Bright blue his jacket is, and his boots are yellow.

“Cease! She cried to the raging powers, and the powers from heaven and the power from earth obeyed her. The storm abated…..The waters are one, Antonio. I looked into her bright, clear eyes and understood her truth. You have been seeing only parts, she finished, and not looking beyond into the great cycle that binds us all.”

                      Bless me, Ultima, Rudolpho Anaya, page 126

Ultima is a woman who does not fear evil. She sees the world from a higher vantage point that gives her a broader vision. Thus she can see clearly that being a Márez is not better than being a Luna. From her view point the only two sides are good and evil, and she chooses to good, staying out of trivial rivalries.

Tom Bomadil

One of my favorite characters from The Lord of the Rings is Tom Bombadil. He is an interesting character and unlike any other that appears in Middle Earth. He lives a secluded life living deep in a forest with his wife, Goldberry, the “Daughter of the River,” and seems to be the only one the One Ring does not affect.

Though they have their differences Ultima and Tom Bombadil are similar. Both Ultima and Tom Bombadil live apart from others. They both collect plants, and have a special connection with the earth and seem to draw some of their power and identity from it. They are not the most powerful beings on earth, but both seem to possess power and wisdom that no one else does. Their powers are mysterious, but they both use them for good. Tom Bombadil and Ultima use their powers for good to exorcise evil. Ultima exorcises the evil from Antonio’s uncle Lucas after he was cursed by the Tremontina witches. Tom Bombadil performed something of a reverse exorcism, he ordered the evil Old Man Willow to expel the hobbits after he lulled them to sleep and swallowed them up in his trunk.  Evil does not affect them like it affects others. It does not have much, if any, power over them. Because of their broader vision of the world they do not fear. It is their understanding of good and evil and their ability to see the bigger picture that gives them their power.