bless me, ultima

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Chapter 3

Summary

When Antonio awakes, he ponders the fate of Lupito's soul and those of the men who killed him. His parents quarrel as they always do on Sunday mornings, as Gabriel's vaquero mindset is not favorable to priests. When María scolds Antonio for not being properly formal when greeting Ultima, Ultima requests that she back off because the night was hard on all men. María protests that he is still a baby. She thinks it is a sin for boys to become men.

Many women in town are dressed in mourning because of sons and husbands lost in the war, which has indirectly claimed two more victims. Antonio and Ultima discuss the events of the previous night. She states that she doesn't think Gabriel fired at Lupito, but she warns that no one should presume to decide whom God forgives or not. Before mass, Antonio mingles with the other boys. They horse around and discuss the night's events. Antonio contributes nothing to the subject of Lupito's death.

Commentary

Having been introduced to an adult moral dilemma, Antonio is obsessed with sin and punishment. Ultima explains that men of the llano, referring to Gabriel and Narciso, will not kill without reason. However, she also tells Antonio that people have to make independent moral decisions based on what they know. However, matters of salvation and damnation are not for human beings to determine. In her own way, Ultima is talking about fate and destiny within the language of Catholicism because those are the terms with which Antonio is trying to make sense of Lupito's death.

Moreover, Ultima tries to subtly let Antonio know that the adults he loves and trusts are not infallible. Narciso and Gabriel both tried to save Lupito, but the blind anger and fear of Chávez and the others prevented them from doing so. Furthermore, Ultima does not tell Antonio what to think but how people like his father and Narciso make moral decisions. Antonio can then apply this understanding to his own decisions.

The opinions that María and Gabriel have of growing up highlight the major issues of sin and punishment that preoccupy Antonio. His mother associates growing up with learning how to sin, while Gabriel and Ultima view growing up as an inevitable process that is not good or bad in itself. As a boy becomes a man, he uses his life experience and his knowledge to make decisions.

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