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Edwin Nazario
Blanca is a young Latinx woman who’s married to Julio. She’s beautiful and intelligent, and she’s pregnant with the couple’s first child. Blanca is a devout Christian, and her religious beliefs cause a rift between her and Julio, who thinks that the Bible is sexist and regressive. Julio also thinks that Blanca’s religious beliefs prevent him from being honest with her about his interactions with criminals like Bodega, which causes significant strife in their marriage. Blanca vehemently opposes any illegal activity—she wants to finish college and settle down with Julio in a nice house, rather than get pulled into Spanish Harlem’s underground street world. Blanca particularly despises Julio’s best friend Sapo, who’s a drug dealer, and she’s perpetually frustrated that Julio usually sides with Sapo over her. Blanca leaves Julio toward the end of the story because she thinks that Julio is getting morally corrupted by Sapo and Bodega—but she returns to him in the end because they are deeply in love. Overall, Quiñonez primarily uses Blanca’s character to show how religion can be both helpful and harmful. Members of Blanca’s church loyally support one another, but the judgment Blanca and others experience within the church also exposes how religion can be misogynistic and disempowering.
Nancy “Blanca” Saldivia Quotes in Bodega Dreams
The Bodega Dreams quotes below are all either spoken by Nancy “Blanca” Saldivia or refer to Nancy “Blanca” Saldivia. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Book 2, Round 1 Quotes
Julia-day-Burgos is so obscure it would be hard to find a single poem of hers. In any language.
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Book 2, Round 4 Quotes
With her light skin, semiblond hair, pale seagull blue eyes, she could easily pass herself off as something other than a woman born and raised in East Harlem. She spoke as if she had spent her formative years in some boarding school, walking around with a big lettered sweater tied around her shoulders.
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“I’ll buy her one bigger than that! One with a diamond as big as the Palladium.”
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Book 2, Round 5 Quotes
“When you complain that you’re gonna feel awkward graduating with a big belly, I know what you really mean. You mean people are gonna think, ‘She may be smart, but she was stupid enough to get herself knocked up.’ But when you go to church it all changes. They like you pregnant and you like them to like you pregnant.”
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“Blanca, why does me becoming Pentecostal have any bearing on you getting your privileges back? On you playing the tambourine in front of the congregation? Why do they look at me and my faults and not you and your merits?”
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“And he loved her. And she, and she—don’t tell me you don’t know what she did. Don't tell me you don’t know that she later left to fornicate with other kings. Don’t tell me you don’t know that she left her king and went with others, and don't tell me you don’t know this princess was called Israel. And she went with other gods and slept with many idols. You still don't know what she did? […] I’ll tell you what she became. You all know what she became, don't tell me you all don't know what she became. She became a harlot! […] A whore! […] A prostitute!”
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They had seen the coming of the Lord. He was coming soon, maybe even that very night. Roberto Vega had told them so. The kingdom of God would arrive, and they would all go to heaven, to the penthouse in the sky. Until then, they would go back home to the rats and roaches.
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He was the Lord’s stud, wanted by sisters in Christ who all hoped to be his chosen.
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“For a Latina that’s not married, twenty-seven is ancient. Nobody is going to want to marry her.”
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Book 2, Round 6 Quotes
I always knock the people in Blanca's church, but a lot of them were right there that night helping us move our things, everyone splashing around ankle-deep in water. If we hadn’t had Blanca’s spiritual brothers and sisters we would have been moving things out all night.
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All I understood was that Bodega was in trouble. Not with the fire department, which would know right away it was arson and dismiss it as another case of pyromania in a neighborhood crawling with fire-bugs. Nor with the media, who needed sensation and since no deaths had occurred would give it only passing mention, like a footnote in a thousand-page book.
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Book 2, Round 10 Quotes
“Let’s not say anything right now, okay? I’m going to be staying at Mami’s for a while. At least until the baby is born. I think that's best. Best for both of us.”
