Antonio’s very young when he witnesses the death of a man named Lupito. Antonio realizes Lupito isn’t so bad as he appears to become this mad man viewed by the town and Antonio worries for the outcome of Lupito’s life. Lupito ends up dying and Antonio starts to wonder the faith of the men who had shot at Lupito: “I thought of Chávez, angered by the death of his brother, seeking the blood of revenge. I thought of Narciso, standing alone against the dark figures on the bridge. I thought of my father. I wondered if he had fired on Lupito. Now the men on the walked the earth with the terrible burden of dark mortal sin on their souls, and hell was the only reward” (30). Within these thoughts, Antonio observes the men still sinned even though they believed they had done justice for Chávez’s brother. Antonio knew the men had good intentions. However, he believes the men should have let Lupito explain himself and his actions just like Narciso wanted to handle things.. From the very beginning, Antonio makes this observation. He starts to become conflicted because his own father, Gabriel, became caught up in the shooting. Antonio doesn’t know if the men did a good thing and this starts to make him question the balance between virtue and sin. Also, the church influences Antonio to see the differences between right and wrong: …show more content…
Anaya represents childhood and adolescence as a time of confusion and clarity, illustrating the theme: virtue and sin do not have a clear divide between them, which results sin and virtue to become nebulous because bringing beauty into someone’s life should become valued than judgement based on one’s actions. In this novel, Antonio becomes conflicted on trying to figure out the differences between good and evil. He questions himself multiple times because he wants to find out an answer. Antonio questions many people’s actions and doesn’t realize judgement isn’t necessary. Towards the end of the novel, Antonio comes to a realization with the help of Florence and Ultima, sin and virtue do not have to apply or in this case matter to life. Bringing beauty into one’s life overpowers anything. This allows Antonio to finally overcome his conflict and to finally receive some clarity instead of confusion. As Anaya portrayed in his novel; bring beauty, not judgement. Instead of looking at people’s different beliefs and values, one should try to make each individual a happier person as Anaya has clearly shown throughout Bless Me,