Susie Gibson
Minority Literature  
Fall 2002

Different Cultures, Same Childhood

At times, different cultures sometimes imbricate many of their ideas and traditions.  In the novels Black Girl Lost by Donald Goines, Baby of the Family by Tina McElroy Ansa, and Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, the coming of age of the three main characters overlaps in numerous situations.  Throughout their lives, the protagonists step between childhood and adulthood without realizing the change.

            Black Girl Lost describes a realistic yet fictitious picture of the lives, choices, and frustrations of underworld ghetto blacks. This novel portrays the glamour and attraction of street life (the cars, clothes, and cash) along with its perils. The realities of ghetto life’s frustration, decadence, and violence impacts the dreams of Sandra, the main character.  Sandra has to decide whether to settle for membership in the ghetto’s depressed, poverty-stricken silent majority, or opt for dangerous ghetto stardom.  The novel Baby of the Family makes use of the traditional folk beliefs and the conventions of the ghost story.  The plot focuses on the middle class McPherson family who enjoy affluence and minimal racial harassment. The dilemmas that the main character, Lena face come from both internal family issues and unexplainable external forces. In her childhood Lena learns to live with the ability to see and communicate with ghosts. Antonio, the protagonist in Bless me, Ultima, relates of his journey from ignorance to enlightenment with Ultima helping guide his way.  The book explores his relationship with his spiritual guide, Ultima, a curandera (one who cures with herbs and magic) (Wood 22) who is respectfully called “la Grande”.  Antonio experiences conflicts with maternal forces, the earth, Catholic rituals, family ties, and the opposing powers.  Sandra, Lena, and Antonio face many challenges as they mature in a lifestyle their parents have selected for them.

These young children lead lives shaped for them by their parents, sometimes for the good but other times for the bad.  Many times these parents do not realize the impact of their words, actions, and reactions.  Sandra spends her entire childhood trying to make her life better, while her mother shows no signs of maternal interest.  Sandra, continuously in charge of herself, must scrounge for food and clothing.  Her mother never considers that Sandra is a person and ignores “her daughter completely, as if she was just another piece of kitchen furniture” (Goines 24).  Sandra learns ways to obtain what she needs to make her life tolerable.  Although her methods are not always legal, they do allow her to have food, clothing, and shelter.  Lena’s parents, in contrast, care for her and give her everything she needs to live a nice, well-rounded life. Born with a caul, Lena is supposedly endowed with psychic powers, according to folklore (Marsh-Lockett 21). To ensure that her daughter leads a ‘normal’ life, her mother chooses not to listen to the advice of Nurse Bloom and destroys the caul, an action that starts a series of events over which Lena has no control. Throughout her childhood Lena sees, hears, and knows what no one else understands, “sometimes she could see her brothers, mother and grandmother pull away, almost recoil from her, when she said or did something they weren’t expecting” (Ansa 61).  Lena never comprehends why she knows what others do not.  This understanding leads to an unsettling childhood with numerous doubts and questions.  Antonio’s life, likewise, has been planned for him.  Since childbirth his mother set her goals for him to become a priest.  Except for his father, the entire family encourages his mother in her endeavors, “Tony will be her priest” (Anaya 68).  Tony considers his mother’s wishes yet has a different perspective on his life, and starts to question his heritage, “Remember you are a Luna__And a Marez” (Anaya 53). He debates whether he should spend his life farming as a Luna or wandering as a Marez.  This dilemma creates in him a childhood of confused choices: priest, farmer, or wanderer?  Ultima, his mentor, lends her spiritual advice to guide him on his way.  The combined positive and negative guidance offered to these children lead to their unique adventures and their character development.

