Monthly Archives: February 2020

The father brings his children to the mistress’ house because of the power that he holds within the family. The husband for being a man automatically entitles him to be the man of the house and gives him the right to be controlling. In the family we see how controlling he is and if things don’t go his way he gets mad and aggressive. The family letting him do whatever he wants and obeying him lets him believe that he can do whatever he wants without any consequences. As a result he brings his children to the mistress house because he isn’t afraid of the consequences. In the story it states “ We were dressed by then, which was a smart move on our part. If Papi had walked in and caught us lounging in our underwear, he would have kicked our asses something serious”. This illustrates the fear that the children have with their father and it is due to this that the children obey him. They know that if they make their father upset, they will be punished in order to learn their lesson. In order to prevent getting hit by their father they need to get into the habit of knowing how to make their father happy and not making him upset. The father knowing the power that he possesses and the fear that the children have on him gives him another reason to bring his kids to his mistress’ house. The children know that if they tell their mother the truth about him they will be punished and will probably get a beating so hard for snitching.

In the story “Fiesta, 1980” written by Yunot Diaz, the father brought his son’s to his mistress’ house to create a bond by showing the father’s lifestyle. Throughout the story, the relationship between the father and Yunior is filled with tension due to the father’s personality. Despite the father’s intentions to get close to the kids and expressing a way of masculinity, it made Yunior uncomfortable. According to page 46, it states “The two of them went upstairs and I was too scared of what was happening to poke around. I just sat there, ashamed, expecting something big and fiery to crash down on our heads.” Furthermore, the father is implicitly demonstrating that it’s normal to cheat on a wife. This event leads to secrets throughout the family, as both kids do not tell their mom. The brothers do not inform each other about the mistress until the end of the chapter. It’s important to note that Yunior wants to be like his dad due to the way he talks to girls. However, Yunior hates the way the Father treats him in addition to introducing the mistress; the secret Yunior he is holding is affecting him mentally. 

The reason why the father brings his sons to his mistress’ house is because its a power thing that he knows that the kids wouldn’t tell on him to his mother because they’re too loyal to their mother and don’t want them being separated. “I don’t remember being out out of sorts after I met the Puerto Rican woman, but I must have been because Mami only asked me question when she thought something was wrong in my life”(Diaz 42).There is no communication in his family and a message he (the father) is sending to his sons’ is rather hurtful in their future and their mindset, that it is okay to have an affair, to lie and be dishonest with one another especially in their family as he portrays himself as.

In Fiesta 1980, even though Yunior doesn’t want to be like his father, his brother has the intentions that his father has. We see different characteristics while Yunior and his brother are at the party. During the party Yunior and his brother see two girls and they have different intentions toward these girls. In the article, Yunior describes the girls as “cute as hell”(36). Yunior and his brother are trying to communicate with the girls that they met and one of the girls says that Yunior was “mute”(36). What this shows about Yunior is that he is extremely shy and this also has to do with his carsickness. It seems throughout the article every time Yunior tends to be nervous he is always car sick and that’s how he felt at this moment. On the other hand, Yunior’s brother tends to act like his father. In Fiesta 1980, Yunior and his brother’s father are attracted to multiple girls even though he is a married man. Their father has a belief that it’s fine to have multiple women at one time. Also, in the story their father is with a Puerto Rican woman while he is still with his son’s mother. Yunior’s brother tends to really be  attracted like his father and tries to retaliate in some way. Even though there brothers they tend to act differently in certain situations. 

The father brings his sons to his mistress’s house shows that he does not care about the consequence. It also shows the power and authority his father has. Yunior’s dad is a very aggressive person, who feels like he is the King. The whole family allows him to take control and submissive to his authority. He does not care that he is married or has any type of respect for the people around him. The father is teaching the sons that is it okay to treat women wrong and cheating is normal. It illuminates how much the son’s fear their father, they do not question anything. During the visit to the Puerto Rico woman’s house, he did not question once about the situation. Even did not tell his brother because both were so afraid of their father, it showed how both boys are afraid of the consequences for their own father’s actions. The sons are put into a difficult place where they want to keep their family together but also have to keep their father dirty secret.

