ANAYA'S PURPOSE
Anaya's education at the University of New Mexico caused him to question
his beliefs with regard to religion and spirituality. He himself
explained the role his religious questioning had in shaping his
aspirations as an author:
I lost faith in my God, and if there was no God there was no meaning,
no secure road to salvation. . . . The depth of loss one feels is
linked to one's salvation. That may be why I write. It is easier to
ascribe those times and their bittersweet emotions to my characters.
FAITH
Thus comes the theme of faith (of all degrees) in Bless Me, Ultima.
Antonio is exposed to several different belief structures,
most of them conflicting and some of them mutually-exclusive. Many
testify that the key to committing oneself to a religion is to
suspend disbelief and to take a "leap of faith", but for Antonio,
the direction of the "right leap" is hard to discern. The characters
provide comfort to readers who are experiencing similar dilemnas,
and indeed the question of faith is also an expression of Anaya's
ponderings at the University of New Mexico.
THE "BLESSING"
Though this could also be meaningful under the "symbols" category,
the title of the book offers a good clue as to a theme. Critics have
suggested that the "blessing" part of Bless Me, Ultima is a
direction, a destiny, a unique and personal philosophy for which
Antonio is searching, and which he hopes Ultima will help him find.
As it turns out, Ultima does not reveal the truth to Antonio in the
sudden, direct act of a prayer or blessing; instead she exposes him
to various aspects of nature and leaves him with a deeper
understanding of the world. In other words, the title suggests a
theme that one's direction in life won't come easily-- this "blessing
" will only come to those who persist, strive, and wait for the truth.
DEDICATIONS
Other clues as to Anaya's themes could be found within the dedications of
some of his other books. The following insciptions from Zia Summer and
Jalamanta, respectively, expose more of that which Anaya is trying to
communicate:
Dedicated to the old people who walk on the Path of the Sun and who
remind us that clarity of the soul is possible, even in these violent
times...
A TRILOGY
It must be noted that Bless Me, Ultima is only the first of a 3-book series,
the other two being Heart of Aztlan and Tortuga. Thus, to fully understand
any themes that might have their foundations in the novel we're discussing,
one would have to explore how they're developed in the latter parts of the
series.
MORE FROM ANAYA
The best way to understand what the author is presenting is to hear it from
him; here are two additional quotations directly addressing the issues dealt
with in the book:
If we as Chicanos do have a distictive perspective on life, I believe
that perspective will be defined when we challenge the very basic
questions which mankind has always asked itself: What is my
relationship to the universe, the cosmos? Who am I and why am I here?
If there is a Godhead, what is its nature and function? What is the
nature of mankind?
For some time I have been seeking those simple secrets that hint at the deeper spiritual and humanistic relationship the pre-Columbian societies had with the Earth and with the deities of their cosmos. The ceremonies still exist, changed as they are by the passage of time and the onslaught of other cultures that have come to call the Americas their home. For those of us who listen to the Earth, and to the old legends and the myths of the people, the whispers of the blood draw us to our past. But often the secrets are locked away in symbols we can no longer read, in legends we no longer understand, in paintings and in ancient writings that puzzle us. There is a door which we can enter, and in passing through the door illumination fills us and we see the truth hidden in those symbols and secrets and stories of the past. This is what the pilgrim seeks: a key to turn, a door to enter, a new way to see his role in the universe.
JUNGIAN MYTHIC PERSPECTIVE
The second quotation expresses the part of Anaya's philosophy that bears
closest semblence to the Jungian mythic perspective, named after
psychologist Carl Jung. His "Theory of Symbols" holds that there are two
levels of consciousness, the personal and the collective. While the personal
psyche concerns itself with lifetime experiences and memories, the
collective mind is an inherited structure that is common to all humankind
and asserts qualities and responses that are distinctly human. It is because
of this, Jung proposes, that dissimilar cultures, existing at different
times and places, emerge with religious and mythological symbols bearing
incredible likeness to one another. Jung also postulates that the inner-most
layers of the mind function independently of the laws of physics and
causality, thus giving rise to phenomena such as clairvoyance and
precognition.
Anaya's writing shows other traits of a Jungian philosophy. The dreams, for example, present a visionary mode of perception, where confusion, chaos, and conflicts leave the reader with a sense of fear and mystery about life and the cosmos. While one could argue that this is just a metaphorical representation of Antonio's mindset, others have proposed that, with the mythical archetypes employed in the dream sequences, Anaya is tapping the deep structures of the collective mind in tying together the realms of the individual and the cosmic.
In addition, a reading of the novel gives a strong sense of history, as if the world of the past were buried in Antonio's present. The conflict of the blood lines (Luna and Marez) recreates the tensions that must have mounted when Hispanic settlements first established themselves in New Mexico; Bless Me, Ultima has a time-spanning effect that links the past with the present in accordance with the Jungian outlook. While this might help to explain the inherant cultural tone of the novel, it also transcends culture in that all peoples share the same basic psyche.
NATURE
The legitimacy of a "natural view" of reality is another theme of the novel.
Evil plays a strong and threatening role in the lives of the characters;
life is a sort of "cosmic drama," played out through individuals but with
supernatural forces at work on the side. It is this perspective that Anaya
presents as the best outlook on the world: that people are the puppets, but
great forces sometimes tangle with their strings. It is indeed this
perspective that slowly draws Antonio away from the Christian religion, and
towards a more incorporating (and more complex) view of the world.
ULTIMA
Ultima can almost be considered a theme in herself in Bless Me, Ultima, as
her outlook is so essential to the novel's meaning. She represents a fusion
of body, mind, and spirit that walks a fine line between the human and
non-human worlds. She doesn't analyze, control, or change natural reality as
a scientist might wish to do, but she can undergo maneuvers (however strange
they may be) to participate fully in the drama-- she can make her body an
instrument of the higher forces at work. There is always something
unexplained about Ultima; the fact that she comes and goes with a certain
air of mystery presents the resolution that one will never know the full
extent of life's secret.
CONCLUSION
It is the combination of these themes that distinguishes Bless Me, Ultima as
a great inquiry into human spirituality and man's place in the universe.
Though no one specific religion is openly endorsed, the power of nature in
shaping the present and the power of the collective mind in preserving the
past are heavily emphasized through the persona of Ultima. Bless Me, Ultima
was a best-seller not only for its frank addressing of deep spiritual issues,
but for its elegant prose and unique tone; the novel owes much of its
widespread appeal to the power of its multi-faceted themes.