Bless Me Ultima Chapter VI Outline

Paraphrase:
It is Antonio's first day of school, and his mother is sad that he's
growing up and leaving her. She has Ultima bless her children before
going to school, and even his father kneels for the blessing*. We
meet Miss Maestas, his teacher. She teaches him how to spell his
name, but when he does learn the kids laugh and point at him. He
feels like an outcast because he is different from the rest of the
students. I believe the other students speak English and have
American ways such as sandwiches, but he has green chile wrapped in
tortillas. Eventually he bands with other kids, rejected from the
society from which they come from. The author jumps to winter, to
show that nothing has changed, the rejects are still rejected, but
they are still together.

*This part of the story made me wonder why Antonio's father is not a
strong believer in religion (page 29), but he kneels when Ultima is
blessing his children. This makes me think that he doesn't have a
thing for formal religion with church and priests, but he does have
faith in  the spiritual religion that Ultima practices.

Techniques:
  · When Ultima is blessing him on page 55, when she puts her hand on
    his forehead it felt like a whirl wind. He remembers when he was
    younger the way to deflect a whirl wind was to make a sign of the
    cross, because they were evil and wouldn't hit him. But one day
    he dared the whirlwind to come, by not signing the cross. He
    wonders if the power of good (from Ultima) is the same as that of
    evil.
  · As usual, the usage of Spanish throughout this chapter helps give
    cultural background. On page 57 his teacher, Miss Maestas, we
    learn that she is bilingual. Without the use of Spanish the
    author would have to do some lengthy explaining.