Fiesta, 1980

Fiesta, 1980

A strong family relationship is imperative in a young person's life, there supposed to always be there with you through the thick and thin, always show love and support towards you. I cannot imagine growing up without a solid family. They helped me to be the person I am today. In Fiesta, 1980 a family travels to a party for some relatives that just arrived from the Dominican Republic. Overshadowing both this festive occasion and their entire lives is their father's affair with a Puerto Rican woman. This is told from the perspective of the middle child, Yunior, we see how this man's actions spin off into life-altering behaviors; how he brings his children to this woman's house while they go upstairs for sex, how the mother gets a sense of what is amiss, but remains in the dark because those around her will not come out and speak a word.

His mother is a great lady. She truly loves and cares for all of the kids. She really shows the support that a mother should for her children. His brother Rafa, seems to be the typical older brother. "Rafa frowned, and when I frowned back, he put up his fist. Don't you mirror me, he said".(150) This is just about how all brothers act. Rafa likes to bully around Yunior and pick on him, but I don't think this really bothers Yunior.

A father should be the biggest role model in a young kid's life, there supposed to teach you good morals and raise you to be a man. For Yunior that wasn't the case at all. "I was the one who was always in trouble with my dad. It was like my God-given role to piss him off, to do everything the way he hated."(P151) Yunior had a problem of getting carsick in his dad's brand new, lime green Volkswagen van. His father had no tolerance for this at all. "Papi pulled me to my feet by my ear. - if you throw up, I won't, I said, tears in my eyes, more out of reflex than pain." (P151) Yunior's carsickness becomes a physical manifestation of the affair, as if the two began around the same time. The van is symbolic of Papi's desire to have his own way.

Papi was seeing a Puerto Rican lady on the side for awhile. His mother was just starting to catch wind of this, although his father didn't keep it too much of a secret. Yunior and his brother Rafa knew all about it. Their father would take them to her house and was not secretive of what they were doing. "Why don't you go watch TV? Papi suggested. He already had his hand on her ass and did not care that I was watching. He was looking at her like she was the last piece of chicken earth."(P156) This put Yunior in an awful position. He could tell his mother, but he it made him sick when he imagined her all alone so he just ignored it. "The affair was like a hole in our living room floor, one we'd gotten so used to circumnavigating that we sometimes forgot it was