Family Ties

In both Dreaming in Cuban and Bodega Dreams, the theme of family is prominent throughout the whole novel. In Dreaming in Cuban, the family theme deals with something different than previous novels in the class: it is a story of three generations of women. In Bodega Dreams, the theme of family is played out in the relationship between Blanca and Chino, but also the relationship between Willie Bodega and Spanish Harlem. Throughout both of the novels, there are different dynamics between families, and the families support each other in different ways.

In Dreaming in Cuban, a family of women is central to the novel. The family is split apart: Celia, the matriarch, lives in Cuba with her youngest daughter Felicia and Felicia's three children, while her oldest daughter Lourdes and Lourdes's daughter Pilar live in New York, far away from the influence of the revolution. The novel follows the lives of three generations of women, throughout the years following the revolution until 1980. The story follows the women through tribulations and hurt, revolution and freedom, as well as death. The novel is not a story of marital relationships, but rather they are the interactions between the different women. For Pilar, Lourdes’s daughter, the mother-daughter relationship is strained, and Pilar is much closer to her father than mother. It is almost a mirror of the relationship between Lourdes and Jorge, her father. Lourdes ad Celia never got along when they were together in Cuba, so Lourdes became very close to her father, much like Pilar and her father Rufino. Celia and Felicia begin to have a conflicting relationship in the book as well. Felicia is a woman that has many problems, even going as far as trying to kill her husband and son, Ivanito, on different occasions. Felicia sees the attempted murder of her son at least as an act of love. She does not want to be separated from him, and Celia is trying to pull them apart for the betterment of Ivanito.

In Bodega Dreams, Chino is the main character at the center of the familial relationships of the books. He is a young man living in Spanish Harlem, trying to support his new wife and unborn child. He becomes mixed up with Willie Bodega, a former Young Lord and current drug dealer, who has a dream of making Spanish Harlem a great place to live for everyone. In his own family, conflict is a common occurrence, since Blanca is a devout Protestant and Chino is apathetic towards religion. There is also Sapo, Chino’s best friend, who is for better or worse Chino’s brother. Blanca does not like Sapo or Bodega, and does not want Chino to be mixed up with them. She knows that Sapo sells drugs, and is afraid that something bad will happen if Chino continues to hang out with Sapo (16). She cannot seem to reconcile her religious beliefs with the actions of those around Chino, her husband and father to her child, and eventually Blanca leaves Chino. The theme of family deviates a little in Bodega Dreams from Chino and Blanca, and seems to fall onto Bodega. Bodega wants to make Spanish Harlem better by being available and helpful to all of the people that live there. In a sense, all of the inhabitants of El Barrio (another name for Spanish Harlem) become Bodega’s extended family. He is there for them when they need help paying rent or fixing their apartment or putting their children through college. All he asks for in return is that the people of El Barrio be there for him, to cry out in pain and anguish when he dies.

           

There is support for the families throughout the novels though. In Dreaming in Cuban, there is one great scene where Lourdes and Pialr put aside their differences, and act like a mother and daughter. When Lourdes opens a new bakery and asks Pilar to paint something patriotic for it, Pilar decides to create a punk Statue of Liberty. At the unveiling, many of the customers criticize the painting and Pilar, but Lourdes sticks up for her daughter and knocks a man out cold (144). In that moment, Lourdes and Pilar are the mother-daughter pair that they never were, and were close like family should be. In Bodega Dreams, Willie Bodega supports Chino and Blanca when they are out and down. After the fire burns down their apartment building, Bodega moves them into one of his buildings, proving that he does indeed care for everyone that lives in his part of the city.

             

Family is a very important aspect of Latino Literature and culture, and the theme is prominent in Dreaming in Cuban and Bodega Dreams. The families of each book have their own unique set of problems and perks, but they are also connected together on some levels. There is a sense of love and appreciation in both of the novels, and help is always around for the family members that need it. There are differing styles of family dynamics in the two novels, since they deal with not only different time periods, but also the difference between a matriarchal (Celia) family and a patriarchal (Bodega) family.