A C T A U N I V E R S I T A T I S L 0 D Z I E N S 1 S FO LIA L IT TE R A R IA A N G LICA 6, 2003
G rażyna Zygadlo
I HAVE NO T SIN N E D - T O N Y ’S Q U E ST FOR W ISD O M IN B L E SS M E , U LTIM A BY RUD O LFO ANAYA
C hicano literature as a rem arkable body o f w riting is relatively young having taken a distinctive shape in the generation after the end o f the M exican W ar in 1848 and becom ing the em erging voice o f the L atin A m erican ethnic m inority only in the decade o f 1980s. Y et, the cultural forces th a t gave rise to C hicano literature d ate from the late 1601 century when the Spanish conąuista- dores began th eir colonization and exploration o f w hat is now th e so uth w es tern U nited States. C onsequently, the literature o f th e S panish-speaking S outhw est reflected a harsh b o rd erlan d environm en t m ark ed by episodes of intense cu ltu ral conflict, first w ith N ative A m ericans and later w ith A nglo- Am ericans. This frontier culture produced such literary form s as personal and historical narratives which captured the experience o f the co nq u est and settlem ent; occasional and religious poetry and oral folk d ram as, which were adaptations o f traditional Spanish plays adjusted to the particular circum stan ces o f the Southw est. M uch o f this literature used trad itio n al M exican m yths and legends, the best exam ple being the figure o f L a L lo ro n a (the weeping w om an), one o f M exico’s best-know n legends which became an inspiration for any n u m b er o f C hicano w orks o f fiction.
U ntil the m id -nineteenth century b o th oral an d w ritten literatu re o f the Spanish-speaking Southw est was n o t rem arkably different from th a t created in the M exican h eartland. S outhw est M exicans knew a b o u t cu ltu ral events and styles no t only in central M exico, bu t in Spain and o th er p arts of E u ro p e as well, and used th a t know ledge for their literary activity. N ev er theless, m uch as the M exican Southw est m anaged to m a in ta in cu ltural ties w ith the M exican interior, it was also developing ever-stronger connections w ith the U nited States. By 1836, for exam ple, M exicans in T exas found them selves outnu m bered by A nglos and in C alifornia the M exican residents were freq u en tly visited by A m erican tra d in g ships an d a n u m b e r of A m erican gringos stayed and m arried into califom io families.
T h e turn in g point in the history o f the M exican S outhw est cam e in 1848, when the T reaty o f G u a d alu p e H idalgo ended tw o-year w ar between M exico and the U nited States and ratified the relinquishm ent o f nearly half o f M exico’s land. T he vast m ajority o f M exican residents were tran sfo rm ed into M exican A m ericans, but no t A m erican citizens, w ith a strok e o f a pen. Since th a t m o m en t the trajectory o f M exican cultu re in the S outhw est has shifted and the process o f A m ericanization has begun. T h e literatu re of th at period reflected culture in transition with the im pact on the th re a t to C atholicism posed by A nglo P rotestantism and the decline o f the Spanish language. L iteratu re becam e instru m en t o f political activism .
C onseq u en tly , oral expression becam e m o re p ro m in en t in M exican A m erican culture, especially the corrido, a M exican ballad form related to Spanish rom ance, which served a function sim ilar to th a t o f the blues in A frican A m erican com m unity. In tactics sim ilar to the linguistic coding o f the blues, which protected the singers from the censure and retaliatio n o f w hites, corridos were com posed in Spanish safe from m o st A n g lo s’ c o m p rehension. By 1900 M exican A m erican literature em erged as a distinctive p a rt o f the literary culture o f the U nited States. Y et, its origins were S panish an d M exican, its p rim ary lan gu age Spanish and its religious sensibility C atholic, so despite political dependence o f the region on the US governm ent, it rem ained w ithin the orbit o f L atin A m erican letters and oral tradition.
T his situation rem ained unchanged up to 1945 w hen Jo sep h in a Niggli published M exican Village, the first literary w ork by a M exican A m erican to reach the general A m erican audience. T his rem arkab le novel was intended to convey to A m erican readers the distinctiveness o f C hicano experience and expression. A lthough the M exican Village is com posed in English, being a b u n d a n t in M exican legends, folktales and pro verbs it still feels like Spanish.
