Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya is a coming-of-age story about a young boy named Antonio Marez. The novel is set in New Mexico, where Antonio tries to meet his parents' expectations while struggling with religion. Through Antonio, Anaya challenges some tenets of the religion and expresses her interpretation of the belief system. Antony's religious confusion suggests that man should be able to choose his own religion and his own destiny. In Bless me, Ultima, Antonio experiences conflict in his religious beliefs due to the deaths he witnesses, the new ideas he learns, and his open-minded mindset. In the story, the deaths of Narciso and Lupito make Antonio doubt his abilities. religion because he can't understand why God allowed them to happen. Lupito's death is significant because it is the first death that Antonio witnesses. Lupito's murder causes Antonio to question religion, sins and death. After Lupito's death, Antonio says that “a priest could have saved Lupito” (Anaya 23). Antonio questions his religion and the power of a priest because the priest failed to save Lupito. Antonio doubts whether he is capable of being a priest and is unsure of his destiny to become one. When Antonio sees Lupito at the river, he believes that he should have been able to save Lupito's soul, since he could have become a priest. Since Antonio couldn't save Lupito, he regrets it. Antonio shows that he feels guilty when he asks himself: “How could I ever wash away the blood stain?” (23). Antonio's guilt implies that his future as a priest may not be right for him because he shouldn't feel guilty about something he is destined to do. Furthermore, Narcissus' death makes Antonio lose faith in Cath......middle of paper......and Florence shows that he is open to the idea that there may be different beliefs. In essence, Antonio shows that he is not sure if he truly believes in his religion due to his acceptance of other beliefs, the new ideas he learns, and the deaths of Narciso and Lupito. Antonio's experiences lead him to believe that he is responsible for his destiny and that he has the ability to choose what he wants, not what his parents want. Ultimately, Antony determines his religious values ​​based on what he believes, so he tells himself to "[t]ake the Hylan and the river valley, the moon and the sea, God and the golden carp and do something new” (247). Antonio's encounters with religion represent those who follow their religion but are not satisfied with it. All in all, history suggests that sometimes people want to learn other ideas to find out what suits them best.