In the novel Bless Me Ultima the main character is a young boy by the name of Antonio Mares. Antonio is the son of a man who is used to a nomadic like lifestyle and his mother is accustomed to the life of living on a farm. This of course results in creating duality and controversy over the young boy's future. This does not slightly affect Antonio but it goes deeper to his faith and to his aspirations in life.
             Antonio's mother is a catholic woman who has strong old fashioned spiritual beliefs and values. She has high hopes and dreams for Antonio who is the youngest of his brothers and sisters. She believes that he should work hard in his school studies and wants him to gain responsibility, which she helps him achieve. Her convictions for Antonio to stay in school are not unjustified as she has a desire for Antonio to be a priest of the Catholic Church so of course she also causes him to focus on church studies and his religious faith. So of course Antonio's belief in God is rooted in his mother's teachings and traditions on religion and God.
             Antonio's father is a man who as I said before is accustomed to a nomadic life. His lifestyle is that of an old Mexican cowboy. He has a philosophy of that a man should be a man by providing for the family, by being free, and by being able to take care of yourself. This causes him to oppose quite a lot of Antonio's mother's beliefs and values. One of those is that of religion. Antonio's father religion has a god that is a golden carp. Antonio sees this carp and his faith is tested by this because it causes him to wonder if his faith is in the right place or whether he should believe in the golden carp or Catholicism like his mother wants him too. This is an example of the existence of alternate gods. The alternate gods in this book derive mainly from the belief system of his father and what it is that he believes exac
             ...