It was W orld W ar II th a t accelerated the process o f M exican A m erican acculturation. T he W ar stim ulated the m ovem ent o f C hicano p o p u latio n into large cities where m ilitary industries offered well-paid labor. Also the high level o f M exican A m erican particip atio n in the arm y significantly reduced cultural isolation. N onetheless, like o ther form s o f ethnic expression chicanismo received a real bo o st from the Civil R ights m o vem en t o f the 1960s. Several C hicano publishing houses were created aro u n d this tim e, m o st n otably Q uinto Sol o f Berkley, the publisher o f R ud o lfo A n a y a ’s aw ard w inning novel Bless M e, Ultima (1972).
R udolfo A naya, probably the best-know n C hicano w riter, was born on O ctob er 30, 1937, to R afaelita M ares and M artin A n aya as th e fifth offspring in a family o f seven children. H e began his life in a sm all village P astu ra in N ew M exico. H is m o th e r’s lineage com es from llano (farm ers)
and his father is a vaquero (cowboy). These tw o lifestyles differ ap paren tly, the fa ct th a t influenced b o th y o u n g R u d o lfo and his fu tu re lite ra ry characters. R udolfo and his siblings were raised in a dev o u t C atholic hom e. Yet, he was also raised in the trad itio n o f old M exican m yths and folktales passed to him by his gran d m o th er, La G ra n d e, w ho was a curandera (a folk healer). A t hom e he spoke Spanish and therefore becam e bilingual. He atten d ed school in S anta R osa and A lb u q u erq u e and later enrolled at the U niversity o f New M exico where he earned degrees in English, guidance and counseling. A fter g raduating from th e U niversity he accepted a teaching position in a small tow n and started writing.
His first and m ost im p o rtan t novel Bless M e, Ultima to o k seven years to write. It was first published by E l Grito (a C h icano m agazine) in 1972 and the sam e year A naya was aw arded a prestigious P rem io Q u in to Sol A w ard. Bless M e, Ultima is one o f C hicano lite ratu re’s m ost im p o rtan t com ing-of-age novels. It captures the m agic o f ch ild ’s innocence and the loss o f it thro u g h the story o f A n to n io ’s relationship with the curandera nam ed U ltim a. T he novel also touches upon the im pact o f W orld W ar II on a small com m unity in New M exico, which is left isolated by the particip atio n o f its young m en in the war. A naya, like Leslie M a rm o n Silko and m any o th er writers o f this generation and ancestry, explores the them e o f the influence o f a sudden acceptance o f eth nic m in o ritie s by the d o m in an t A nglo-S axon culture brought by the necessity o f the war. N ever theless, Bless M e, Ultima, is not only a novel ab o u t the loss o f innocence and accultu ratio n problem s in an attem pt to correlate tw o different attitu d es to life and religion, bu t it is also a story ab o u t acquiring wisdom and learning how to forgive.
A t the beginning o f the novel A n to n io , the m ain ch aracter, is alm ost seven, yet, he seems m ore experienced th an o ther children o f his age. In fact, his problem s seem to reflect m uch o f A n a y a ’s ow n life’s d o u b ts and questions. T o n y is to rn betw een his m o th e r’s wish for him to becom e a priest and settle dow n am ong farm ers, where she com es from , and his fa th e r’s, a cow boy, dream o f m oving to C alifornia to ru n a ran ch o with the help o f his sons. Once La G ra n d e, a curandera from Las P asturas, nam ed U ltim a, com es to live w ith them T o n y begins to m atu re.
F o r som e U ltim a (her nam e m eaning ‘the last’) is ju st a folk healer, a person with the know ledge o f the curing pow er o f herbs and a storyteller; for others she represents the p agan faith in w itchcraft and su pern atu ralism , which in th e S outhw est differs from th a t in o th er p a rts o f th e U nited States. S outhw est beliefs in brujas (witches) and their m agic (curanderismo) are greatly influenced by b o th C atholicism an d the ancient religions o f the N ative A m ericans o f this p art o f the coun try , which interm ingle creating the intriguing history o f the C hicanos full o f m agical tales.
Subsequently, U ltim a teaches T o n y n o t only curanderismo practices but also how to unite trad itio n al C hicano beliefs with the C atho lic religion o f his m o th er and with reality he faces at school. As soo n as he learns from her th a t his spirit shares in the spirits o f all things he starts to notice the beauty o f nature, people and his country . H ow ever, the m o re know ledge he possesses the m ore questions and d o u b ts concerning his cultural heritage arise.
