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Book 1, Round 3
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Bodega Dreams, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Latinx Immigrants and Broken Dreams
Crime, Wealth and Activism
Religion, Sexism, and Poverty
Loyalty, Solidarity, and Community
Summary
Analysis
Julio, still skeptical, asks how Bodega gets around the IRS. Bodega explains that Nazario set up a company called the Harry Goldstein Real Estate Agency to keep everything above board (though there’s no Harry Goldstein behind it, only Bodega). Bodega wants Julio to help him and become a role model for the Puerto Rican community. Julio, still skeptical, explains that he's only half Puerto Rican—his father is from Ecuador. Bodega, however, is unfazed. He wants to buy El Barrio for the community—one burned-out lot at a time—until he owns the whole neighborhood, the way the Kennedys owned Boston. Bodega thinks that if his plan goes well, there might even be a Nuyorican president one day.
As Bodega divulges more of his plan, the reader learns that he aims to preserve the neighborhood for the immigrants, so that they can stay in Spanish Harlem instead of being displaced by gentrification. That way, they’ll ideally be able to find a sense of empowerment in their Nuyorican (half New York, half Puerto Rican) culture. Bodega’s mention of the Kennedys (President John F. Kennedy’s wealthy and illustrious family line) implies that what he’s doing is no different to what American politicians do to secure wealth for themselves and other people in their communities.
Themes
Bodega realizes Julio has smoked too much, and Sapo cracks a joke about how Julio isn’t allowed to smoke at home. Julio denies it to save face, but he knows—as all Latin men do—that women are in charge at home, and they’re terrifying. They’ll stab you if you wrong them, and them going to jail means little if you’re dead. Julio likes Bodega’s honest dishonesty. Julio thinks that social change can’t happen by the books, and it won’t happen through God: revolutions need people like Bodega. Julio knows Spanish Harlem needs his help: rents are rising, and social services are being cut. But he also doesn’t want to lose Blanca, so he passes on the offer. Bodega thinks that’s a shame.
Julio’s reflection about Latinx women shows that they actually hold a lot of power and agency within their communities. In mentioning women and God, Julio subtly hints that he thinks religion disempowers women (by depicting them as weak instead of powerful) and Latinx people in general (because it doesn’t motivate them to fight for social change, but rather to tolerate their poverty and wait for salvation). Julio also reinforces the idea that activists sometimes need to break the law to make changes happen, particularly when people are treated unfairly by the those who administer the law (like police and politicians).
Themes
Julio gets up to leave, and jokes around with Nene at the door. Outside, Sapo is upset. He recommended Julio to Bodega, and know he feels like a fool. Julio feels annoyed. He doesn’t mind looking after a package now and then, and he knows Bodega wants to help the community, but he thinks that Bodega also wants to get rich. Sapo grows angry and says that Julio acts like he cares about other people but when it comes down to things, Julio is just as selfish as everyone else. Sapo drives off, yelling at Julio to go home to his “church girl.”
Julio’s hesitance to join Bodega creates a rift in his friendship with Sapo—it feels to Sapo like a violation of their loyalty to each other, which is clearly important to both of them. Quiñonez also implies (through Sapo’s voice) that the community’s empowerment as a whole is a worthier cause than a person’s individual efforts to improve their own life. This subtly implies why loyalty is so important: it fosters a sense of solidarity among people in the community, and it encourages them to empower one another rather than focusing solely on themselves.
Themes
