Daddy Issues
We’ve had a lot of stories so far about
not-so-great fathers: “The Rockpile,” “What is Seized,” and now “Fiesta, 1980.”
They contain similar plot elements and characteristics in the fathers that
cause us to dislike them. For instance, the coldness that made us hate the
father in “What is Seized” is also present in a glimpse in “Fiesta, 1980.” When
Papi supposedly comes home from seeing “that Puerto Rican woman,” “he didn’t
say nothing to nobody, not even my mom. He just pushed past her, help up his
hand when she tried to talk to him and headed right into the shower.” This is
somewhat similar to the father in “What is Seized,” who “turned his head away
from [the mother], and afterward would give her a hard angry gaze, roll stiffly
over to his side of the bed, face the wall, shake her off of him,” if she ever
touched him. Both of these father figures don’t show any affection whatsoever
toward their wives, and it’s really sad to see.
Another similarity is between the dads in “The
Rockpile” and “Fiesta, 1980.” Both teach masculinity to their sons as a form of
repression of their emotions--and, well, other things, as Papi makes Yunior
hold back his puke whenever he rides in their car. He believes that somehow
giving Yunior a glare and just being like, “No way. Don’t do it,” will stop the
throw-up in its tracks. And then, when Yunior can’t prevent himself from puking
because it’s literally a bodily function, his father punishes him. Yunior also
has all of these pent-up feelings and aggressions toward his father that he is
unable to express, just like Johnnie in “The Rockpile” and “The Outing.” When
his father is obviously treating Roy as his favorite and deliberating picking
on Johnnie at the church gathering, Johnnie “called back [at him] (putting into
his voice as much asperity, as much fury and hatred as he dared).” He felt much
more than he dared to express towards his father because of his father’s strict
authority and lack of tolerance. This toxic dynamic between the son and father
in “The Rockpile” and “Fiesta, 1980,” is one of the main reasons I (and maybe
other people, too) aligned myself with the sons and was encouraged to dislike
the father figures.
I also want to point out, though, that there are
aspects of the fathers that set them apart in these stories as well. For
example, neither of the fathers in “The Rockpile” or “What is Seized” would
dare make their troublesome family situation known in public. They both act
like everything is perfectly normal, and if one of their sons does something to
anger them in public, they let it go (at least, temporarily). In “What is
Seized,” even though the father is cold at home, he “seemed to know how to get
people to like him, to do crazy stunts with furniture or time-rate problems…. People
in Crasden seemed to think he was amazing somehow. Special, they said.
Talented.” They don’t get to see the dark side of him that the narrator and
mother do get to see. Similarly, in “The Rockpile”/ “The Outing,” when Johnnie
lashes back at his father in public, he speaks very coldly, angrily, and
sarcastically, and “he knew that his father would then and there have knocked
him down if they had not been in the presence of saints and strangers.” His
father does not knock him down because there are people around. These two
stories are different from “Fiesta, 1980,” where Yunior’s father is perfectly
okay with humiliating him in front of everyone. When the food is brought out at
the party and Yunior joins the other kids at the table with his plate, his father
comes over and says, “Oh no you don’t, and [takes] the paper plate out of [his]
hand.” When Tía asks what’s wrong, Papi says loudly, “He ain’t eating…. Because
I said so.” This situation is uncomfortable for everyone and “the adults who
didn’t know us made like they hadn’t heard a thing.” Papi’s behavior
really reflects poorly on him, and his willingness to treat his son this way in
a public setting reflects the terrible situation back at home, and it makes
other people like Tía feel concerned and question if their family is okay.
I think this is a really interesting comparison to make. I agree that unhealthy relationships with fathers or rather cold fathers is something that's been really important to a lot of the stories we've read recently. The comparison you make between Gabriel and Papi in how they enforce a type of emotional repression and masculinity is really great.
ReplyDeleteI had also noticed that several of the stories we've read are about abusive/ cold fathers. You do a good job of pointing out all the similarities between the three father figures. However, I hadn't noticed that Papi was the only one willing to publicly humiliate his son. I think it's an important point as it shows a slightly different kind of family dynamic.
ReplyDeleteHonestly so many of the stories in this class have reminded me of the popular saying "men are trash". Specifically, in this case, fathers. I wonder if Papi having no issue humiliating his child in public is more of a cultural thing, since they're the only immigrant family out of these three examples. One thing's for certain- abusive, shitty fathers definitely leave a mark on their kids.
ReplyDeleteA growing important aspect of American culture it seems in the time of the stories, is not letting others around you in on your struggles. This can be seen both in terms of masculinity but also in terms of plain pride. You make good comparisons. I like how you are drawing two books together, moving beyond just the stories.
ReplyDeleteI saw a really similar dynamic between the sons and the fathers in "The Rockpile"/"The Outing" and "Fiesta, 1980". I like how you pointed out there is that difference in public humiliation in the stories. I think that Gabriel is hyper-concerned with their family image because of his position in the church. However, I do think it's important to note that when Johnnie talks back to Gabriel across the boat, Gabriel does kinda humiliate him (but mostly in front of David, not in front of adults that "matter" for his standing as a pastor).
ReplyDeleteI wrote my blog post on a similar comparison and no doubt, the two families in Diaz and Baldwin's writing are very similar. One thing I didn't mention in the blog but that I will bring up now was an interesting difference between Johnnie and Yunior. While they both despise their fathers and show anger and even thoughts of lashing out, at the end of the day, Yunior enjoys what little time is spent with his father in the car rides even if he is treated badly at other times. We see nothing like this for Johnnie. It could be that they are just different characters, but I thought it was something interesting to point out.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think that's a recurring theme, as well as this questionable 'traditional' masculinity among the sons of these rather abusive fathers. It seems the more the fathers humiliate the sons and tell them to 'man up', the less (?) they actually do so. Or perhaps it's the opposite way around—because the sons in the story are weak and not masculine enough, their fathers pick on them.
ReplyDelete