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Book 2, Round 1
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
On the day that Vera is due to arrive, Julio spots Nazario outside his apartment building. Nazario is smartly dressed and surrounded by tenants who are kissing and greeting him. Julio tells Nazario that he’s planning to take Blanca, Negra, and Vera out to dinner so that Bodega can bump into them at the restaurant, as if by accident. Julio thinks to himself that he’ll never rat out Sapo or Bodega, but after he’s connected Bodega and Vera as promised, he’s steering clear of Bodega. Nazario explains that the dinner plan is fine—however, Bodega also wants Julio to take him to meet Vera this morning. Julio is angry. He can tell that Nazario’s worried and wants to distract Bodega, but Julio is afraid of getting implicated in the Salazar murder.
Julio is hesitant to get more embroiled with Bodega and Nazario because he doesn’t want to get in trouble with the law over the murder and ruin his life. Yet, at the same time, Julio is still adamant that he’ll protect Sapo (which would also get Julio in trouble with law). The juxtaposition between Julio’s fear of getting in trouble and his determination to protect Sapo shows how strong the sense of loyalty between them is—Julio will even cover for Sapo when it conflicts with his own personal safety.
Themes
As they walk down the street, Nazario is greeted warmly by many people. Bodega and Nazario have helped out a lot of Puerto Rican immigrants in the neighborhood, and it shows: the whole neighborhood is loyal to Bodega and nobody forgets his favors. Julio reflects that Bodega’s good name has spread “like a good smell from a Latin woman’s kitchen.” Julio explains that after the Young Lords broke up. Bodega turned to drug-dealing and got busted selling marijuana on the street. Nazario represented Bodega and got him off using an ingenious loophole. Now, they run the whole neighborhood.
Quiñonez uses the simile of “a good smell from a Latin woman’s kitchen” to represent the positive, healthy, and warm feelings that Bodega and Nazario inspire among the residents by helping them out. They bolster the community and encourage its residents to help one another out. Bodega and Nazario effectively build a feeling of solidarity in the community that spreads swiftly—people are drawn to it the way they’re drawn to the aroma of good food.
Themes
Julio tells Nazario he can’t help out this morning because he has to go to work. When Julio gets to the supermarket, his manager gives Julio a meaningful look, says that Julio looks ill, and tells him to go home. Nazario is waiting for Julio outside. As they walk, Nazario encourages Julio to go to law school, saying that lawyers can steal a lot more than men with guns. Julio retorts that he doesn’t like shady business. Nazario explains that everything he’s doing with Bodega is for Julio’s generation—so they don’t have to suffer.
Nazario’s quip about lawyers introduces the idea that stealing happens in professional circles as well as on the streets. This is important, as Nazario thinks that his actions (even though some of them are technically illegal) are not much different than the stealing that many people in power do through lawyers, legislation, and paperwork.
Themes
Julio and Nazario approach a small storefront, and Julio is surprised to learn that this place is actually a salsa museum. Julio looks at the gold records on the walls with awe while Nazario chats with the owner of the museum—Nazario and Bodega have been putting the owner’s daughter through school. Suddenly, Julio sees the big picture: He realizes that Bodega and Nazario are financing promising young Latino people to build a professional class of educated youths who will do big things in the future, live affordably in Bodega’s buildings, and empower the whole community. Nazario thinks that the “white yuppies” will take over otherwise, and the neighborhood will be lost. Nazario wants to “free our island, without bloodshed.”
In saying “white yuppies,” Nazario reveals that a fast-approaching wave of gentrification threatens the local culture of Spanish Harlem, such as the salsa museum. The museum also highlights a significant aspect of Latinx culture, explicitly contradicting the belief among Julio’s racist teachers that Latinx people have no culture to offer the world. Nazario’s claim about freeing “our island” shows that he feels compelled to claim Spanish Harlem because there isn’t any place for Puerto Rican culture to thrive. Even the island is affected by gentrification and oppression as a U.S. territory.
Themes
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