The title "Aguantando" means "holding on." I think this is a very fitting title as this story revolves around the theme of Yunior and his whole family holding onto the possibility of Papi coming home. Yunior has relatively no memory of his father as Papi left the family for New York when Yunior was only four years old. The first line of this story is Yunior explicitly stating that he "lived without a father for the first nine years of my life." The closest thing to a "memory" Yunior has are pictures of his father and there's one in particular that stands out to him. It's a photograph of Papi in a uniform before Yunior was born. Yunior likens Papi's unsmiling his to his own.
Yunior's family lives in very poor conditions--even poorer than the community around them. However they're still above the people living in the campo or who were Haitian immigrants. From previous stories, we know that Papi is living in the states while the rest of the family still lives in the Dominican Republic, but I didn't fully realize the extent of their poverty from "Ysrael" and "Fiesta." Mami works in a chocolate factory and it's extremely grueling work, but she's still paid very little. It's obvious that their family is struggling
Tiá, Yunior's aunt, often criticizes Papi with cryptic one-liners. It's clear that she doesn't approve of him, because she says things like "He took too much" and "He should see how has left you." There's a sense of unfairness in that Mami is working this awful job that barely provides for her family while Papi is in New York doing who knows what. The first time Papi wrote that he was coming back severely hurt the family. Mami was so excited that he was coming back that she prepared a party, bought a goat, and new clothes for the boys. He didn't come back and he couldn't even be reached so Mami couldn't even get closure or a reason for why he didn't keep his word. That played a huge toll on the family. Mami left to stay with their Tiós for five week and I think that she became depressed for a while. Yunior became restless and started messing around trying to get Mami's attention, because he still didn't know his father. They all had so much hope and it was shattered.
They're constantly waiting--waiting for Papi to come back, waiting for Papi to call for them, just waiting for Papi. Mami is loyal to Papi through and through but we can't really say the same about Papi, because we learn in Fiesta that he has a Puerto Rican lady on the side. When the second letter arrives, Rafa is more cautious of Papi. He was the one telling Yunior to stop messing around and poking holes in his pants after the first time Papi didn't come home. Although Mami doesn't play a party, she still plans this extravagant day for them. They see a movie even though they can't afford it. They take a cab. Mami buys them flavored ices. Her actions show that she's still holding out for Papi to come home.
I found the ending of this story bittersweet. After the false alarms and all that the family has to endure, it's nice for the story to end on a hopeful and almost happy note. Despite all that Rafa and Yunior have been through, the ending shows that they still have hope for their father to come back home. Yunior has a very idealized dream of how his father will come back. Papi will be like this new man dressed in silk and expensive leather shoes who will be a gentleman to Mami and embrace Yunior. There's this longing in Yunior for his father to come back and recognize him, because Yunior doesn't know or remember Papi at all.
Yunior's family lives in very poor conditions--even poorer than the community around them. However they're still above the people living in the campo or who were Haitian immigrants. From previous stories, we know that Papi is living in the states while the rest of the family still lives in the Dominican Republic, but I didn't fully realize the extent of their poverty from "Ysrael" and "Fiesta." Mami works in a chocolate factory and it's extremely grueling work, but she's still paid very little. It's obvious that their family is struggling
Tiá, Yunior's aunt, often criticizes Papi with cryptic one-liners. It's clear that she doesn't approve of him, because she says things like "He took too much" and "He should see how has left you." There's a sense of unfairness in that Mami is working this awful job that barely provides for her family while Papi is in New York doing who knows what. The first time Papi wrote that he was coming back severely hurt the family. Mami was so excited that he was coming back that she prepared a party, bought a goat, and new clothes for the boys. He didn't come back and he couldn't even be reached so Mami couldn't even get closure or a reason for why he didn't keep his word. That played a huge toll on the family. Mami left to stay with their Tiós for five week and I think that she became depressed for a while. Yunior became restless and started messing around trying to get Mami's attention, because he still didn't know his father. They all had so much hope and it was shattered.
They're constantly waiting--waiting for Papi to come back, waiting for Papi to call for them, just waiting for Papi. Mami is loyal to Papi through and through but we can't really say the same about Papi, because we learn in Fiesta that he has a Puerto Rican lady on the side. When the second letter arrives, Rafa is more cautious of Papi. He was the one telling Yunior to stop messing around and poking holes in his pants after the first time Papi didn't come home. Although Mami doesn't play a party, she still plans this extravagant day for them. They see a movie even though they can't afford it. They take a cab. Mami buys them flavored ices. Her actions show that she's still holding out for Papi to come home.
I found the ending of this story bittersweet. After the false alarms and all that the family has to endure, it's nice for the story to end on a hopeful and almost happy note. Despite all that Rafa and Yunior have been through, the ending shows that they still have hope for their father to come back home. Yunior has a very idealized dream of how his father will come back. Papi will be like this new man dressed in silk and expensive leather shoes who will be a gentleman to Mami and embrace Yunior. There's this longing in Yunior for his father to come back and recognize him, because Yunior doesn't know or remember Papi at all.
The title is pretty clever. I also agree that the ending reaffirms this idea of "holding on" as Yunior and Rafa presents all these ideals about their father to the reader. It's also pretty clear that these are not real depictions of what their father is really like through the other stories. It was sad to read what Yunior and Rafa expected their father to be, knowing how different their father really is and how abusive he is towards Yunior.
ReplyDeleteThey really are just waiting for Papi to come home, and the bittersweet ending to the story is made much more bitter given the context of “Fiesta, 1980”, seeing how Papi really acts compared to this idealized version. I almost want “Fiesta, 1980” to immediately follow this story in the collection - to be left with such a powerful hope for Papi and then to be immediately faced with who he is I would imagine to be an interesting effect.
ReplyDeleteI also think that the title is referring to the fact that Yunior and Rafa are both waiting for an idealized version of their Papi, since they don't remember what he is like. When they imagine him, they think of a kind, caring father. Instead, as we know from "Fiesta, 1980", they get an abusive father. Even though they are living with Papi, they are still waiting for the father they were dreaming of.
ReplyDeleteI think it really is clear that so much of their lives, and Mami's in particular, is based around the fact that they are waiting for him to come home. And the expectation really is different from the reality, unfortunately. I thought the ending was sad because it's a kind and warm reunion that Ynuior will never get to know.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that you found the ending bittersweet. I thought it was a good ending for the story, as it is likened "holding on" like you mentioned, but we know from "Fiesta, 1980" that their life in New York will be bad in a different way. I kinda thought of it more as wishing for the time when he didn't know his father and there was still the possibility of him being a warm person.
ReplyDeleteYeah I think the title is very appropriate to the story. Like some of the other commenters above, I also think that Rafa and (especially) Yunior are holding on to not only the idea of their father coming back, but also the strong, god-like image they still have in their minds.
ReplyDelete