Bodega Dreams

10 Pages 2430 Words

Bodega Dreams


The novel Bodega Dreams, written by Ernesto Quinonez, appears to suggest that in the case of the antagonist Willie Bodega, the ends do justify the means. Though
positive results were manifested in the community, the way in which they were accomplished were far from positive. The controversially ethical issue of whether the end justify the means or the means justify the end seems to be the concern of the novel. In history many peoples’ lives have been destroyed to improve the gain of others. The forefathers of this country murdered and destroyed Native Americans’ lives for their own personal gain, Germans murdered Jews for their own gain, and like Willie Bodega drug dealers sell drugs for their own financial gain. Though some people attain success in a less extreme manner, for instance, one may see a co-worker being fired as an opportunity for a promotion. The novel seems to suggest that in order to attain success one will inevitable be forced to step on people on the way up. Analyzing Willie Bodega’s rise to the top, how he got there, and his reasoning for the way he got there, will help to develop an understanding for the reason why the novel suggests that the means do justify the end ends.
The novel opens by introducing the protagonist and narrator Julio Mercado also known as Chino and his life long best friend Enrique, also known as Sapo. The novel introduces the two characters during their childhood growing up in the ghettos of East Harlem New York, better known as Spanish Harlem, to explain how their friendship began and developed. During their years in school Sapo would always take up for Chino and even fight for him. The novel is constructed into three books in which refer to its chapters as rounds, which symbolically represents the struggle within their Spanish Harlem neighbor hood and how one literally has to become a fighter and fight to survive the adversity and destitution forced upon residents...