Navid Moaziniya
Ostrovsky
ELA II B1
25 September 2014
BMU Essay Topic 1
In Bless Me, Ultima, Antonio Marez progresses towards his own moral independence and chooses his destiny. He is forced to put up with difficult experiences, most of which question his basic beliefs, and from these experiences, he learns a great deal of wisdom and knowledge. This process was confusing and painful at times, but the loss of innocence forced little Tony to face life’s harsh realities and become more mature.
In Bless Me, Ultima, Antonio goes on a quest to discover who he is and what he truly believes. His experiences continually challenge his beliefs and take away some of his innocence. A prime example of this is when he witnesses the death of Lupito. As he becomes preoccupied with sin, and punishment, he asks himself “Had [God] seen my father on the bridge? And where was Lupito’s soul winging to?” (23). He begins to see the world as violent and ruthless, and finds out that it is not always the loving world that he had previously known. He even becomes concerned with his father’s salvation because of his involvement in Lupito’s death. Furthermore, another event that greatly chips away at Antonio’s innocence is when Narciso, a good man who wanted to defend Ultima, is killed, and Tenorio, someone who Antonio views as “the reincarnation of the devil”, is spared. These outcomes are not what Antonio expected. Once again, he comes upon the fact that life is not fair. He realizes that he must define his own beliefs. Consequently, Tony seeks comfort in beliefs other than Catholicism Antonio starts a religious transformation when he goes to his first communion. He begins to lose faith because “A thousand questions pushed through [his] mind, but the voice within [him] did not answer. . . ” (221). Tony starts to question his beliefs and understands the limitations of Catholicism. He starts to believe that the Carp can actually help him find clarity since it provided him with a moving spiritual experience that his First Communion did not provide. Instead of blindly accepting Catholicism, as he is told by his culture and religion, poking around the Golden Carp aides him with determining his spirituality. In another transformation, Antonio’s friends and school are
