Bless Me, Ultima

Chicanx/a/o is a chosen identifier for Americans of Mexican heritage that synthesizes the cultural influences of Mexican and American culture, as well as the Indigenous cultures of the Americas. Although initially considered a pejorative, the term was reclaimed in the 1960s as part of El Movimiento, the Chicanx empowerment movement. Anaya identified as Chicano, and in Bless Me, Ultima, he captures the unique experience of coming of age as Chicanx in America. Under Ultima, Antonio learns that the heart of his identity is the interplay between the many different cultural, religious, and linguistic factors that influence his life.

Anaya has stated that Bless Me, Ultima is semi-autobiographical, with much of Antonio’s life inspired by his own childhood. Throughout the novel, Antonio struggles with aspects of his life that seemingly contradict one another. Anaya symbolically highlights this sense of dissonance with the location of the Márez home, between the llano of Las Pasturas and the farming town of El Puerto. Antonio even describes himself as “caught in the middle” (212) of two ways of life.

Both of Antonio’s parents are Chicanx, but they are connected to different parts of their heritage. The feud between them centers on these differences, contrasting the life of a vaquero with that of a farmer.