Looking back, it’s interesting to ponder why Diaz chose to title his second story “Fiesta, 1980”, when the party in the story is obviously filled with tension and is unlike a typical celebratory environment. The narrator, Yunior, isn’t even allowed to eat at the party because his father worries that he will vomit on the car ride back. (I suppose Papi doesn’t know that, because Yunior will inevitably get sick on the way back. His little boy will end up vomiting stomach acid instead of food if he doesn’t eat anything. It’s sort of a “pick your poison” type of situation). Yunior is instead forced to sit down in front of the TV and watch the other kids eat. There he is questioned by other kids why his father is acting so mean towards him, to which his response is, “he’s a dick” (38). Rafa then shakes his head and tells Yunior that he shouldn’t say such things in front of others, assumably because it would attract unwanted attention towards their family. The situation is similar with the affair Papi is having. Both boys know about it but no one says a thing because you don’t just openly talk about things like that. Those are family matters and, in that case, meant to be kept between Papi and his boys, which means not even the mother is not meant to know about it (obviously).
But, I suppose women talk and the stunt Papi pulled got some heads turning, specifically Tia, who pulls Yunior aside to ask if everything was okay. Since the idea of keeping one’s business to themselves has become ingrained in Yunior’s brain, when Tia asks about the family situation, Yunior just shrugs it off. In fact, he tries to play it so she won’t be suspicious. Obviously, as readers, we know that things are not okay at Yunior’s house. The father is being unfaithful, the mother is unable to stand up to the father, even she most likely knows that something is up, his brother isn’t his proud self anymore as his masculinity is shushed by his father’s presence, and Yunior can’t seem to keep his damn food in his mouth once he steps in a car. Like I said, things are not okay in this household. But he can’t say anything because it would compromise his masculinity. He needs to take these things like a man, and that means bottling up these things inside.
It seems as though Diaz was being a little sarcastic when he titled this story, “Fiesta, 1980”, because this party doesn’t particularly scream “fiesta” when I read it. I mean, on the outside, this seems like a normal party; people are dancing, eating, and ultimately having a great time with great company. But, when one looks closer, they can see that there isn’t many things about this get together that scream “party”. Papi and Mami will barely dance with each other, Yunior vomits just before he enters and isn’t allowed to eat food like the rest of the kids at the party, and everyone is beginning to suspect that something is wrong in Yunior’s family, particularly with Papi. For Yunior, this sure isn’t a fun party, it’s awful. And, to make things worse, he ends up vomiting on the car ride back from the party which was obviously just the cherry on top of this unfortunate evening. So, all in all, I think it’s interesting how Diaz portrays what the surface layer of this get together is with the title, and then dives deep into the tensions that are present at this party scene. It correlates with how, on the surface, Yunior (and Rafa) are forced to act like everything is fine in their family and that they are all smiles, but deep down things are not okay. It’s not until you begin to scratch off the surface that you uncover the truth behind the tension of this family. Going forward, if there are future stories about this family, it will be interesting to see how things pan out in the future. Whether or not Papi and Mami stay together (and if not, what will happen to Rafa and Yunior) is an interesting question that hope will be answered later on in this collection of short stories.
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