Cantu, published in The Identification and Analysis of Chicano Literature.

The main characters of the novel are Antonio, his father, mother, two sisters, three brothers, Tenorio and his three daughters, and Ultima. The argument presents how a chil

Jimenez, F. (1979). The Identification and Analysis of Chicano Literature.

Frost, E. (1972). Las Categorias de la Cultura Mexicana. Mexico: Universidad

"language, religion and family" (Jimenez 378). While talking about the language sued in Bless me Ultima, Cantu mentions the use of Spanish words, the different fluctuations of the language, the poetic tone, the energy and narrative tone of the writer, and probably every single aspect of the text that he thought pertinent. A lot of text was left not translated because the author felt tat he could express him self better in his own language that there was no substituted for it in English.

Each person on the novel plays and important part on Antonio's life and struggle to find the true meaning of life and himself. Moreover, the most important person in Antonio during these years, and probably for the future is La Grande. Ultima represents the old, the tradition. The contact that they have with each other is more on the spiritual level: the old and the new creating a new form of relationship. Antonio does not look for this bondage with Ultima. It is Ultima who lets Antonio get close to her, and therefore, meaning that she, the old and traditional, gives permission to the new to bond with her. This is to live and learn from the past to better adapt it to the future.

As I mention before, Bless Me Ultima presents the struggle between two different life styles and cultures. On one hand, we have the Mexican traditional life style: Antonio's father was a man of the llano, a vaquero; his mother is from a family of three farmers. On the other hand, we find a very strong influence of American individualism. We see this influence in Antonio's three brothers: after they returned from W.W.II, their parents are hoping that they would become part of their family again, but the three brothers decide to have a life of their own: not as farmers, not as vaqueros, not as highway workers, not even in the same town, but an independent life in the states. Only one of them decides to stay, but not for long. Due to these series of facts, Antonio lives a struggle in his mind. Should he become a farmer or a priest as his mother wanted? Should he decide his own future no matter what the consequences are? Talking about his families Antonio says: "I !

Moreover, not only his faith is the question but also his background. His mother is a Luna, family of farmers. His father is a Marez, family of the Llano, wanderers and vaqueros who come from the conquistadors, men of the sea. Antonio's inner conflict represents yet another parallelism. The sea and the moon are interconnected. The sea is a brave and powerful element, yet, the moon moves it every day. In other words, the sea is controlled by the attraction of the moon who moves it back and forth. In the same way, we may say that Antonio's passion, blood, or impulse are like the sea, but his thoughts, his common sense comes from his mother's part of the family, from the Lunas. In other words, where he comes from, what he is, and how he is supposed to behave is the conflict that it is going on inside him.

At he same time, Antonio is going to school across the bridge, to an American school. This is one of the most important aspects of his cultural development as well as our main point in identifying a border culture. There is a two level explanation for this chapter: first, we have to remember that Antonio's father Gabriel was a man of the llano, a vaquero who thought that freedom is the most important thing in anyone's life. Gabriel blames the Texans, (Americans), over and over again for putting fences across his llano, across his freedom. Gabriel never gets accustomed to the life in the city. Furthermore, he drinks more and more, and looks forward to the visitors of the llano who come to his house once in a while to remember old stories. His Mexican culture is too strong. There will be no

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2755
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)