T h e first sign o f his skepticism ap p ears after the night his father witnessed the m u rd er o f L up ito , a crazy ex-soldier, com m itted by the village people and the follow ing m o rn in g he goes to the m ass and takes the com m union w ith the rest o f the family. T ony, w ho believes in absolute innocence, can n o t accept th a t his father m ay expect G o d to forgive him for no t trying to stop the angered m ob . T hen U ltim a teaches him his first lesson “ never to judge w ho G o d forgives and w ho He d o e sn ’t ” (33). A lth ough at this point T o n y is u naw are o f the im p o rtan ce o f these w ords, since th a t m om ent he inevitably starts his way to u n d ersta n d in g G o d ’s kingdom o f love and m ercy. It is a h ard task for him as being b ro u g h t u p in the C hicano culture he perceives G od as pow erful and extrem ely severe, co n trary to Virgin M ary, whom he sees as graceful, and “ full o f quiet an d peaceful love and forgiveness” (44), ju st as his m oth er.
T o n y ’s bond with his m o th er is very strong. She expects him to becom e a “m an o f learning” and T o n y being curious and striving for know ledge shares this dream with her. W hen he goes to school for the first tim e, it is an im p o rtan t experience fo r b o th o f them . Y et, a t school T o n y suddenly finds o u t th a t he is an outcast am ong the children. H e is different from them an d they, realizing it, do n o t w ant to accept his individuality, but they laugh at him instead. T h a t first day a t school T o n y experiences “ la triesta de la vida” (sadness o f life 59) for the first tim e and begins the painful process o f grow ing up.
M oreover, when his b roth ers com e back from the w ar changed and refuse to pursue their p a re n ts’ dream s, soon disap p earin g from th e tow n, even m o re expectations are placed on Tony. T hose expectations are a heavy b u rden for a seven-year-old child and result in an em otio nal split an d even m ore doubts.
T he only kid w ho seems to u nderstand T o n y is Sam uel w ho once tells him a story o f “ the people,” w ho fished and ate carp, the only thing th a t their gods did n o t allow them to do. T h us sinning against their will they exposed them selves to the gods’ anger and punishm ent. T his legend sounds exactly like the story o f A dam an d Eve, eating the fo rb id d en fru it and thu s sentencing the whole h u m an race to th e loss o f P aradise. H ow ever, at th a t m om ent T ony does not know th a t, he says, “ I h ad never heard a sto ry like this o n e” (80), which b o th scares and fascinates him. H e does
no t realize th a t the G olden C arp , a forgiving god, w ho pitied the sinful people and sacrificed him self to save them , can be ju st an o th er representation o f Jesus C hrist. Instead, he feels th a t the “ ro o ts o f everything he had ever believed in seemed sh aken” (81). N o t understandin g w hat he has experienced and living with the co n stan t aw areness o f punishm ent, he is afraid th a t his whole fam ily will be doom ed for praying to the w rong G o d. T h ro u g h the G olden C a rp story A naya w onderfully illustrates the interm ingling o f local folktales with the religion o f the conquistadores, w hereas T o n y ’s reactio n to this tale reflects an attitu d e o f the person who has n o t yet grow n up to apprehend his cultural lineage.
W hen Uncle Lucas gets ill and neither a d o cto r n o r a priest can help him T o n y is exposed to an o th er ordeal o f faith. It is U ltim a and her m agic th a t help “ against the evil o f the b ru jas” (85) and their spell, which causes even m ore confusion in T o n y ’s religious quest. H e is anxious ab o u t the priest’s inability to act against the pow er o f the w itches, and if he is to becom e a priest how he could cope with such m agic w ithou t being terrified by it. T h en U ltim a teaches him an o th er lesson by telling him th a t, “ good is always stronger th an evil. A lw ays rem em ber th at, A n to n io . T h e sm allest bit o f good can stand against all th e pow ers o f evil in the w orld and it will em erge triu m p h a n t” (98). As a t th a t p o in t T o n y still needs to q uestion and learn he keeps w ondering w hether there is “m o re pow er in U ltim a ’s m agic th an in the priest’s” (99).