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Nancy “Blanca” Saldivia Character Timeline in Bodega Dreams
The timeline below shows where the character Nancy “Blanca” Saldivia appears in Bodega Dreams. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Book 1, Round 1: Spanish for “Toad”
...brown-blond hair. She’s intelligent, polite, and she always carries a Bible, so everyone calls her Blanca. Blanca hangs around with Lucy, a hairy girl who can’t shave her legs because of...
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...time, Julio knows that Sapo’s friendship was the core of his adolescence. Like Julio’s mother, Blanca (who’s the center of Julio’s adulthood) can’t quite understand this.
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Book 1, Round 2: Willie Bodega
...museums and reinventing culture. Julio relates to the Futurists’ anger and wants to reinvent himself. Blanca feels the same way. She hates it when people change their names—from Juan to John,...
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...Bodega also wants to change things. Bodega still believes in dreams. He changes Julio and Blanca’s lives, and he changes the neighborhood. To get to Bodega, Julio has to go through...
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Blanca warns Julio that if he’s up to anything with Sapo, or if he gets into...
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By Blanca’s second trimester, she’s given up fighting with Julio and becomes hopeless. She gets upset every...
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...Bronx and just really needs the favor. Julio is scared—not of the cops, but of Blanca. In the end, Julio takes the package to Hunter without telling Blanca. The next evening,...
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Book 1, Round 3: Willie Bodega Don’t Sell Rocks. Willie Bodega Sells Dreams.
One night, Blanca is working on a paper while Julio is procrastinating, which annoys Blanca as usual. Sapo...
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Book 1, Round 4: The Fire This Time
...are rising, and social services are being cut. But he also doesn’t want to lose Blanca, so he passes on the offer. Bodega thinks that’s a shame.
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Book 1, Round 5: We Needed More Space
...blocks north. Julio gets home and slips into bed. He wants to make love to Blanca to show her that he’s not interested in other women and finds her sexy in...
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Blanca and Julio discuss baby names. Blanca suggests Julio for a boy, and Julio suggests Vera...
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Julio looks around the small apartment he lives in with Blanca. He thinks about their high tuition bills and the extra space they’ll need once the...
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Book 1, Round 6: Que Viva Changó
...Bodega wants him to work with Nazario, or if he really just wants to contact Blanca’s aunt Vera. Sapo hushes Julio for talking about Bodega in public but confirms that Bodega...
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Book 1, Round 7: For Being a Cabrón
Julio seeks out Blanca’s sister Negra to make contact with Vera. Negra lives in the projects on 100th Street...
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...that Victor fell on a knife and wasn’t stabbed. When Julio gets home, he finds Blanca holding a contract for a two-bedroom apartment that’s half the price of theirs. Blanca is...
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Blanca asks Julio if he knows anyone looking to get married. She’s trying to fix up...
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Negra and Blanca are total opposites: while Blanca was drawn to the church as an adolescent, Negra was...
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Blanca is convinced that they can find somebody to marry Claudia, even if it’s a sham...
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Book 1, Round 8: No Pets Allowed
...again. Julio is relieved that he’ll be done with this business soon and living with Blanca in a nice apartment without having to hide anything from her.
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Book 1, Round 9: Knockout: Underground Economy
...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...
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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...
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Book 2, Round 1: My Growing Up and All that Piri Thomas Kinda Crap
...thug. When news of Salazar’s death gets out, the neighborhood is somber. Julio guesses that Blanca got suspicious when the news reports mentioned biting—she’s seen Sapo’s bites.
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...Blessington’s upper-middle-class attitude, his obsession with Robert Frost, and the creepy way he looks at Blanca. The science teacher, Mr. Tapia, in contrast, encourages the kids. He thinks they’re lucky to...
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...be lucky to get into jail, Sapo lunges for Mr. Blessington, who starts choking Sapo. Blanca runs to get another teacher, and Mr. Blessington lunges for Blanca. That’s when Sapo bites...
