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Book 1, Round 6
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 seeks out Blanca’s sister Negra to make contact with Vera. Negra lives in the projects on 100th Street and First Avenue, which have panoramic views but are cheap because they’re in Spanish Harlem. When Julio enters, he hears Negra and her husband Victor fighting. Victor has a deep gash in his chest: Negra has stabbed Victor because she thinks he went to the movies with another woman. Victor is adamant that he doesn’t want to go to Metropolitan (the nearest hospital), but he eventually agrees to go to another one farther away, explaining in hushed tones to Julio that his mistress works at the closer hospital. Negra follows them out, kissing Victor and apologizing as he bleeds profusely.
The panoramic views from the projects on 100th Street imply that there’s a lot of potential for Spanish Harlem to become a desirable urban neighborhood—but it’s been largely ignored by the city, rendering it cheap and crime-ridden instead. Victor’s infidelity (and denial of his infidelity, even though it’s true) shows that a strand of disrespect for women runs through Latinx culture. Julio will later argue that the church reinforces this disrespect.
Themes
Julio calls Negra from the hospital, explaining that he needs to contact Vera. Negra is suspicious, but she agrees, because she owes Julio a favor for telling the hospital that Victor fell on a knife and wasn’t stabbed. When Julio gets home, he finds Blanca holding a contract for a two-bedroom apartment that’s half the price of theirs. Blanca is fuming because Julio didn’t discuss any of this with her first, and she feels like Julio keeps her in the dark about things. They patch things up and lie down together as Blanca holds her belly.
Julio will later argue that the Bible is problematic because the male characters do things without consulting their wives. Yet Julio is also guilty of the same thing: he’s scheming to get an apartment behind Blanca’s back, which makes Blanca feel disrespected. Blanca thinks that Julio is sexist. Julio, however, thinks that he can’t confide in Blanca because a lot of things he does (like engaging with criminals like Bodega) conflict with her religious views.
Themes
Blanca asks Julio if he knows anyone looking to get married. She’s trying to fix up a girl from her church named Claudia who isn’t the best catch (because she’s not a virgin and not very pretty). It turns out that Claudia, who’s from Columbia, needs a green card quickly. Julio’s annoyed. They don’t have time for this, and he thinks that Blanca is naïve for trying to avoid street politics to solve this girl’s immigration problem. Blanca wonders if she should ask Negra, but she’s hesitant because Negra is a handful.
Claudia’s situation subtly hints at sexism within the church community—it implies that women are only valued for their looks and perceived sexual purity, not for their personalities or intellect. Julio’s frustration shows that Blanca would be able to help Claudia more by turning to the underground community of Spanish Harlem. Thus, Blanca’s blanket belief that all illegal activity is immoral actually hinders rather than helps her.
Themes
Negra and Blanca are total opposites: while Blanca was drawn to the church as an adolescent, Negra was smoking weed and sneaking out of the house. Negra also knows everything that’s going on in the neighborhood; she even knows why a gay man named Popcorn was found stabbed to death on his rooftop. Julio reflects that the police, as always, asked around but didn’t follow up—they never do if the media doesn’t get wind of it. Negra, however, knows that a girl named Inelda Aldino killed Popcorn over an argument about which of them had better hair. Negra didn’t tell the cops, but she told everyone in the neighborhood, and eventually somebody tipped off the cops.
The sad story about Popcorn’s fate exposes more systemic oppression that’s in play in Spanish Harlem: the police don’t really care about making the neighborhood safer. Yet Negra is actually able to bring about justice and safety by relying on her community network. This hints at why Bodega wants to strengthen the sense of solidarity among Spanish Harlem’s residents: it helps them to do the work that the system should be doing to care for their community, like bringing murderers to justice.
Themes
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Blanca is convinced that they can find somebody to marry Claudia, even if it’s a sham marriage for the paperwork. She urges Julio to ask around on the street. Suddenly, Negra calls to tell Blanca about the drama with Victor; Julio is relieved at the distraction. After they chat, Negra asks for Julio and explains that Vera is coming to town for a high school reunion. Julio asks Negra not say anything about this to Blanca, and Negra agrees but says that Julio owes her. Julio agrees reluctantly, knowing he’s going to regret it.
Blanca and Julio are both getting drawn into the quasi-legal underground subculture of Spanish Harlem despite the fact that they both want to avoid it. This implies—once again—that people in the neighborhood don’t have other resources available to help them in times of need. They have to rely on one another, even if they veer into illegal territory.
Themes
