Man vs. Woman

"I had cleansed myself completely and prepared to take God into my body. Since the confession I had talked only to Ultima and to my mother. I had kept myself pure."

(Rudolfo Anaya, Bless Me, Ultima, 219)

Sooo...young man Antonio, trying to be a good boy and grow up right, thinks that keeping himself pure allows him to only speak with  his mother and Ultima. Why?

There's an interesting theme contrasting men and women in this book. Gender roles, perceptions, characteristics. (Whoa, apparently it's not safe to search for Adam and Eve on the internet. Lots of sketchy stuff.) Um, where was I...oh yes, so I feel like there's a general list of qualities that are associated with men and women. Let's compare and contrast.


La Virgen Guadalupe and God, for starters. La Virgen is kind and forgiving to all. She's a comforter to Antonio. A woman. God on the other hand, is stern and unyielding. He's condemning and not very compassionate. Man. In one of my classes (was it this one? I can't remember...) we talked about how when the indigenous people were conquered, they felt that their male gods (the gods of war and stuff) had rejected them so they turned to the comfort of their female gods. That's why the Spaniards found that it was easier to attach them to the Virgin Mary rather than God himself. They could relate with her better because they associated her with the qualities of their female gods. Their male gods were more harsh like Antonio's perception of God. All this stuff is rooted in history but it's still being shown today in modern literature.

Ok, now Antonio's parents. His mother is really loving and espiritual and prays all the time while his father is ok with drinking a lot and isn't such a fan of religion. And as Antonio continues to grow, he is coming to see what men are like. His brothers aren't exactly the ideal examples to strive to become.

Then we have the younger generation, all the crazy boys and the much less crazy girls, although some colorful words slip into their language too sometimes. The boys are little tornadoes trapped in little bodies while the girls are mostly angelic, especially when the priest is present.

So what I want to know is what is Anaya saying with these themes? Are women generally perceived as being naturally holy while men are just stuck being sinners? Is Antonio an exception to this rule or is he just still growing into being a sinful man? Hmm...