Bless Me, Ultima

My favorite text this semester was Bless Me, Ultima. Bless Me, Ultima was an amazing book for so many reasons and I enjoyed reading about Tony and all his experiences that made him grow up and see the world in a different way. A big influence in Tony's life that helped him to mature and learn new things was Ultima. I loved this book so much because Tony, like all of us, had to go through different experiences in his life, sometimes difficult, in order to grow up and become a man. Some of these experiences are when he learns about the golden carp form Cico, and when he sees his friend Narciso get murdered.

When Tony learns about the golden carp, he thinks that what Cico has to say about it was unbelievable, but at the same time made a wild kind of sense. Cico told him that the golden carp warned us that if the city did not stop sinning, then it would be flooded. After this experience, Tony asks Ultima if the legend of the golden carp is real or not. I love Ultima's response when she says, "As you grow into manhood you must find your own truths" (125). I loved her response because so much of growing up is figuring things out on our own and making our own best judgment. Ultima could have easily told Tony what she though about the golden carp, but then that would have stopped Tony from thinking on his own about what he really felt about the golden carp. Ultima was trying to help him to be independent and to think for himself. If someone always is telling us what is right and what is not, then we will never learn.

Another experience that made Tony grow up was when he saw his friend Narciso get murdered by Tenorio. When he sees his friend get murdered and also when he saw Lupito get murdered, Tony has the burning question, why does God allow evil to exist? I like these experiences he has because it is really interesting to see the spiritual transformation that he has throughout the book. We all most go through difficult experiences in our lives that might make us question things, but it's through these experiences that we truly find ourselves and start to form our own ideas and opinions.

Bless Me, Ultima was an amazing book that really got me thinking about my own life and the reasons why I believe in and stand up for certain things.