Fiesta, 1980 by Junot Diaz

Within the works of “Fiesta, 1980” it takes us in the lives of a Latin American family. We are described a traditional style Latino family were there is a dominate father figure, a submissive mother, and obedient children more or less. There are two boys the eldest Rafa and the youngest Yunior and their younger sister Madai. During the transgression of the story it is conveyed through the eyes of Yunior. And like any typical family it has its own story to tell.
The story of “Fiesta, 1980” does not sugarcoat anything about the true nature of life and how many families operate. We are given the raw and gory details that are typically left out because most people rather shove them under the rug and deny that they even exist. In the case of Yunior’s family his father, Papi, is cheating on his wife with a Puerto Rican woman. The two sons who are at the presumed age of high school both are in on their father’s secret having both visited his mistress on separate occasions and even partaking on having a meal with her and their father as if they were all family. Even though everyone knows in the household, it is implied that the mother, Mami, does as well, that Papi is a cheating bastard it never is fully addressed or brought out of the shadows. Rather it hangs like a sickness that cannot be healed and infects each family member in a different unique way. We see this especially in the main character Yunior. For some strange reason Yunior is unable to ride in a car without getting car sick and vomiting profusely. It is explained that he never had a problem until the day he took a ride in his father’s new VW to the library that his vomiting episodes started (Shreve & Nguyen, 2006). Perhaps these events are not that enticing, however they do...

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...erson will hinder any affection he believes he will receive from his father. While the reader gets the feeling of love and desire for the father the reader is also bombarded with feelings of distrust and hatred towards the man.
As the story goes we start with a family who appears as a typical family where the desires of the parents are for their children to be smart and successful in life and the desires of the children are those of any typical child. However, as the story unfolds we are given the insight of the true nature of the family that follows most laws of nature that there is greed and deception even among loved ones. That every family has its secrets and that every secret comes with a cost no matter how small.

Works Cited
Shreve, P., & Nguyen, B. M. (2006). 30/30 Thirty American Stories from the Last Thirty Years. New York, New York: Pearson Education.