Tenorio's Lost Eye

"A man does not flee from the truth." (Rudolfo Anaya, Bless Me, Ultima, 129.)

         The process of leaving childhood behind as adult knowledge is acquired is described in Bless Me, Ultima through the experiences of young Antonio. In one such learning experience,  the malicious saloon-keeper and barber in El Puerto, Tenorio, attacks Ultima, claiming that she is a witch. Antonio and his family must defend her. but before any advances are made Ultima's owl/spiritual guardian attacks Tenorio, pulling out one of his eyes. In the context of Antonio’s coming-of-age, the details of this experience cannot be overlooked.

Tenorio and his eyepatch after the owl attack

       Tenorio’s gouged eye becomes an interesting symbol as a product of this scene. Ultima's owl  could have gone for his heart, ears, scalp... but there is significance in the fact that the owl took the eye from this hate-filled man. Injured eyes symbolize a person’s refusal to confront the truth. Tenorio refuses to accept that in the death of his daughter, it was her own involvement in witchcraft and the black mass that cursed Lucas that would have played a role, not Ultima’s healing powers. Piercing the window of Tenorio’s soul, the owl symbolically demonstrated the harmful effects of refusing to acknowledge truth on one’s body and spirit. Additionally, Tenorio’s jaded and stubborn way of thinking was made obvious to everyone in the community.

            The owl attack was not included as a part of Antonio’s story merely to give explanation for the later assaults on Ultima and her owl--Tenorio was malicious enough to attack Ultima without justification anyway. Tenorio’s gouged eye indicated to the community that he justified his violent behavior through something other than fact. Ultima foreshadowed that  harmful effects of stubbornly ignoring truth would be made plainly manifest when she said, “A man does not flee from the truth." Refusing to acknowledge truth,  no matter how painful,  will only harm the soul. As a part of Antonio’s coming-of-age, this lesson is significant because it is  soon after that he himself is forced to confront some uncomfortable truths of his own, truths that would  only harm his soul if ignored.