Luke Ripley: A Father's Story By Andre Dubus

Character Analysis of Luke Ripley “A Father’s Story” by Andre Dubus centers on a character named Luke Ripley, a stable owner who faces a difficult moral decision on what to do when his daughter has a fatal car accident. The point of view is first person and is a somewhat lonely setting during the first half of the story, where it then changes to surprisingly chaotic when the accident happens. Luke, the narrator of the story, is fifty four, a father of four kids, and lives alone, only sitting in his living room drinking tea and listening to opera while looking at the dark woods across the road. He likes to hunt and fish, and also likes to take walks with his weekly visitor, Paul LeBoeuf, who is a pastor of a nearby Catholic church. He is Catholic, but modifies his beliefs in the church to suit what he thinks. Luke seems to be generally content with this life

He chose the right decision of covering up her accident, by acting out of pure love for her as a father to daughter. Throughout the whole story, Luke has had rituals in his house that he does to bring his spiritual relationship between him and God closer. At the end of the story, Luke also attempts to talk to God to justify his actions after the occurence. Luke tries to convince God and argue that he has never had a daughter of his own, so of course, he doesn’t know what it’s like. But, Luke is asked if he loves his daughter more than himself, because it would be a ‘love in weakness’, however God is reminded that it is similar to his love of humankind. As said in a review of the overall story, “the conversations seem a natural outgrowth of Luke’s faith, that faith based in rituals outlined in intimate detail in the first half of the story [...] and when Luke’s faith is tested by Jennifer’s car accident, he will fall back on his spiritual life and act, not think”