Hispanic Family In Fiesta 1980 By Junot Diaz

Fiesta 1980, written by Junot Diaz, is about a Hispanic family that lives in New York. Their relatives, tío (uncle) Miguel and tía(aunt) Yrma, just moved from the Dominican Republic to the United states and therefore they are throwing their aunt and uncle a party. There is much representation on how the Hispanic people really live embedded within this short story. Such as the different roles of each family member, the extreme since of loyalty, actions that benefit everyone, and the different ways of showing affection and celebrating. In most Hispanic families, the father is head of the household (ohioline) just as in Fiesta. The father is the one who does most of the discipline and pretty much gives the orders around the home. The mother is mostly responsible for raising the children and taking care of the house (ohioline). Just like in the story the father told everyone how things were going to be done and the mother took care of the kids, cleaned, and cooked supper. Everyone in the family has a moral responsibility to help one another. In
the story Yunior and his brother Rafa are always looking out or helping one another except when it came to their father. Every time Yunior was getting in trouble by his father Rafa would look away and act as though he didn't know Yunior. In the Hispanic culture family members almost feel obligated to help one another. While at the party Yunior's father would not let him eat because he always got car sick during the drive, so Yunior's aunt takes him downstairs to get some ice. While they were outside, the aunt gives Yunior three pastelitos that she had snuck out in her pocketbook to eat and asks him how things are at home. She felt that it was her duty to get Yunior away from his father so that he could get some food in his stomach. Also she tried to get some information out of him about if the family was having any problems, but he simply told her that everything was ok. Even towards the end of the story the mother asks Yunior, out of love, if anything was wrong, but again out of the loyalty for his father he told her he was just having trouble in shool. Hispanic families have strong feelings of loyalty (Hispanic-research) and therefore could not tell his aunt the truth about how the family was doing back at home.
Also when Rafa and Yunior found out about their father's Portia Rican mistress, they kept it a secret because of the respect and loyalty they have for their father and they did not want to jeopardize the well being of the entire family. Hispanic people tend to perform actions that benefit the whole as a group rather than focusing on one's self (literacynet). Therefore by not telling anyone about the Portia Rican woman kept the family together and kept them from fighting with one another. While at the party Yunior was the look out boy for his brother Rafa because he was in the room with one of the neighbors girls, so Yunior was pretty much just helping his brother out by making sure no one came into the room or at least warn Rafa if someone was
coming. Hispanic people love to celebrate many different occasions with music, food, friends and family members, and dancing. The main plot behind this story is that the family is having a fiesta or party for their relatives' arrival in the United States. They gather together and the women cook a big dinner with all sorts of food. They chat amongst one another, watch television, and the children played games. Like most Hispanic people they ate, had a few drinks and danced the evening away. Hispanic families are usually more spiritual in nature (Hispanic-research) and tend to be very religious in their everyday life. For example in the story, before the family would go anywhere the mother would bless the children and kiss them on the forehead. Unlike in the North American life style, Hispanic people show more affection towards one another. They hug and kiss more; there is more male to male interaction, and closer contact between people. It is not uncommon for to males to kiss each other on the cheek, hug, or give firm hand shakes in the Hispanic society. Even the women kiss each other on the cheeks. This is how the Hispanic people greet one another. In the story when the family arrives at the aunt and uncle's apartment they quickly gave each other hugs, kisses, and firm hand shakes. They introduced everyone to the neighbors and talked a little about themselves. Throughout the story it explains how Yunior's father was a little abusive, but it also said that when it was just the two of them he would treat Yunior like a son and they would have a good time together. Also during the ride back home, the author goes to describe the scene as all they kids were asleep except Yunior and that the mother and father were both quiet and his father had his hand on his mother's knee. Touching is a big way of showing affection and that is how the author wanted the readers to perceive this scene, as a peaceful and loving moment in time. By studying the Hispanic culture the story, Fiesta 1980, seems to unfold a little easier. We get a better understanding of how Hispanic people really live and that helps us to understand the story better and why things happened the way they did. Understanding the Hispanic culture also helps to reveal the plot and makes the reader enjoy the story more and actually get involved with it.