Chloe’s Reviews > Bless Me, Ultima > Status Update

"Bless me, Ultima" was Antonio's last words to Ultima before she died. The ending of the book was both unsettling and peaceful. I chose this quote because it is the title of the book.

"...I ran to preserve those moments when beauty mingled with sadness and flowed through my soul like the stream of time." In this quote Antonio is in a panicked hurry to get back home to warn Ultima and his family of Tenorio's threats. I chose this quote because it rang peace and beauty to me.

"...I ran to preserve those moments when beauty mingled with sadness and flowed through my soul like the stream of time." In this quote Antonio is in a panicked hurry to get back home to warn Ultima and his family of Tenorio's threats. I chose this quote because it rang peace and beauty to me.

"And when the dying Christ cried, 'My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?' the piercing words seemed to drive through to my heart and make me feel alone and lost in a dying universe."
Here Antonio is at catechism and is feeling the pain of Christ during the lesson. I chose this quote because he describes his loneliness well.

"The pleasant autumn days were all too quickly eroded by the winds of time." In this quote Antonio is explaining how fast his school year went by. I chose this quote because I think Anaya wrote it in a very creative and beautiful way.

"...why couldn't there be a god who would never punish his people, a god who would be forgiving all of the time? Perhaps the Virgin Mary was such a god?...Perhaps the best god would be like a woman, because only women really knew how to forgive." Here Antonio is pondering the carp and his own religion. I chose this quote because I have often wondered this myself.

"There was plenty of grass along the bank, and on all sides the tall brush and trees rose to shut off the world." In this quote Antonio describes the pond that Cico brought him to to show him the golden carp. I chose this quote because Anaya does a great job at describing scenes vividly and beautifully.

"Now his body was a thin skeleton held together by dry skin, and on his face was written the pain of curse." Here Antonio is describing his uncle Lucas, who is sick with a curse that was laid upon him by three evil witches. I chose this quote because I think the way Anaya worded this sentence was beautiful despite the subject.

"It made me shiver, not because it was cold but because the roots of everything I had ever believed in seemed shaken." In this quote Antonio had just been told an old story about the Native-Americans' gods by Samuel and he is shocked to hear Samuel refer to multiple gods rather than just one since he was raised Christian. I chose this quote because a lot of kids are strictly raised a religion without any say.

"We prayed until our faith passed into exhaustion that numbed us to sleep." Antonio's brothers have returned from war and his family, especially his mother, is so relieved that they are thanking God all night. I chose this quote because I think it was beautifully written.