S im ultaneously Cico appears to take him to a m agic place, C hicano folktales being a b u n d a n t in m agic places and figures, and show s him the legendary G o ld en C arp . W h eth er this event, w hich resem bles C h ris t’s tem p tatio n , is a pagan experience or the next step to T o n y ’s un derstan d in g o f the n atu re o f the D ivine Being, we still do n o t know . W e even do not know if Cico is a real person or ju st the p ro d u c t o f T o n y ’s im agin ation, as the only people aw are of C ico’s presence are T o n y an d U ltim a, characters o f ra th e r limited credibility as far as the edge between reality an d fantasy is concerned. N onetheless, the seemingly tru th fu l ap p a ritio n o f the pagan god overw helm s T ony with its beauty, w ho alth o u g h scared o f b reaking the F irst C om m andm ent, asked by C ico adm its th a t he believes in the G olden C arp , but at the sam e tim e he “ has to believe in Him (pointing to the C h u rch )” (107). T his event also teaches him th a t good is always accom panied by evil, ju s t as the G olden C arp is accom panied by the black bass. M oreover, he notices th a t C ico’s p agan philoso ph y o f “ sin against no o n e” (119) resem bles his m o th e r’s religious teachings, w ith the exception th a t unlike Cico, T o n y in his naive attitu d e still believes in a com plete innocence o f h u m an race. T h u s he is petrified by C ico’s vision o f flooding his hom e tow n by waters surrounding it when hum an sins become unbearable.
he is convinced th a t nobody would listen to him . People seem to have long fo rg o tten Jesus’ words: “ unless you are converted and becom e as little children, you will by no m eans enter the kingdom o f heav en” (Bible, M ath ew 34), and T o n y , w ho has no t learnt the catechism yet, is still u naw are o f his enorm ous power.
N onetheless, T o n y ’s perception o f the su rro u n d in g w orld and people is slowly changing and he realizes th a t “ the m o re he know s a b o u t people, th e m ore he know s ab o u t the strange m agic hidden in th eir h e a rts” (109). C ico calls T o n y a fisherm an, which suggests the C hristian no tio n o f C h rist’s disciples being fisherm en o f hum an souls, and reflects his m o th e r’s wish o f having a priest son. D urin g his second school year T o n y m akes friends with Red, a P ro testan t, and Florence, an atheist, which is a n o th e r step to T o n y ’s know ledge and acceptance o f diversity.
M oreover, T ony, having seen L u p ito ’s d eath and U ltim a ’s m agic, then witnessing the ap p a ritio n o f the p agan god and finally seeing his b ro th er, A ndrew , with the p rostitu tes, starts to d o u b t his ow n innocence. Listening to the dying N arciso ’s confession and A ct o f C o n tritio n h as a critical effect on T o n y ’s m ind. H e gets so ill th a t even U ltim a’s curanderismo can no t help him in his fight for life. U nconscious, a t the verge o f d ea th , he has visions in which he asks G o d for forgiveness for A ndrew but the G od answ ers “ I am n o t a G o d o f forgiveness” (173). W hen T o n y keeps asking, G o d agrees under the co ndition th a t T o n y forgives T en o rio , N a rciso ’s m u rd erer, b u t this wish is som ething T o n y still ca n n o t accept. He has not learnt yet th a t in ord er to be absolved we m u st learn to forgive o u r enemies as well. H e is even m o re confused when he hears V irgin M a ry w ho offers her forgiveness to T enorio because she is the one w ho “ forgives all” (173). W hen T ony, blinded by his reasonableness, still w an ts p un ish m en t for T en o rio , G o d laughs a t him and explains th a t th ere ca n n o t be both: G od w ho forgives all and G o d w ho punishes. In his d re am , T o n y finally u nderstands th a t he has sinned by d o u b tin g G o d ’s wisdom an d m ercy and w akes up weak bu t healthy. Y et, in real life he is n o t able to use this know ledge. He goes to C hurch an d prays to V irgin M a ry for enlightenm ent bu t G o d always “ would shake His head and answ er, th e boy is n o t yet ready to u n d e rsta n d ” (187).
A lso the teaching T ony gets d u rin g the catechism lessons, w hich are to p re p are him for the H olly C om m union, does n o t co rrespo nd w ith the vivid discussions, he carries o n w ith F lorence, ab o u t the n atu re o f G o d , sin, repentance for sins and existence o f hell. T hese discussions again challenge T o n y ’s faith as he sees m uch logic in F loren ce’s atheist arg u m e n tatio n . As a result o f them , T o n y starts to w onder w hether G o d keeps testing p eo p le’s faith and punishing them for their desire o f know ledge, and consequently w hether he is going to be punished as well.
