, but we know the real treasure lies in the people, the landscape, and the history of its many communities. Here, people have struggled and survived for years, and they have not lost sight of the prize. We believe the region is a spiritual corridor; the earth nurtures us, and our deities can be invoked for the good of the community. Here, Native Americans have been saying prayers and keeping the world in balance for thousands of years. It’s difficult to make a living here, but beneath the daily struggle there exists a fulfilling spiritual sense. This is sacred space for us.
How many rite-of-passage novels can you name? How does
Bless Me, Ultima
fall into this category? How does it compare to Huck’s experiences in
Huckleberry Finn?
Bless Me, Ultima
has been compared to James Joyce’s
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
. How does the Catholic religion influence these novels? Do you have to be Catholic to understand the novel?
How does myth play a role in the novel? Anaya wrote the myth of the Golden Carp, which the young, innocent children in the novel believe as truth. How does he use elements of world mythology?
There are many symbols in the novel: the juniper tree, the bridge, the river, the sun and moon, the owl. The juniper tree may simply symbolize the renewal of life, but it can also be the tree of life. Do you have to understand the use of such symbols in world mythology to understand the novel?
Anaya uses numbers in a symbolic way. The number three appears in many ways. How does the use of numbers affect the story?
What does Antonio’s mother mean when she says her son will lose his innocence? Is this novel about loss of innocence?
What role do the characters that surround Antonio play in his development? Do the sun and moon, the llano and river, dreams, the Golden Carp, and La Llorona play a role?
Is the novel a romance, a fantasy, or a realistic portrayal?
What is the role of dreams in the novel? Why does Antonio seem to slip out of dreams and into reality? Is childhood full of dreams?
Does the time of the novel, the end of World War II, affect the story?
How is the owl connected to Ultima?
Will Antonio become a priest? Or will he become a writer?
Readers love the humor in the Christmas play. What is the function of the play? Why is it placed before the death of Narciso?
Anaya tests Antonio many ways. What is the most crucial test Antonio must pass?
When Ultima walks out the door the needles in the form of a cross fall to the ground. Why did the needles fall?
Folklore and myths are part of our inheritance as humans. They have conveyed human interpretations of life for thousands of years. Do they play a role in life today?
Antonio is the son of the Mares (sea) and the Luna (moon) families. How does Anaya use this mixture to from Antonio’s character? What are the tensions involved?
Do you think most 7-to 9-year-old children have the questions, insights, and conflicts you find in Antonio?
Are Antonio’s experiences in dealing with death harmful to him or do they make him a stronger character?
Are the strongest characters male or female?
The landscape is very important in the novel. Did it seem real to you? Can you describe your own landscape?
What sensory emotions are raised in the novel? For example, how do food and eating help create the ambience of the story?
What is the purpose of Antonio’s brothers in the novel?
What is magic? Does it interest you? Do you see elements of magic in your own life?
Antonio is free to roam and explore the river. Does this freedom benefit or hinder his ability to cope with life?
In shamanism certain animals guide or give power to the person. How is this possible?
The river has a “presence,” that is, it is animated by spirit. Is nature
alive?
How have you experienced this?
“One of the nation’s foremost literary artists.”
—
Denver Post
“Full of sensual dreams, superstitions, unexplained phenomena, and the dark night of Latin American theology.”
—
New York Times
“This extraordinary storyteller has always written unpretentiously but provocatively about identity. Every work is a fiesta, a ceremony preserving but reshaping old traditions that honor the power within the land and
la raza
, the people.”—
Los Angeles Times Book Review
“Rudolfo Anaya is the grand master of Chicano literature’s new wave.”
—
New York Daily News
“Anaya puts Chicano literature into the forefront.”
—
San Diego Union-Tribune
“A Chicano masterpiece.”
—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
“Remarkable… a unique American novel… a rich and powerful synthesis for some of life’s sharpest oppositions.”
—
America
“One of the great works of Chicano literature…. It doesn’t take very many pages before you realize you’ve encountered a classic…. Children will be enchanted… adults will recognize its depths of meaning, its haunting cultural lyricism. No reader can ask for anything more.”
—
The World & I
magazine (Washington, D.C.)
“This universal quest for a clarity of
corazon
, of heart, will touch every reader regardless of cultural background.”—
Boulder Sunday Chronicle
“The novelist most widely known and read in the Latino community.”
—
Newsweek
“One of the best writers in this country.”
—
El Paso Times
“Simply one of the great works of postwar North American literature, in any genre….
Bless Me, Ultima
is not only fiction at its finest; it’s a breathtaking distillation of the beauty and terror of life itself.”—
In These Times
“A reason to rejoice: the writing is beautiful, the story magical in this never-to-be-forgotten book.”
—
Tallahassee Democrat
“The novel has warmth and feeling.”
—
Library Journal
“An inspiration to thousands of readers…. Anaya’s novel vividly evokes the imposing Southwestern landscape that surrounds its hero, as well as the wide-open inner landscape of a boy just learning to understand life.”
—
Latino
“An unforgettable novel… a classic for its unique story, narrative technique, and structure.”
—
Chicano Perspectives in Literature
Contents“[Rudolfo Anaya] is an extraordinary man… and has written a series of extraordinary books.”
—
La Presna Centroamericana
(Miami, FL)
Critics Hail Rudolfo Anaya and Bless Me, Ultima!
Copyright © 1972, 1999 by Rudolfo Anaya
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ISBN 978-1-4555-2132-6