The Role Of Antonio's Father In Bless Me Ultima

Antonio is torn. Does he follow his mother’s dream and devastate his father? Or does he follow his father’s dream and crush his mother? Antonio from the novel, Bless Me, Ultima, he is a boy of only 6 years old, that is the greatest decision he will ever make. The llano. A grassy plain. Miles of freedom for a cowboy. Like Antonio's father. A town. A church in the middle. Farms all around. The comfort of a knowing priest and friends and family. The life for Antonio’s mother. Healing herbs. Helping people come out of the shadows of death to live again. Having power over mostly all evil. Ultima’s way of life. But which should Antonio choose? Antonio’s mother often tells him, ‘ "You will be like my brothers. You will be a Luna, Antonio. You will

Maria, Antonio's mother, would always tell Antonio about how he was going to be a helper of the people. How he was going to be a priest. Not a Marez, like his father.Tradition doesn’t last forever. Antonio might be the one to break tradition. What you are taught as you grow up, whether it’s what you should be or how you should do something, doesn’t mean that’s what you have to pursue.
As we grow older, we often have stages. We want to be a racecar driver, a veterinarian, or an astronaut. But then after a few years those change. Maybe to more realistic jobs or goals. A lot of people’s influences come from what their parents have become, or what they want them to become. Most times you will pursue your parents goal for you because you trust them. But imagine that your parents have totally opposite ideas for your future. Along with an elder that has a huge impact on you. What side would you chose? You couldn’t chose your mother’s side without your father

They often are more like visions that portray his future. Or what he will or will not become as he grows older. Some of his dreams are nightmares though. Horrible scenes for a 6 year old to have to endure. Antonio’s first dream he finds out, “Now the people who had waited patiently in the dark were allowed to come in… and deliver their gifts to the baby….This one will be a Luna, the old man said, he will be a farmer and keep our customs and traditions. Perhaps God will bless our family and make the baby a priest….Gabriel, they shouted, you have a fine son! He will make a fine vaquero!” (Anaya 5). Already he is pressured with what he will become. Before Ultima arrives, he is faced with what will be consuming his life for the next couple years. Both sides of the family fought at his birth, and still do. Ultima is the only one who knows his future, and she helps him find his path on the right way to that future. In a few other dreams, he sees his brothers, “I swung the dark robe of the priest over my shoulders…. It is the presence of the river! Save us, my brothers cried and cowered at my words. I spoke to the presence of the river and it allowed my brothers to cross with their carpenter tools to build our castle on the hill… Help us, Toni-eeeeee. Give us, grant us rest from this sea-blood! I have no magic power to help you, I cried back” (Anaya 25, 61, 235). Mostly all the dreams that Antonio has about