Antonio Death In Bless Me Ultima

Throughout Bless Me, Ultima, young Antonio has to cope with and try to understand many tragedies. However, each death he observes makes him stronger and braver, therefore his character is developed through his experiences with death. Antonio watched three men die over the course of the novel, and during each event he was expected to understand and behave appropriately. When Antonio witnesses his first death, Lupito’s death, he was in awe and it truly impacted his life. While Antonio is hiding near the bridge, he thinks, “I had witnessed for the first time the death of a man” (Anaya 25). Because of Antonio’s young age, he was confused and in a stupor after what he had just seen. Only later when Antonio goes to sleep at night and ponders what Lupito’s death means does
Antonio is very pious because his mother values religion. The deaths in the novel cause Antonio to question God and if He is really good. Antonio contemplates, “He created you. He could strike you dead. God moved the hands that killed Lupito” (Anaya 47). Antonio’s inner struggles first start when Lupito is killed by the men on the bridge. Antonio begins to expect that his innocence is lost after witnessing such awful things. These deaths and events Antonio has to endure force him to mature. He thinks to himself, “My father had tried to keep his land holy and pure, but perhaps it was impossible. Perhaps the llano was like me, as I grew the innocence was gone, and so too the land changed” (Anaya 176). Antonio feels that since he lost his innocence, he is no longer the same person. Unwillingly, Antonio is forced to grow up fast in the events leading up to Florence’s death. When Narciso is killed, Antonio has to act extremely brave in the face of danger and pray for his friend’s soul. He thinks, “I knew what I had to pray. I had to pray an Act of Contrition for his departing soul, like I prayed for Lupito. But I had not held Lupito while his body went cold. I had not bloodied my hands with his life’s