Confliction of Religions

Confliction of Religions

In the book Bless Me Ultima written by Rudolpho Anaya the main character Antonio is faced with one of the most excruciating decisions of his life, which religion to follow. Though Tony was raised a strict catholic he has many doubts about the actions of his catholic god and is unsure if he even exists. Through out the novel two other religions are brought to Tony’s attention one involves a pagan fish god referred to as the Golden Carp and the other is the witchcraft magic of and elderly woman Antonio holds dear to his heart. As Antonio matures he witnesses each religion perform miracles and fail him dramatically. “ “God! Why did Lupito die? Why do you allow the evil of the Trementinas? Why did you allow Narciso to be murdered when he was doing well? . . . A thousand questions pushed through my mind, but the Voice within me did not answer . . .””(Anaya 221) Antonio questions each religion numerous times throughout the novel. Tony has an enormous dilemma when choosing which religion to follow because each has positive and negative attributes that appeal to him.

Catholicism is the religion in which Tony was raised with. It had been his only religion for quite awhile until he was old enough to start thinking for himself and question authority. Tony’s mom is a devote catholic who puts her life in God’s hands. She has always pushed Catholicism on Tony; she even wants him to become a priest. Tony held Catholicism has his religion until around the time of Lupito’s death. The death of Lupito caused Tony to question why he was killed and where he would go after he had died. Tony’s questioning of the catholic religion also reoccurred when he received his fist communion. As he took the bite of bread and drank his glass of wine Tony was expecting all of his questions about his religion to be answered. None of them were answered; Tony felt nothing and this arose his suspicion of the religion even more.

The religion of the Golden Carp seemed to fit Tony better than Catholicism because many of his questions were answered. Though in this religion everyone is eventually engulfed by water after an earthquake signifying that all men have sinned, the religion offered explanations unlike Catholicism. Cico, the boy who unveiled this new religion to Tony believed in the story of the Golden Carp whole heartedly which further led Tony into believing the story might be true. In addition to the in-depth story behind the god known as the Golden Carp Tony could actually see him, which in the eyes of an eight year old helps him believe the religion even more. Though Tony feels secure about his religion it fails him once more, with the death of his close friend Florence that coincidently was on his way to see the Golden Carp for the first time. Once again Tony questions why such a merciful God would let this happen to an innocent child. Something that seems to bother Tony throughout the novel is the thought