Bless Me Ultima Chapters 1-2

Tamara,




Chapters 1-2



September 6, 2010



Bless Me Ultima



Bless Me Ultima began with a great introduction. The author used a lot of descriptive words and also had a good tone to the book. The book begins with giving you a little insight as to what you can expect this story to be about. Antonio, who is the main character of this book, tells about his background. He is the youngest child out of 5 other children. He has three older brothers at war and two older sisters. Not having any siblings his age to play with Antonio is left to do things on his own and spends a lot of his time alone. For being such a young child he has seen many hardships.

In Chapter 1 they introduce a new character named Ultima also known as La Grande (which meant “the woman was old and wise”). Ultima was a good family friend of Antonio’s parents. Ultima had always been there for anyone in need, but now she is dying and is in need of someone to take care of her. Antonio’s family takes Ultima in and gives her a home to stay. The book says “Ultima was a curandera, a woman who knew the herbs and remedies of the ancients, a miracle-worker who could heal the sick…And because a curandera had this power she was misunderstood and often suspected of practicing witchcraft herself.” Because of this Antonio’s two sisters Deborah and Teresa were timid to meet Ultima.

At this time in the story Antonio tells us one of his dreams. This first dream we hear about is about the birth of a baby. In his dream he does not know who the baby is or who the lady who delivered the baby is. At the birth of this child the two sides of the family which were his mothers and fathers side were fighting about what the baby’s destiny would be. The mothers’ family/friends wanted the baby to be a priest. On the other side the fathers’ family/friends wanted the baby to grow up to be a Vaquero. The women who delivered the baby shouted a very bold statement “I Pulled this baby into the light of life, so I will bury the afterbirth and the cord that once linked him to eternity. Only I will know his destiny.” This statement ended the dream. Antonio woke up the next day questioning his mother all about his birth. He then found out that the dream he had was his actual birth, this frightened him and he quickly ended the conversation. That day his father went to pick up Ultima. When Antonio saw Ultima he remembered her eyes and was too stunned by all the emotions he had to greet her at first. Antonio felt an instant closeness to Ultima.

In the next chapter there is a very traumatic scene that happens. One of the neighbors brothers were shot by a “crazy man”. The neighbor a.k.a Chavez asks Antonio’s dad to go with him to the bridge where the man who killed his brother was at. Antonio’s father calmed the man down and then reached for his rifle to accompany Chavez to find this “crazy man”. Antonio follows them without them knowing not knowing why he was going. When they get to the bridge they find the man and soon realize that he is a man who has gone crazy because of the war. They end up killing the man and Antonio is very frightened and returns home. The next day Antonio talked with Ultima and is comforted to know that she knew everything that had happened that night and understood how he felt. The chapter ends here, and I am very excited to see what happens next!