Bless Me, Ultima

"They all gathered around me and asked me where I live and about school. They were good friends, even though they sometimes said bad words, and that day I became a part of their gang." (Bless Me, Ultima, Rudolfo Anaya, pg. 38)

I have never been to New Mexico, I did not grow up speaking Spanish, my father is not a cowboy, and my mother is not a farmer yet Rudolfo Anaya finds a beautiful way to help me connect with his book, Bless Me, Ultima. This is achieved by simple experiences that Antonio has in the novel, that break down cultural and human barriers, to unite long lost feelings of child hood. The passage above reminds me of the movie 'The Sandlot' and numerous childhood experiences. 

In the movie The Sandlot the main character, Smalls, moves to a new city and doesn't have any friends. The local gang of kids are baseball fanatics, and although Smalls doesn't know how to play baseball he dreams of joining the group of friends. Rodriguez, the group leader, takes Smalls into the fold and helps him to become part of the group.

In 'Bless Me, Ultima' Antonio goes behind the church because he knows that is where the kids from school hang out. He mentions that he doesn't actually know them but has learned their names and personalities from watching and observing them. He talks about Horse, Bones and Vitamin Kid and why they have those nicknames. It is obvious that he has carefully observed them and dreamed of being part of the group. When Horse notices him for the first time and Antonio flips him, he immediately becomes part of the group, similar to what happens with Smalls.

The two stories also remind me of each other because of the nicknames that each kid has. Similar to Bless Me, Ultima, in the sandlot all the kids have nicknames like Ham, Yeah-Yeah, and Squints which resemble their physical and personality traits.

What these two stories achieve is a masterful connection with our childhood feelings and memories. Personally, while reading or watching these stories,  I remember the change from Elementary School to Middle School and the feelings that I had being accepted into my group of friends. Memories of my friends nicknames like ffl, tuna, and tubs come to mind. I find myself immersed in the stories because they seem so similar to my personal experiences. That is the complicated formula that Anaya and few others have mastered and used to create classics like Bless Me, Ultima or The Sandlot.