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A Thematic Analysis Of 'A Story' By Li-Young Lee

691 Words3 Pages

No matter how often society pushes change, it is our default to fear it, and when it comes to our loved ones, we will often do anything to prevent it. In “A Story” by Li-Young Lee, the speaker explores the relationship between a father and his young son, emphasizing the fear the father feels as his son grows. Just a simple request from his son for a new story causes the father to spiral, displaying through poetic elements, the father’s complex feelings of love and panic in regards to his relationship with his son. The father’s panic is demonstrated through both auditory and visual imagery, while also shifting between present and future. In the present, the scene is set with a boy asking for a story and a father, who, “In a room full of books …show more content…

The metaphor is presented in the last line of the poem, concluding,“It is an emotional rather than logical equation,/…which posits that a boy’s supplications / and a father’s love add up to silence.” (23-24). This specific poetic element is able to reinforce the standstill the father is at, because metaphorically his love and panic in regards to his child does add up to silence. Spending his son's adolescent life worried more about avoiding the most minor of disappointments, rather than cherishing every moment, will only deplete their relationship. It seems as if the father has so much love that it overwhelms him, thus increasing his panic. In another shift, where again the father imagines his son leaving, he exclaims, “Don’t go! / Hear the alligator story! The angel story once more!” (11-12). This shift to the future is a manifestation of the current moment, where again the father fails to come up with a fresh story. But rather than rationalizing his fears, he feeds into them, which in the end will still result in disappointing his son. So present is the father in his desire to please his son that he appears almost absent in the current moment. Lee uses this dilemma to confirm the father’s complex emotions and, within the metaphor and shift, leave the reader without

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From beginning to end, the son calls his father “Baba” to show his affection and admiration. Despite the father’s inability to come up with a new story, the son still looks up to him. This affectionate term also contrasts with the father’s vision of the “boy packing his shirts [and] looking for his keys,” which accentuates the undying love between the father and son (15 & 16) . The father’s emotional “screams” also emphasize his fear of disappointing the son he loves so much (17). Despite the father’s agonizing visions, the son remains patient and continues to ask for a story, and their relationship remains “emotional” and “earthly”--nothing has changed (20-21).

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