Bodega Dreams vs. The Great Gatsby Bodega Dreams, written by Ernesto Quinonez, has always been compared to The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. After comparing and contrasting the storylines, characters, and themes of these two pieces of literature, it is understandable why Bodega Dreams is called the “Latino Great Gatsby.” The similarities between the two are easy to see, but these two novels are not all the same. Although these two literary works have many parallels, there is one major difference that separates the two novels. With Bodega Dreams being known as the “Latino Great Gatsby,” this connection is being made due to the similarities between the characters, comparing theme topics, and how each writer includes the search for the American dream. At the beginning of The Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway, the narrator, is introduced and a comparison can already be made between Nick and Chino. Nick is the narrator of The Great Gatsby while Chino is the narrator of Bodega Dreams. Nick suddenly meets a man named Gatsby, who can be …show more content…
Assimilation is shown in The Great Gatsby through the character development of Jay Gatsby. Jay grew up very poor and he always had little to no money. Until Gatsby met this man on a boat out in the ocean. This man was very rich and he learned many things from him. Everything that Gatsby knew, he learned from this old man. Gatsby assimilates into this old man because Gatsby picks up his name and calls everyone by the name “old sport.” Gatsby is assimilated into the wealthier culture, just like Vera when she dyes her hair blonde and speaks fancy to assimilate into the prominent culture. Fitzgerald’s message about assimilation is that assimilation is the key to solving the desire to rank up in social classes. Quinonez's message about assimilation is that assimilation is problematic because it separates people from who they