In Bless me, Ultima, Antonio starts to understand the identities of different heritage because of Ultima’s influence. In this narrative, Ultima starts to teach Antonio things that his family cannot. She does this because she sees herself knowing Antonio more than his family knows him. Ultima thinks this way because she claimed that she is the only one that knows his true destiny and that more than anyone else Antonio comes to her for advice. Antonio’s most relevant lesson that Ulima taught him was that he should follow his own beliefs, he decides his fate, no one can do that for him even family. Antonio learns about the identities of his families’ heritages. Anaya uses Bless me, Ultima to introduce the reader to conflicting cultures in Antonio’s childhood. Antonio’s early life is based on the conflict between the two sides of his family, the Luna and the Marez. The Luna are devoted farmers who worship the earth and the moon, while the Marez are vaqueros who are devoted to horses and the sun. Because of Antonio’s three older brothers chose the life of the Marez, Antonio is expected by his mother to choose the Luna and become a priest. “You are a Luna, they chanted in unison, you are to be a farmer-priest for mother”. (Anaya 26) Ultima teaches Antonio many things about morality. "In two days we would celebrate the mass of the dead, and after mass we would take her body to the cemetery in Las Pasturas for burial. But all that would only be the ceremony that was prescribed by custom. Ultima was really buried here. Tonight."(Anaya 262) Ultima teaches Antonio to keep his judgement apart from beliefs. Antonio accepts both the views of the Catholics and mysticism instead of choosing either one. Another thing that Antonio learns from Ultima is the idea that morality is not definite. In chapter 3, Ultima said that "Last night was hard for many men." This quote was Ultima’s message about Antonio’s curiosity about the morality of murder. Ultima teaches Antonio many things that his own relatives can't. "He had saved my life, and perhaps if we had come earlier we would have saved Ultima. But it was better not to think that way. Ultima said to take life's experiences and build strength from them, not weakness." (Anaya 261)This illustrates that the wisdom and lessons that Ultima taught Antonio which made him realize that Ultima would forever be with him throughout his life. Maria states that it is a sin to grow up, to mature. Though innocence doesn’t last forever, the "magical strength" in the heart gives Antonio hope. "The tragic consequences of life can be overcome by the magical strength that resides in the human heart." (Anaya 249) Even though Antonio had experience the tragic deaths and situation he still perseveres and continues on. Antonio meaning when he said that "the glory & tragedy" of his people's history stir in his blood was that through the years in his family, the Lunas didn't want their future generation to become a Marez while the Marez didn't want their generation to become a Luna. Which makes it even more difficult for Antonio to make a choice between the two. As Ultima is telling the "glory & tragedy" to Antonio, Antonio starts to understand that he needs to decide whether to pick one side over the other or influences these differences into his own identity. Antonio learns that he should be the one that decides his own destiny, which Ultima had taught him to realize. He changed from believing he was destined to be a priest because his mother said so, to now choosing what he desires, this is another thing Ultima has helped him to realize. Antonio’s innocence was lost as the story progressed, he had many scarring experiences. This had also helped him to know the difference between reality and a dream. Ultimately, Antonio’s biggest lesson he learned in his life is that no one, not even family, can decide his true fate.