W hen E aster S aturday com es T ony is going to experience his first confession bu t before th a t, he undergoes the ultim ate trial. As all children know th a t he is going to becom e a priest they w ant him to practice confession with them . N evertheless, they m ake a cruel gam e of it, m aking Florence kneel before T ony and confess. W hen F lo ren ce denies having com m itted any sins they beat him to com pel him to talk. A t first 1 ony tries to help his friend by persuading him to reveal ju st one sin in ord er to satisfy the merciless com panions, but F lorence persists th a t he is w ithout a sin. Suddenly, T o n y realizes th a t Florence is telling the tru th , even when he challenges T o n y by claim ing th at it was G od who sinned against him. O ther children are terrified by such a blasphem y and they dem and penance for F lorence, but a t th a t very m om en t T o n y is given the u n d erstan d in g G od has prom ised him and he offers forgiveness to Florence. H e says, “ there will be no punishm ent, there will be no penance! His sins are forgiven!” (214), and he blesses Florence. D isap p o in ted children decide th a t T ony is a bad priest and they beat him instead, bu t Tony know s th a t not only did he forgive F lorence, bu t first o f all he excused himself for his d o u b ts and questions thus becom ing fully aw are o f the com plexity o f his cultural ancestry and identity. H e had absolved Florence, as he u n d erstoo d th at, different as they m ay seem in their attitu d es to w ard s trad itio n and religion, in fact, they are the sam e. T hey b o th experience the sam e uncertainties and problem s, co n d em nation and ju d g m en t of which d o n o t belong to them but to the Suprem e Being, w hatever nam e can be attrib u ted to it. H ence T ony understood and fulfilled Jesu s’ w ords: “ Ju dg e n o t, th a t you be n o t ju d g e d ” (M athew 11). H e showed m ercy and know s th a t his sacrifice will satisfy his G o d , as it is exactly w hat G od had expected him to do. A t th a t p o int T ony has alm ost reached the end o f his jou rn ey .
T ony eventually com pletes his quest in finding the wisdom he was looking for at U ltim a’s deathbed, when she says, “ I bless you in the nam e o f all th at is good and strong and beautiful, A nto nio. A lw ays have strength to live. Love life, and if despair enters yo u r h eart, look for m e in the evenings w hen the wind is gentle and the owls sing in the hills. I shall be with y o u ” (261). As these last w ords o f hers sound exactly like som e o ther w ords uttered two th ousand years ago: “T each them to observe all things th a t I have com m anded you; and lo, I am w ith you always, even to the end o f the age. A m en” (M athew 61). T ony know s th a t he has finally understood his G od.
T o u n d e rsta n d this co rresp o n d en ce one m u st again rem em b er th e com plex role religion plays w ithin L atin A m erican culture, in w hich issues o f C hristianity synchronize with the beliefs o f different indigenous races, present at one point o r an o th er in the history o f L atin A m erica. 1 his parallelism o f C atholic belief in the om niscient presence o f G od in hu m an
life with U ltim a’s prom ise to stand by T o n y forever represents the intensity w ith which indigenous sense o f m ysticism in C h ican o cultu re, w hich U ltim a symbolizes, interm ingles with the religion b ro u g h t by conquistadores. A n a y a ’s novel proves th a t, being under the con tro l o f E u ro p e an C o n q u ero rs and C atholicism they brought, Indian tribes struggled to preserve their spirituality alive and as pure as possible. T he m ain reasons th a t m ad e it possible were num erous interm arriages between the Spaniards and the indigenous population th a t led to the creatio n o f a new race, m estizo o r C hicano, the p ro d u c t of which is T o n y , bu t also the persistence o f local storytellers and curanderas, like U ltim a, w ho kept m yths and legends alive. T h e wisdom T o n y has gained reflects all C h ican o s’ ethnic need to m ain tain th eir cultu ral diversity while reaching o u t to o th er com m unities and tradition s.
D epartm ent of American Literature and Culture University o f Łódź
W ORKS CITED
Anaya, Rudolfo. Bless Me, Ultima. New York: W arner Books, 1994.
C ortina, R odolfo. Hispanic American Literature. An Anthology. Lincolnw ood, 111.: N TC Publishing G roup, 1998.
R om an, Yoselin. “ Survey o f L atin-A m erican C ulture T h ro u g h L ite ra tu re ,” from: http://www.yale.edu, 13.10.00.
The New King James Bible, New Testament and Psalms. N ational Publishing C om pany, 1985. “ Witch Stories o f New Mexico,” from: http://w ww .curanderism o.com , 24.09.00.
