“Understanding comes with life. As a man grows he sees life and death, he is happy and sad, he works, he plays, he meets people – sometimes it takes a lifetime to gain understanding, because in the end understanding simply means liking people.” Rudolfo Anaya, author of the novel Bless Me, Ultima, creates an epic battle between a boy named Antonio and his uncertainties about life, which ultimately reveals his true personality. Through a long and rigorous journey, Antonio discovers, with the guidance of others, aspects of his life that represent the plot of the novel: the discovery of Antonio's questions and his true identity. Anthony's struggles with religious beliefs, pagan deities, and identity. These struggles lead him to search for answers, with his answers Antonio is able to syncretize religion, cultures, to find his true identity. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Antonio represents opposing families and cultures, his mother's family, the Lunas, and his father's family, the Marezes. The Luna represent quiet people tied to the land by their agriculture while the Marez are people free to travel and do what they want. Throughout the novel, Antonio is constantly torn between the Lunas and the Marezes. Antonio constantly tries to distinguish who he is. Even from the beginning of the book this conflict of Antonio is present. This will be a Moon. . . he will be a farmer and will maintain our habits and customs. Maybe God will bless our family and make the child a priest. . . Then the silence was broken by the thunder of hooves; vaqueros surrounded the little house. . . He is a Marez. . . His ancestors were conquistadors, men as restless as the seas they sailed and as free as the land they conquered. Throughout the novel, Maria and Gabriele constantly argue about Antonio. Maria and Gabriel cannot deny that one day, when Antonio becomes a man, he will be able to choose whether to be his "mother's priest" or his "father's son". Both parents always insult each other. Maria, for example, thinks that the Llano are “worthless drunkards” and that they are “always dragging their families around the country like vagrants.” His father always questions whether Tony wants to become a priest and a farmer. Even though there are constant arguments in the family, Antonio goes in search of answers to his identity. To find the answers it was necessary for Antonio to experience both sides of his family. Anaya writes, "But from my father and Ultima I had learned that the greatest immortality is in a man's freedom, and that freedom is best nourished by the noble expanse of earth, air, and pure white sky." Anaya writes: “I learned to feel comfortable in the silence of my uncles, a silence as deep as that of a child. I observed closely how they worked the land, the respect they showed it, and the way they cared for living plants. The experiences that Antonio accumulates allow him to make his own decisions, to forge his own path. Anaya writes, "'Then maybe I don't just have to be Marez or Luna, maybe I can be both,' I said." His experiences made Antonio realize that there are pros and cons to being on only one side of the family. Knowing the disadvantages of both sides of his family, Antonio can choose what he likes. Another problem with Antonio is religion. His mother is Catholic and often imposes her religion on Antonio. However, Antony slowly begins to doubt the Catholic god, after repeated failures to receive God's explanation of the existence of evil. Furthermore, Antonio even thinks that God himself does not exist. Anaya writes: “there was only silence”. His faith in God comes further..