Bless Me Ultima Conflicts

In the story Bless Me, Ultima, Antonio was faced with several cultural conflicts that influenced his moral compass and cultural identity.
First, he is faced with a cultural conflict between his mother and father’s aspirations for his destiny. His mother, who came from a family of farmers and known as men of the people, wanted Antonio to pursue a future life as a priest. While his father, who came from a family of cowboys and rode the IIano to find new discoveries wanted Antonio to follow in his footsteps. These conflicting views between his parents made Antonio struggle to find his future identity. Similarly, I grappled with the same battle as a child. My mother, who was an allopathic medical practitioner wanted me to pursue medicine, while my father, who was a chemical engineer wanted me to become an engineer. Just like Antonio had learned from Ultima, this was an element I had to decide for myself. I
The Golden Carp symbolizes the beliefs of the Native American Indians, who were rewarded with a residence and a lifetime supply of food for being faithful to their God, except for eating the golden carp. After countless years of no rain and hunger, the Indians finally ate the golden carp in order to survive. Their Gods were insulted and sought to destroy all the people, but one God asked for forgiveness, which resulted in the Gods turning the people into carps and sparing their lives. Antonio realizes that the golden carp provided a different belief compared to his own Catholic religion, but similar due to both stories containing sin, punishment, and forgiveness. Furthermore, he realizes that there is a possibility to have more the one god and a different belief system. Since I am a Catholic just like Antonio, this conflict opened up my eyes to a different belief that contained other Gods and similar elements of obeying rules and being accountable for one’s