I choose an article “Displaced people: Why are more fleeing home than ever before?” by The Visual and Data Journalism Team of BBC News because according to the statistics, more than 13 million people have been forcibly displaced in 2018. According to the article and statistics provided by UNHCR, there has been more fleeing of one’s country than ever before, reasons ranging from devastating wars, political tensions, and natural disasters that have contributed to the rise. Places around the world that hurt/suffered the most during this time were the ones that we constantly hear in the news, at least some, which are: Syria, Afghanistan, countries in Africa, South America, and more. More than half of all 70.8 million displaced people remained in their own countries. In These nations, places hit by conflict and violence are the ones most affected. By the end of 2018, Syrians were the highest forcibly displaced population.”Adding up IDP’s (Internally displaced people), refugees, and asylum seekers, there were 13 million Syrians driven fro their home” followed by Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and many others with huge volume of displaced people. 70.8 million people in the year 2018, which was the highest recorded data, and has doubled in the last 20 years. According to article and UNHCR, internal conflicts such as wars or other political inequalities, result in more people who are forcible displaced. With that in mind, refugees are leaving their country and seeking assist in foreign countries while many others are just staying in their countries, forcibly displaced and no where to go, and that according to statistics are the people who are in most danger.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-49638793

In the story “Fiesta, 1980” the vomiting of the main character, Yunior, represents the idea that Yunior can not hold the secret of the family anymore. One of the literary devices that we can see in the story that shows the relationship between the father and the son is symbolism. One of the portions of the text where we can see this says “every time I was in that VW and Papi went above twenty miles an hour, I vomited. I’d never had trouble with cars before—that van was like my curse” (Diaz 27). The action of vomiting is a symbol for the secret that the narrator holds. The narrator feels sick only when he is in the van with his father because the narrator holds the secret about the relationship between the father and the waitress. This symbol means that it is very difficult for the narrator to keep the secret, and it makes him sick to know this about the father and not being able to tell the mother what is really happening.

Yunior, who is the author of Fiesta 1980, is a young boy who suffers from an apparently carsickness. When a person throws up, in this case Yunior, is cleaning themselves and throwing out everything they have inside. However, Yunior carsickness might be related to the stress and and the unconformity he feels every time he is with his father. “…every time I was in that VW and Papi went above twenty miles an hour, I vomited” (27) Clearly Yunior is feeling the pressure every time he went out with his father. Early in the story Yunior specified that he just wanted the love from his father. The car sickness comes from the secret Yunior has to keep just to not hurt his mother even though his father is not forcing him to hide it from her. The car sickness symbolises the way Yunior wants to express everything he has inside, like the way he wants to be treated and the secret from his dad. The dad shows his authoritative behavior upon his son not noticing the abuse his is causing and the way Yunior retains his emotions by vomiting.   

I chose an article called “climate change and disaster displacement” because I noticed that even though a lot of us advocate and try to bring awareness to this change, it’s not taken serious enough. But there’s is much more than just temperatures. Climate change is leaving people and animals without homes. As climate change drastically, the possibility of natural disasters such as flooding increases leaving many people displaced from what they know as home and adapted environment. In the article it’s mentioned that often people become refugees as a result of the concerning climate change creating disasters. Also, makes it difficult for people to adapt and survive when being forcibly displaced. I believe that climate change should be a concern since is creating situation for struggle and not having a place to called home.
https://www.unhcr.org/climate-change-and-disasters.html

Hi Everyone,
Just a reminder that for Monday, February 24th we are reading Junot Diaz’s short story “Fiesta, 1980.”   The link to the text is under the “Readings” tab above. (This is a change from what is on your syllabus.)  Please be sure to come to class with a printout of the text! Happy Reading….
Thank you!!!