            Once each child reaches school age, her or she learns to cope with peer pressure and assumes responsibility in special ways.  Sandra learns quickly to survive school by developing a protective, impenetrable shield.  After years of being tormented by the other children about her appearance, she decides to play along and takes on the persona of an idiot, “What the teachers didn’t realize was the fact that she had been so ashamed of the other kids’ comments that she had developed a protective schizophrenia to meet the problem” (Goines 33).  In fact Sandra is quite intelligent, but years of being beaten down by her mother and society makes her hide behind her fear.  Lena           has the privilege of attending a parochial school that costs her parents thirty dollars a month.  She starts school and enjoys many friends, but her world changes with one accidentally made comment.  A supernatural voice overtook Lena, a “voice had no shape or form” (Ansa 219), and she blurts out the name of the parent that started a rumor about the nuns.  Lena does not understand what came over her and she soon earns the reputation of being different.  “She’s not like us, that’s why…She never was and this proves it” (Ansa 217). After making the statement to the nuns, Lena’s life is ruined at school.  Her friends shun her and she is left with only Gwen to walk with her.  The reaction of her classmates changes Lena’s life; she begins to believe that she is possessed and prays to Jesus for help.  Antonio heads to school full of excitement and joy only to realize that he is entering a world in which he cannot understand the language spoken around him.  As he enters a school larger than he expects, he becomes lost and unsure of himself.  A friendly boy helps him to his class where Antonio informs his teacher that he does not speak English.  Although she helps him learn to write his name, she inadvertently embarrasses him by having him come to the front of the room.  Since Antonio does not speak English, he cannot understand what she is saying to the class. “Then the other boys and girls laughed and pointed at me” (Anaya 58).  In actuality, Miss Maestas was pleased with the progress Antonio made with writing his name.  Antonio feels powerless by not understanding what is being said about him, then at lunch his classmates laugh at him again because of the food his mother packs for him.  Each one of these children faces humiliation at school and learns to overcome to enable them to continue attending school.

            A common epiphany among these children is their realization that close friendships are hard to find.  Sandra feels that she is totally alone and can trust no one with the secrets of her lifestyle.  As her childhood passes and she becomes a teenager she meets Chink, who not only becomes her best friend but also her lover.  From the beginning Sandra feels that Chink will always befriend her. “She believed she could be honest with him” (Goines 48).  Their relationship lasts until the book’s end, but does include many obstacles.  Although Lena has many acquaintances during certain points of her life, she has few close friends.  She often questions if her friends are real or not, when she meets Sarah she asks, “Are you really a little girl?” (Ansa 72).  Because she sees various beings throughout her life, so questions the authenticity of living beings.  Lena does not always have the type of friends that her family encourages her to have.  Sarah is introduced by Lena’s grandmother to her mother “with a strange lilt to her voice on the word ’friend’ “(Ansa 86).  Lena’s family has higher expectations of the caliber of friends that Lena should have.  Antonio’s life has been planned for him by his mother and his family condones this dream.  His mother’s dream of his becoming a priest has even been accepted by his friends, and they enjoy playing as if he already has the position “Hey, let’s practice going to confession and make Tony the priest” (Anaya 208).  Although they do this in fun, an underlying seriousness permeates the entire situation.  In their role-playing, Antonio shows considerable compassion in absolving Florence of his sins, even though the other children demand a stiff penance.  He exhibits unpriest like concern for Florence’s beliefs. Although Antonio has been raised to become a priest he starts to question his belief in God and his belief in the golden carp.

            Nature contributes to the lives of these children not only in beneficial ways but also with dreadful outcomes.  Sandra spends her entire life trying to survive; she does not have the time to enjoy life and nature like most children.  She cannot afford to play in the park or playground with other children, so she spends her life oblivious to the beauty of the outdoors until she meets Chink.  While in love, they enjoy the beauty of the world around them.  As Chink’s death nears, Sandra recalls the happier time in their lives when “the birds were singing, the sun was hot on our backs, and you were so bashful” (Goines 181).  Remembering a joyous occasion in their lives allows Chink to release his hold on life while Lena’s experience with a bird adds comical tinge to the situation.  As Grandma and Lena are alone in the house, a bird gets in; and they try desperately to make the bird fly out and chase it with a broom and a dust mop, but to no avail.  Finally the bird crashes into a window and dies.  The comic relief of the baby owl flying around the house is overshadowed by folklore “baby, a bird in the house is a sure sign that there’s gonna be a death in the family” (Ansa 243).  Grandma firmly believes that the bird is a bad omen and that it not only announces a death, but it also knocks over the ashes of Grandma’s husband.  Bad omens weigh heavily on Grandma’s mind.  The owl, which comes to represent Ultima’s spirit, (Trevino 44) is Antonio’s protector in the novel, though in folklore it is normally a symbol or sign of evil or witchery. The owl serves as Ultima’s protection by attacking Tenorio and the coyotes; at all times, it keeps Ultima and Antonio safe from harm.  Ultima and the owl share a bond that will never be broken even in death; Antonio announces “The owl is dead” (Anaya 260), but Ultima corrects him “not dead….just winging its way to a new place, a new time—just as I am ready to fly---“ (Anaya 260) and together they leave this world and enter a new place.  In each instance the bird helps someone enter a new dimension.

