Conflicts in Antonio's Life

Antonio Márez, or Tony as he is often called, is the main character in Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me Ultima. He is the youngest of all of his siblings, but in him is pinned the hopes of both of his parents. All of the events that he goes through in the short time Ultima is with his family makes it so that he grows well beyond his years, and his notions of the peaceful, unchanging world are shattered forever. Once sheltered from everything, Antonio’s experiences cause him to question all that happens around him. He spends a long time pondering the meaning of justice and is forever torn between the different worlds he is exposed to. Throughout the book, Antonio is forced to face the different paths his future may hold, that of being a farmer or priest or a man of the llano, or his own man. Antonio is exposed to the grown up world and is forced to choose between maintaining his innocence or to face the answers to all questions the world around him leaves him asking. On his journey, Antonio is torn between the worlds of the Catholic Church he was raised in and that of the Golden Carp and the world of Ultima that he is introduced to. All of these inner conflicts and outward realizations transform Tony from a young boy, to a young man more aware of the world around him then most adults are.

Throughout the duration of the story, Antonio is constantly being pulled in different directions by his parents. His mother desperately wants his to become a priest like the first Luna’s who came to the land were. If he cannot become a priest, then she wants him to be a farmer like the men in her family are. Antonio’s father wants him to be a man of llano, not tied to the land like a farmer, but free to roam upon it as he feels. Even since his birth, his...

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...is trying to mentor him so he can grow up to be what he wants. Antonio is smart and often appears to be more mature then his friends of the same age. Antonio is caught between the world of innocence that he has grown up in thus far, and the world of maturity hat is beginning to wind its way into his life. He is beginning to understand that growing up means losing some of that that innocence, and to question what was once just accepted. Even his once concrete notion of the Catholic faith was changed forever when he was introduced to a new religion in the form of the Golden Carp. All of these elements lead to the timeless tale of growing up and discovering one’s self. Antonio starts out his journey as a young boy, but all of his experiences and observations of the world around him along with the guidance of Ultima lead him to become a young man well beyond his years.