Bless Me, Ultima: Metaphors 7 key examples

The personification of the llano and river in this passage imbues the natural world with agency. It’s as though when Ultima arrives in the Márez home, the landscape also becomes a character Antonio lives with. Her presence brings Antonio’s attention to things he has always taken for granted. The llano "unfolds" and the river "sings" when she’s there, as if consciously responding to Ultima’s presence. She provokes a sense of heightened awareness in Antonio, one that makes him feel as though the landscape is aware of him too.

The metaphor of the earth’s "pulse" pressing "its mystery into [Antonio’s] living blood" demonstrates the deep connection he gains to the natural world through Ultima’s teachings. By personifying the earth and giving it the power to “press its mystery” into his character, Anaya is suggesting that Ultima’s influence enables Antonio to recognize the magical and historical potential of his surroundings. The phrase "pressed its mystery." as it’s used here, also describes an intimate transfer of knowledge or power from the earth to Antonio through Ultima. She's a conduit that helps him to access his magical potential.

Here, Ultima ties identity and temperament to ancestry. She is framing these qualities for Antonio as intrinsic and unchangeable, as though he has no choice but to behave in the same way. The metaphor of things being "in the blood" of the Lunas and the Márez is part of this. For Ultima the deep-seated and inescapable traits passed down through each family’s lineage are undeniable facts. By attributing the calmness of the Lunas and the relative wildness of the Márez to their "blood," she explains that having these characteristics is just part of belonging to these families.

The similes comparing the Lunas to the "quiet moon" and the Márez to the "wild ocean" and "spaces of the llano" further link each family’s differing traits to the natural world. The “quiet” moon “causes” the Lunas’ patience and skill at farming and “planting.” In contrast, both the ocean’s untamed energy and the vast openness of the llano are part of the restless characters of the Márez men. The two sides of the family could not be more different, though both draw traits from the natural world.

Spring is not just a time of year in this passage – in his memory it was a living force that "came one night” and changed everything in Antonio’s world. In Antonio’s mind, spring is just as actively interacting with the landscape, moving through the world and “touching the river trees” with its “lime-green” presence. Spring is dynamic and alive, influencing the world around it deliberately and “churning” the “sap” of men and trees alike. Nothing escapes its influence.

The metaphor of "bad blood" as Anaya uses it here also connects the natural world's transformations to the internal changes happening to Antonio’s brothers. Just as the sap "churns" within the trees, the changes of spring awaken a sense of restlessness in León, Andrew, and Eugene. This metaphor links the hormonal upheavals of early adulthood to spring’s energy of change. Spring and their bodies are both a force of renewal and a source of disruption and uneasiness. 

Moreover, the idiom "bad blood" refers to the traditional association of spring with heightened emotions and tension after the quiet of winter. Antonio’s observation here that the spring always comes with restlessness aligns with the idea that the season “churns” the blood. The blood of spring is too full of potential to be contained in a normal way, making people behave erratically.

The metaphor "stirred in my blood" as Anaya uses it here suggests that Ultima’s stories create both a physical and emotional connection between Antonio’s present and his history. On an emotional level, it suggests that her stories awaken a sense of connection to his people in him. As he learns about the “glory and tragedy” of his ancestors, he feels both pride and sorrow. There’s “glory” in his people’s past, but also grief and injustice from colonization and the attempted suppression of their culture by the White settlers of the Southwest. Ultima’s narratives make him feel emotionally aligned with both the present and the past.

On a literal level, the phrase "stirred in my blood" ties Antonio’s connection to his family and his people to both Ultima’s stories and the physical rhythms of his body. As his heart beats, it “stirs” his blood in his body to bring oxygen to his organs. It also metaphorically revives the memory and spirit of his ancestors, as he shares their “blood” and their lineage. They “stir” within him as Ultima speaks. Ultima shows him how, as own blood pumps through his veins and arteries, it keeps both Antonio and the generations of Márez and Lunas preceding him alive.

The imagery of Tenorio's "dark blue pit" of a blind eye and the "yellow glare" of the other is deliberately frightening. The "pit" makes the reader feel a sense of emptiness and danger, as though Tenorio’s lust for revenge has literally hollowed him out. The "yellow glare" of the other eye suggests that it's unnatural or diseased, which makes Tenorio seem even more menacing. It also underlines how predatory Tenorio is, as yellow eyes tend to appear in flesh-eating animals and birds. He also "howls" like a wolf when he laughs. Given all of this, Antonio feels extremely vulnerable when fixed with Tenorio’s gaze.

The metaphor of the blind eye as a "pit" conveys more than the eye's appearance. By this point Tenorio has no humanity left, and his eye is a visual representation of the void his actions have created within him. The “blind eye” physically evokes Tenorio’s expanding capacity for violence and remorselessness. His two contrasting eyes reflect the reasons for his actions. One part of him—the “blind eye”—is consumed by guilt and emptiness. The other eye, predatory and yellow, is awake and has agency. Both "eyes" are driving him to kill, propelled by his anger and cruelty.

The metaphor comparing the body to the universe that Anaya uses here shows how seriously and somberly Antonio interprets the Catholic doctrine of the eternal soul. Ash Wednesday observances are intended to remind Catholics of how ephemeral and fragile their worldly bodies are. Antonio's words illustrate how he understands the cyclical and impermanent nature of physical existence in this light. By describing the body as transforming into "dust and trees and exploding fire," Antonio makes the reader see it as a part of the larger, ever-changing cosmos. Body and soul are fundamentally separable in this version of reality. Antonio’s metaphor emphasizes that when the body returns to the physical world, it stops existing as an independent entity. When it becomes “gaseous and disappears,” however, it has no effect on the soul, which remains wholly itself and unchanged.

The idea of "eternity" as "silent, unopposed, brooding, forever” is a chilling one. This description makes the fate of the soul seem separate from the temporary world of matter. It doesn’t matter what happens to the particles of the body; the soul, however, endures.

The simile comparing a man’s destiny to a flower "with only the sun and the earth and water making it blossom" explains how important Ultima feels the natural and unforced processes of growth and fulfillment are. Trying to force a flower into bloom by opening its petals prematurely will usually only damage it and prevent it from blooming properly. Just as a flower cannot blossom as it's meant to if someone tries to force it open, Ultima thinks a person’s destiny cannot unfold properly under external control or interference.

The metaphor in this passage likens natural elements like "sun," "earth," and "water" to the natural course of destiny’s workings. Just like a flower must be nourished by the correct combination of natural resources as they become available, people require the natural sequence of appropriate conditions to grow to their full potential.