            Experiencing the death of a loved one at a young age can change a child’s perspective of life. The death of Chink, the most important person in Sandra’s life mars her indelibly. The only way Sandra knows to help Chink is by assuring that he “don’t ever have to worry about them lockin’ you up no more” (Goines 183).  The thought of never seeing freedom is stronger than death.  As Sandra helps Chink cross over to the other side, they remember all the good times they shared. Likewise, Lena’s closeness to her grandmother helps her accept her grandmother’s death, a death in the house by the owl’s presence. Her death is no surprise to Lena.  “You don’t have to tell me, Mama” (Ansa 252).  Lena’s unusual abilities grant her prior knowledge of unknown phenomenon.  Lena knows that even after death, her grandmother will come to her and help her understand how to handle her life.  “Don’t worry, baby, Grandma ain’t gonna let

nothing happen to her little puppy” (Ansa 259).  During a dreamlike state Grandma explains to Lena why she has unique abilities.  She informs Lena to visit Nurse Bloom, who will define her talents so Lena can start to understand and accept her gift from God.  Antonio realizes that the death of the owl foreshadows the death of Ultima.  At the time of her death Ultima explains to Antonio the tie that binds her to the owl, “When I was a child, I was taught my life’s work by a wise man, a good man.  He gave me the owl and he said that the owl was my spirit, my bond to the time and harmony of the universe” (Anaya 260). Understanding the bonds between the owl and Ultima helps Antonio accept the death of Ultima.  Children usually have a hard time accepting the death of acquaintances but the death of the person who is not only their mentor but also their closest friend makes life more difficult to bear. 

            Each of these children spends their childhood in different cultural backgrounds but share many of the same experiences.  Regardless of their race, creed, or color they participate in numerous activities that help shape them into the adults they become.  As they leave behind childhood they hold on to memories  “the magical time in which childhood stood still … sometimes when I look back on that summer I think that it was the last summer I was truly a child” (Anaya 1) and start the road to becoming an adult.                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Works Cited

Primary Sources

Anaya, Rudolfo. Bless Me, Ultima. New York: Warner, 1972.

Ansa, Tina McElroy. Baby of the Family. New York: Harcourt Brace and

            Company, 1989.

Goines, Donald. Black Girl Lost. Los Angeles: Holloway House, 1973.

 Secondary Sources

 Trevino, Albert. “Bless Me, Ultima: A Critical Interpretation.” De Colores. Vol. 3 No. 4 (1997).  Rpt. in Hispanic Literature Criticism. Ed. Antonio Marquez. Detroit: Gale, 1994. Vol. 1: 43-46.

Marsh-Lockett, Carol. “Tina McElroy Ansa” The Americas Review. Vol. XX, Nos. 4-5.           Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism.  Ed. Brigham Narins. Detroit: Gale, 1996. Vol. 93: 21-22.

Wood Scott. “Book Reviews: ‘Bless Me, Ultima’” America Press, Inc. Vol. 28 No. 3 January 27, 1973, pp. 72-74.  Rpt. in Contemporary Literary            Criticism.  Ed. Brigham Narins.  Detroit: Gale 1996. Vol. 23: 22.