ublished 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 child, (Anto

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myth and reality in ballad and song. Aztlan 21 no 1-2:227-62 '92 '96

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 !

Bless Me, Ultima thus can be said to capture in the form of romance critical and complex transition period in literary-cultural history of the South west: the simultaneous existence within Chicano communities of pre-Columbian myths, beliefs, legends and superstitions, and mid-twentieth century technological, literate mass media culture. (Saldivar, 108).

cedes to the father for the abolition of punishments for the sons. Then, we have the holy spirit, represented by Ultima and the owl. The pure women who has never sin, whose power and magic is the power of truth and good. When the holy ghost came to the apostles, they knew what to do. Words are never mention. In the same way, Ultima never told Antonio what to do. She would simply bless him and suddenly he would feel a power through him that would make him almost faint.

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.

Also, Antonio's friends are also different. It was shocking to Antonio that his friends were no longer dark skinned with dark eyes and hair. He mentions that some of them were tall with clear eyes and blond hair. Furthermore, it was even more shocking that those new light kids were speaking in Spanish. The fact is that he was no longer in the land of llano, land of his ancestors. He was no longer in a protective environment.

Di-Bella, J. (1989). Literatura de la Frontera. California: Binational Press.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2754
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)