A Story By Li Young Lee Literary Devices

Oftentimes parents struggle with feeling like they are not doing enough for their kids, overshadowing all the things they do provide for them. This insecurity is shown in the poem, “A Story”, which follows the thought process of a father who is struggling to feel as though he is doing a good job at raising his son. Written by Li-Young Lee, the poem explores the father's feeling of being an inadequate parent, being incredibly pessimistic over the things that he is not able to provide. Overall, in his poem, Li-Young Lee uses literary devices such as rhetorical questions, imagery, and metaphors to convey how the father feels towards the relationship he has with his son: even though he yearns for a loving connection with his son, the father is

Even with his insecurities, the father described in the poem still cares about his son, which is shown through his attempts to give his son what he wants. One example of his efforts to provide him with a good life is shown early on in the poem, specifically after his son asks him to share a new story. As the father and son get ready for bed, the poet relies on the imagery of the situation, writing, “His five-year-old son waits in his lap. / Not the same story, Baba. A new one. / The man rubs his chin, scratches his ear” (Lee 3-5). By using descriptive phrases that are largely associated with thinking, Lee helps the reader envision the father’s reaction to his son’s question. With this, he makes it clear that the father is putting in the effort to do what his son asks of him. This effort ties back into his desire to have a relationship with his son, as it goes to show

One example of their shortcomings is shown through a question that the father asks as he considers the potential effects of him not being able to give his son what he needs. Recounting the event, Lee writes, "Are you a god, / the man screams, that I sit mute before you? / Am I a god that I should never disappoint?" (Lee 18-19). By using this metaphor, Lee compares the situation that the father is facing to one of religion. Oftentimes, God is viewed as a perfect, but unreachable person, which is similar to what the father feels towards his son—that he is not able to be there for him. The distance in their relationship is further touched in the final stanza of the poem, where the father reflects on the question that his son asked him at the beginning. Here, Lee writes, “an earthly rather than heavenly one, / which posits that a boy’s supplications / and a father’s love add up to silence” (Lee 22-23). Lee’s use of the word “supplication”, which is similar to the word “begging”, shows how the father views something as simple as asking for a story as a difficult, almost impossible task. The father not being able to meet the current needs of his child, as he sees the tasks necessary to be something he is incapable of, drives a wedge between their relationship,