Parents are among the most important people in the lives of young children. From birth, children learn and depend on their mother and father to protect and care for them. Becoming a parent is usually a welcome event, but from time to time, parents' lives are fraught with challenges and uncertainties about their ability to ensure their child thrives. In addition, some parents are not cut out to be parents and in turn mistreat the child. “Fiesta 1980” by Junot Diaz and “My Papa's Waltz” by Theodore Roethke are comparable since they both talk about the oppressive bond between a father and a child. On the other hand, the works contrast in the sense that in "Fiesta 1980", the father's activities arouse in the child a feeling of hatred towards his father, while in "My Father's Waltz", the child has still a certain adoration for his father despite the abuse. The story “Fiesta 1980” by Junot Diaz is the story of a man who experiences an unauthorized romance and drags his children into it. Yunior, the youngest child, seems to be the most influenced by this. He has seen his father at different events with a Puerto Rican woman and is faced with the conflict between telling his mother or remaining silent. He doesn't want to see his father angry and see his family fall apart, however, he also doesn't like what his mother is going through. His father mentally abuses him by placing him in such a helpless situation. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayThe poem “My Father's Waltz” by Theodore Roethke is about a drunken father and son who dance every evenings until bed. The speaker of this poem is a man who evokes his adolescence through a waltz. The waltz in the poem causes pain to the child, as the poem mentions: “my right ear scratched a curl” (Roethke, line 12). They dance roughly because of his father's drunkenness and clumsiness. The son realizes everything that is happening but he nevertheless continues to hold on to his father's shirt, symbolizing a sign of hope that he has in his father. Additionally, "Fiesta 1980" and "My Papa's Waltz" are similar in the relationship between a father and son. Both works revolve around traumatic and abusive events that influence children. In "Fiesta 1980", the youngest child, Yunior, is mentally abused by his father when he is taken to the teacher's place and forced to sit outside and wait for his father to finish his dirty activities. As the story goes, “They both went upstairs and I was too afraid of what was happening to search. I sat there in shame, expecting something big and fiery to come crashing down on our heads” (Diaz). The father is selfish and doesn't care much about his family. The father emotionally blackmails Yunior. Yunior, in order not to hurt his mother and make his father angry, remains silent. The child in “My Dad’s Waltz” is also mistreated. When father and son waltz, the boy is affected by the whiskey on his father's breath: "The whiskey on your breath/could make a little boy dizzy" (Roethke lines 1-2). Not only does he feel dizzy, but later he is hit with his father's belt which scratches his ear. However, the two stories are different in results. In "Fiesta 1980", the child ends up having almost no love for his father. The father is a cheater and Yunior can't stand him. Every time Yunior gets in the van, he wants to rush, because of the loathing he has towards his father. He can no longer hold back, as the story goes: "Finally, I said,.