What is faith? Does everyone have faith? Is faith believing in
something you haven't seen but you think is true? All of these questions have
an answer and in Bless me, Ultima by Rodolfo Anaya these questions are
important. In fact, many people question their faith because they are confused
about what they see or hear. In Bless me, Ultima, Rudolfo Anaya shows that
on this world there are many types of faith one believes in. The author uses
imagery, folklore, and dream sequences to convey the meaning of Bless me,
Anaya uses imagery to show how Christianity and witchcraft are two
different beliefs, and they are in conflict with each other. The imagery
provides a picture of Tony's conflict of Ultima dying. For example, When
Tony was next to Ultima he knew she was going to die. As Ultima was
dying, "Her voice very weak, her eyes already glazed with death." (260)
Anaya makes that imagery for us to see what Tony was seeing.
Second, Anaya uses dream sequences to show that Tony has conflicts
with himself about his beliefs. He questions his belief in this dream because
he is afraid of what he might find out. In his dream Tony says, "Everything I
believe in was destroyed. A painful wrenching in my heart made me cry
aloud, why God? my God, why have you forsaken me!" (243) Tony cannot
accept what is happening. Why do all good people have to die?
In fact, Anaya uses folklore in this story to show that every language
there is folklore about religions that believes in. Therefore, in this part it says
" The Agua Negra was the land of the Commanche Indians. Three
Commanche raided the flock of one. So grandfather Tellez hanged them and
left them strung on a tree. Now their souls wandered around the ranch."
(227) This is one folklore from the story. Many are passed down from
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