Examples Of Conflict In Bless Me Ultima

While there are numerous examples of conflict throughout Bless Me, Ultima, the most prominent examples are the “Man vs. Self” conflicts Antonio faces. One such conflict—a multifaceted struggle that ultimately becomes one of the most prominent in the novel—concerns his religious beliefs. Antonio’s mother is a devout Catholic and raises her children to be followers of the religion as well, but Antonio struggles with the concept of the all-powerful God and the fact that such a God would punish good people while forgiving those whom Antonio deemed “evil,” and at one point thinks that perhaps God does not help him because He is “too busy in heaven to worry or care about” Antonio and his friends and family (187). Antonio also doubts that God truly is all-powerful, as He couldn’t alleviate the Téllez family’s curse, and He could save neither Lupito nor Narciso, and therefore thinks it “doesn’t seem right” that He has “the right to send you to hell or heaven when you died.” (236) Yet despite his doubts, some part of Antonio clings to his upbringing and what his mother taught him, as he is seen desperately clinging to his religious beliefs, such as when he restrains himself from seeking too much knowledge despite his curiosity, for fear that he might commit “the original sin of Adam and Eve” (197).