Rudolfo A. Anaya's Bless Me, Ultima

As children grow older, their minds are filled with many questions. A large portion of these questions are difficult, complicated, and often times unanswerable.
Children are left to struggle with them throughout life. They look for answers to these questions anywhere possible, and often they turn to the guidance that adults provide.
Adults can provide a foundation from which children can grow, but they can provide only a certain amount of advice to help children deal with life’s basic issues; the rest is left for the child to find for themself. Such is the case in the final chapter of Bless Me, Ultima, a novel by Rudolfo Anaya. In this chapter Tony, the main character, recieves important insight and very wise advice from his elders. The story shadows Tony as he seeks understanding to his many questions, we follow his spiritual awakening, and follow his search for identity throughout his childhood. Already he has learned much. He has started school, been initiated into the Catholic church through catechism, and has learned much about many of the local native beliefs. But he has also learned of death, hatred, curses, cures, and most importantly he has learned of the supernatural forces behind it all.
As children grow, they must develop strength, both a physical strength and an inner strength. An undeveloped child may not have the ability to deal with the challenges that life may throw at them. This strength is gained through experience, knowledge, and the many things that you learn day to day in the process of growing older. In Bless Me, Ultima, Ultima reminds Tony of the importance of strength again and again, reinforcing its importance in his mind. On one of these occasions, Ultima tells
Tony that “life is filled with sadness when a boy grows to be a man. But as you grow into manhood you must not despair of life, but gather strength to sustain you.” From this
Tony learns that it is possible to gain this strength, which is vital in the process of growing older, from all situations, even situations that are possibly thought of as “bad”.
Ultima is telling Tony that in order to get the most from every situation, you must seize the many things that can be learned from it, instead of looking at it passively. You grow and gain strength with all experiences that you go through. This is evident when Ulti...

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Uncle Lucas, Tony was able to literally take on part of his Uncle’s pains and help rid the sick man of the curse. Tony’s father also tells him that “no greater magic can exist...but in the end magic is magic, and one does not explain it so easily. That is why it is magic.”
From this Tony begins to understand the difference between Ultima’s earthly remedies and the unexplainable, more mystical curses and cures. Magic is magic; it is called magic because it is unexplainable and because it is mysterious. If we knew how magic worked then it wouldn’t be called magic. Which is yet another thing that Tony learns: some things are meant not to be understood and not meant to be learned.
Tony was able to gather advice and wisdom with the help of many of the adults in his life. He was able to reach a peace of mind from which he ended his struggles, and he was even able to obtain a better understanding of those unanswerable questions. From this new frame of mind he was able to walk away from Ultima’s deathbed with courage and acceptance. Many of his questions were solved and his struggle between Luna and
Marez and good and evil ended. We should all be so lucky.