Diaz & Ruiz: A Collision of Puerto Rican Families

Reading the excerpt of Fiesta by Yunot Diaz, I was pleasantly surprised to see another Puerto Rican childhood being expressed so vividly. Upon reading Yunior's interpretation of his father and his mother, I remembered feeling the exact same way when I was a child. Diaz has an interpretation of his childhood like no other, and his relaxed style of writing makes the reader feel as though they are listening to a story over coffee or drinks.

Diaz is a great storyteller; in fact, I would be interested in reading the rest of his book. Being exposed to just one chapter was simply not enough. I was incredibly interested in finding out what happened with Yunior's Father and whether his mother ever found out about the affair that he was having. I found it incredible that he would bring his sons into his mistress's (or "sucia", as so lovingly referred to by Yunior and his brother) and wondered if this was their father's way of implementing his version of quality time together. His mother was certainly the less strict parent and she offered comfort to Yunior when he was carsick. "Como te sientes? Mami asked over my shoulder when Papi pulled into the turnpike. She had her hand on the base of my neck. One thing about Mami, her palms never sweated." (27)

In some ways, just with a brief exposure to Fiesta, it seemed as though Mami was the stronger force within the family; she was the person who held everyone together. If Mami was sad, the children were sad, and if Mami was happy, then everyone was happy. Papi seemed to be more of the voice of power, rather than the vision. While he was respected, he conveyed his love for his wife and children in less apparent ways: like bringing his sons on small road trips to visit his "sucia" and making sure Yunior was OK with his carsickness by briefly asking "how's the feeling" (28). This kind of unspoken love amongst the family, was the kind of love that was normal and natural in Puerto Rican households and it was comforting to encounter Diaz's interpretation of a Puerto Rican childhood.