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Book 1, Round 8
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
The next Saturday morning, Sapo knocks on Julio’s door: Bodega wants to meet Julio at El Museo del Barrio. Sapo explains that the museum isn’t open yet, but they’ll open for Bodega, who donates a lot of money to them. Julio is surprised to hear that Bodega gives money to the arts, and he presses Sapo for information about how Bodega got so much power. Sapo explains that the neighborhood used to be run by the Italian mafia—they even controlled the tenements to segregate the Italians from the Latino and black residents. But when their big boss Fat Tony Salerno went to prison, he had to sell off a bunch of buildings for legal fees; Bodega, along with Nazario, swooped in.
Quiñonez reveals that Bodega is a benefactor of the arts. This shows another way in which Bodega aims to empower the neighborhood: by supporting the artistic and cultural scene. The reader learns that this corner of Manhattan—now known as Spanish Harlem—has been occupied by ethnically diverse immigrants for years. The fact that the neighborhood is still poor means that immigrants have been oppressed in New York for a long time—at least for several generations.
Themes
On the drive over to the museum, Julio asks Sapo if he knows anyone who’d be willing to marry a Columbian girl who needs a green card. Sapo suggests a neighborhood junkie, but Julio thinks that’s a terrible idea. Sapo suggests asking Nazario, but Julio doesn’t want to get mixed up with Bodega and Nazario any more than already he has. The museum guard lets Julio in after he realizes that Julio is there to meet Bodega, who’s inside looking at a painting.
Blanca’s Columbian friend’s predicament exposes another component of the disenfranchisement that some Latinx immigrants face: many people wind up undocumented when they try to seek better lives. In this case, U.S.-backed drug raids in Colombia during the 1980s and 1990s triggered widespread violence and political instability, causing many people to flee.
Themes
Julio reflects that he likes the museum a lot because the guards don’t follow him around like they do at the Metropolitan Museum. Bodega explains that he’s going to marry Vera, despite the fact that she’s already married, meaning he’ll soon be related to Julio and Blanca. Julio is skeptical about this, but Bodega is certain. Bodega explains that Vera loves him but she was worried about Bodega’s ability to support her. Her current husband, John Vidal, fled Cuba in 1958 with a lot of dirty money. Vera’s mother—who didn’t like the look of Bodega at all—pushed Vera into the marriage.
In noting that the guards at museums often follow him around, Julio exposes yet another facet of the oppression that Latinx people face. They’re perceived as delinquents by others in society, so they are treated like criminals whenever they leave the neighborhood. This demoralizes them and deters them from engaging in many aspects of life outside their own neighborhood, further isolating them from New York society at large.
Themes
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Back then, the Young Lords were a guerilla group with guns and a manifesto. They wanted to liberate Puerto Rico from the United States, encourage self-governance in Latin countries, install community programs, and battle machismo (macho) culture. Bodega explains that Vera fell in love with his optimism and they used to go to rallies and Marx classes together. What Vera really wanted, however, was for Bodega to have a plan for making an income; he’s convinced that he has that now. Julio wonders if Vera will want to walk away from her husband’s money, which upsets Bodega. Bodega looks Julio in the eyes and says he’ll ask Julio for something—not yet, but soon.
Quiñonez uses Bodega’s memories about the Young Lords to imply that the island of Puerto Rico is under U.S. control, but it’s denied essential resources that the island’s residents need to improve their lives. He subtly implies that there’s a parallel between the way the U.S. government treats Puerto Rico and the way New York’s politicians treat Spanish Harlem. Quiñonez also thinks that machismo culture (which champions the bravado of men) is regressive. Julio will later argue that the church exacerbates this issue.
Themes
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The next day, Julio and Blanca move into their new apartment with the help of Negra and Victor. Victor is still healing from his stab wound, but they’re both acting very affectionate. A couple of days later, Julio comes home and flips on the television: the news says that an undercover journalist named Alberto Salazar has been found dead in the East River, his body bearing a gunshot wound and a bite mark. Julio immediately knows who killed Salazar.
Julio remembers that he heard Bodega, Nazario, and Sapo talking about Salazar earlier, meaning that they are likely responsible for the murder. So far, Quiñonez has implied that the men dabble in drug-related crime, but here, he ups the stakes: it seems that they are also involved in a murder. This is a much bigger moral issue for Julio (and, by extension, the reader) to wrestle with in weighing what level of crime is justified in the name of activism.
Themes
