Religion And Spirituality In Bless Me, Ultima

In Chicano culture, religion and spirituality significantly impact the way they think and live which will affect the way they write. Chicano Literature expresses the theme of religion and spiritually throughout it all. Religion plays a big part throughout the books. Antonio isn’t judged by the church when he starts hanging around Ultima, whom is known as a witch; there is a positive image of his through the use of the diction and imagery. La Loca is judged by the church and hold an image of evil from the beginning ; then there is a negative connotation of La Loca and her connection with the spiritual world. These both characters have some spiritual magical within them but still portrayed differently. Bless Me, Ultima Anaya presents Antonio …show more content…
Anaya and Castillo created their main characters: Antonio and La Loca to be involved with both worlds of religion and supernatural. In the book Bless Me, Ultima has a Chicano family and shows you how a chicano culture views of man and women. In article of “Times of Conflict: "Bless Me, Ultima" As a Novel of Acculturation,” Debra B. Black starts discussing how males had choices or kind of freedom in the novel of Bless Me Ultima. Black points out that “Antonio is allowed all the privileges of being male in a patriarchal society,”( Black, 150). This idea is made me notice in these book women didn’t play a big role and had much choices compared to the men. In So Far From God, women are the main focus. Carmela Delia Lanza wrote an article going more in depth of each women from So Far From God and interprets that “the home as a "site of resistance" for the woman”(Lanza, 65). Also, Gillman and Floyd-Thomas notice how Castillo five female characters are strong women that suffered in this male world but how they change their own lives. Therefore, in these two novels Bless Me Ultima and So Far From God, Anaya uses the male role view while Castillo demonstrates more of the women …show more content…
One of the main person that brought Antonio closer to explore the spiritual world was Ultima. Antonio learned everything he knows through the guidance of Ultima. “She touched my forehead” and “whispered to me, “you are strong...”(Anaya, 100). Ultima is showing the caring and supportive side. In “Magical Strength in the Human Heart,” Wilson points out how Antonio finds his faith through spiritual world and not in religion. He witness all this spiritual connection and followed more into the spirit world. He was there to see Ultima break the curse and he saw the golden crap. He thought the golden crap was more powerful than god because he dreamed the golden crap swallow the whole world. This made him drift away from thinking he had to be a priest and finding himself. Antonio identity was more of a self grow and finding himself through the guidance and support of the spiritual