In Bless Me, Ultima, Rudolfo Anaya uses Ultima as a mentor to lead Antonio on a quest for identity. Through Ultima’s use of spiritual and historical teachings and the acceptance of different beliefs, Antonio achieves a sense of balance in his thoughts. In the beginning of the novel, Ultima as a mentor opens up doors of identity for Antonio. When Antonio and Ultima go out in search for herbs and plants Ultima, being a curandera, teaches Antonio about nature around him and about the spirits within plants. This allows Antonio to ease into his acceptance of nature and loss of fear to the Llano. Through Ultima, Antonio learns more about his family and their ties to nature with their personalities. Through this Antonio begins to become more open-minded as he begins questioning which path to pursue, Llano or Priesthood. As a mentor, Ultima encourages Antonio to balance these paths and take a direction of his own. In addition, Ultima also explains the history of Antonio’s ancestors and the mix of cultures between the indigenous and the Spanish from Europe. She mentions how the two cultures never got along when they collided. This information shines its importance as it prepares …show more content…
Being a curandera, Ultima lives in a culture where her beliefs and the church intertwine. Although the church does not accept her beliefs, Ultima accepts the church as she goes to mass each week. Ultima wants to instill this tolerance and tolerance in general into Antonio as he goes through the on-going predicament of Priesthood vs. Llano. Ultima also wants Antonio to be open-minded with balance in his thoughts and in making decisions of his own. She does this through her calmness and respect as Antonio is still an innocent child. An example is through her permission from Antonio to assist her in her treatment of Lucas instead of forcing Antonio for his