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Book 2, 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 day, Julio arrives home from work to find Blanca and Pastor Vasquez sitting on the couch surrounded by unpacked moving boxes. Blanca wants Pastor Vasquez to talk to Julio to deter him from keeping company with quasi-criminals like Bodega. Pastor Vasquez launches into a lecture about the Bible saving him from crime and drugs, and Julio feels annoyed. Suddenly, the doorbell rings: two detectives named DeJesus and Ortiz want to come in. Julio is about to say no because he doesn’t trust police, but Blanca welcomes them in. The detectives have some questions about Salazar’s murder; they ask Julio if he knows Sapo. Julio deflects, saying he knew Sapo in junior high but they barely see each other these days.
Julio has already decided that Bodega is justified in doing what he must to empower the Latinx community. Here, Julio dismisses Blanca and Pastor Vasquez’s Bible-based views about Bodega as simplistic, naïve, and out-of-touch. Julio’s visceral mistrust of the police implies that they likely don’t treat people from Spanish Harlem well, reinforcing the idea that systemic institutions (like the police force) oppress the community. Julio’s loyalty to Sapo remains strong, even though he risks being arrested himself.
Themes
Julio gestures to Pastor Vasquez and tells the police he’s in the middle of Bible study. Blanca is fuming in the background. The detectives ask Julio to come to the station to look over some evidence. Blanca starts angrily packing a bag to head to her mother’s, saying that when she’s back tomorrow, she needs to have a serious talk with Julio. Julio doesn’t know who to be more worried about: the police or Blanca.
Blanca implies that she might be leaving Julio, and it’s clear that Julio’s worried—but not worried enough to rat out Sapo. It seems that no matter what the cost, Julio’s sense of solidarity with Sapo (and likely, by this stage, with Bodega’s cause) remains unshakable.
Themes
At the station, Julio is waiting to meet Captain Leary (who’s running the investigation). Julio asks DeJesus to tell him—out of courtesy between fellow Latino people—how long this will take. DeJesus gets angry says he’s Cuban, not Puerto Rican, and he hates people from that “monkey island.” Julio gets angry as well, and he retorts that DeJesus is from a “monkey island” himself. Ortiz steps between them to ease the tension.
The argument between Julio and DeJesus exposes another damaging effect of systemic oppression: internalized racist views about Latinx people (captured in the “monkey island” slur) divide people who actually have a lot in common. One of the reasons why Bodega wants to encourage loyalty in the community is to help people bond over their shared oppression as Latinx people, so they can feel united rather than divided and work together to fight for change.
Themes
Captain Leary walks in, looking bored, and asks Julio what he knows about the Harry Goldstein Real Estate Agency, Bodega, or Salazar. Julio says that he pays rent to the agency and doesn’t know anything else. DeJesus gets irate, saying that he knows Julio is lying, but Captain Leary just warns Julio to be careful in the future—they’ve got their eye on him. As Julio leaves, Ortiz pulls him aside and says he’s Puerto Rican too. He has to stay loyal to DeJesus but likes the way Julio stood up to him.
Captain Leary’s boredom shows that he’s not taking the case seriously. Although that’s lucky for Julio, it nonetheless exposes how little the police care about crime in Spanish Harlem. Ortiz displays the kind of ethnic solidarity that Bodega is trying to inspire among Latinx people. Quiñonez thus shows how important this kind of in-group loyal can be by contrasting DeJesus’s hatred and desire to incriminate Julio with Ortiz’s empathy and measured response.
Themes
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