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...not afraid to hurt people who want to make him hate himself. Julio reflects that Blanca never forgot the day Sapo bit Mr. Blessington.
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Presently, at breakfast in their apartment, Blanca asks Julio if Sapo killed Salazar. Blanca thinks it’s strange that there are no drug...
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Book 2, Round 2: Everyone’s a Thief
...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...
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Book 2, Round 3: The Fish of Loisaida
...he’s been used, and he doesn’t like it. He wants to walk out and tell Blanca everything, but he hesitates—she’ll want to move out of the apartment if she knows the...
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...All Julio has to do is tell Vera that he’s married to her niece Nancy (Blanca), and that their landlord, William Irazarry (Izzy, to her), is waiting for her in a...
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Book 2, Round 4: A Diamond as Big as the Palladium
Blanca’s aunt Vera reinvented herself after leaving Spanish Harlem. She changed her name from Veronica Linda...
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Book 2, Round 5: The War Was in Full Bloom
A few hours later, Julio wakes up to Blanca asking him about the champagne. Julio fills Blanca in, fetches the diamond ring, and offers...
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Blanca looks like she’s about to throw something at Julio and yells that believing in God...
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Blanca calls Julio out, saying that he’s just upset about the ring—but Julio is unfazed. He...
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Blanca tells Julio that Negra is in the hospital— Victor beat her up. Negra wants Julio...
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...to find out what she knows, but hospital visiting hours are over. If Negra tells Blanca anything, Sapo will be in trouble. Julio decides to stop by the church, hoping to...
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...but Christ saved her. Claudia swoons before Vega points out another girl. Julio notices that Blanca isn’t hysterical: her eyes are glowing, and she looks enlightened. Julio wishes he could believe...
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...he muses, they’ll have to wait in their rat-infested apartments. After the service is over, Blanca and Julio make up. Roberto Vega parades around the church “like the Lord’s stud,” and...
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Blanca invites Roberto Vega’s family to dinner on Friday, along with Pastor Vasquez, who earned his...
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As Julio and Blanca approach their building, they realize it’s on fire: they see sirens, fire engines, and people...
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Book 2, Round 6: After the Fire
The fire has been put out, and Julio and Blanca are in their apartment, trying to salvage what’s left of their stuff. Blanca’s church community...
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Nazario, pretending not to know Julio, promises that Bodega will shelter pregnant women like Blanca first, starting tomorrow. Blanca doesn’t buy the emotional charade, and she knows something’s up as...
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Book 2, Round 7: Watering his Peach Tree
The next day, Blanca and Julio move into their new apartment, two buildings down from their old one. Blanca...
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...white girls and Latin girls as Sapo exchanges some packages. Sapo thinks that Julio likes Blanca because she’s a “white Spanish.” Julio and Sapo bicker about this on the drive to...
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Book 2, Round 8: As Long As Latino Kills Latino We’ll Always Be a Little People
Julio arrives home, fearing Blanca’s wrath. Luckily, she’s distracted because Roberto Vega and Claudia are there. They’ve been secretly seeing...
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Book 2, Round 9: I Liked the Way You Stood Up for Us
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...
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...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...
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Book 2, Round 10: The Saddest Part is Turning Off the Lights
Julio arrives home from the police station shaking with fear that Blanca won’t return. He calls her, and she picks up and says that she can’t stay...
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Book 2, Round 11: Worth All the Souls in Hell
...Julio goes to work, welcoming the distraction; he wants to cry when he thinks about Blanca. After work, Julio walks around to try and ease his sadness, and he bumps into...
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Book 2, Round 12: Knockout: The Way a Hero Sandwich Dies in the Garment District at Twelve O’Clock in the Afternoon
...Negra knocks on Julio’s door. Julio is too sad to answer between Bodega’s death and Blanca’s absence. A few minutes later, Negra climbs in through the fire escape window, complaining about...
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