Lee's Actions Speak Louder Than Words

The phrase “actions speak louder than words” is a common saying that is often over used to the point of becoming cliché. However, this worn out paradox does still hold some truth to it and can even be viewed in a different light to take on an alternate meaning. Sometimes what isn’t said can have a bigger impact on a situation or a relationship than what was actually said. In this poem, Lee explores the silence that surrounds a father and son’s interaction, and the implications of this on the present and future. Lee uses literacy devices like the father’s over analytical point of view, emotional diction, and shifting tenses to convey the complex relationship between the father and son, create significance in the silence that separates them,
Although Lee does include some dialogue from the son, for the most part, the poem is expressed from the father’s over analytical point of view. Because of this, many of the small problems and worries are magnified by the father. When the father does not automatically come up with a story to tell his eager son, he believes “the boy will give up on his father”. Rather than accepting his minor failure, the father allows his anxieties and doubts to manifest until they entirely consume his. By doing this, the father is hindering his relationship with his son more than just his inability to tell a story is. Through the father’s over analytical point of view, Lee conveys the complexity of their relationship and shows that the silence develops the relationship more than their actual actions and
While the father’s anxious point of view presents a pessimistic representation of the relationship, the diction surrounding the son expresses a simplistic, innocent view. As the son “waits in his [father’s] lap”, he remains detached from the anxieties and worries that consume the father and stupefy him into silence. Rather, as the diction used to describe him conveys, the son is innocently seeking a story from his father. Words like “please” and “supplications” convey a sense of dependence the son has on his father, while the name “Baba” reflects the son’s endearing, loving attitude towards his dad. Lee uses this innocent, simple diction in juxtaposition with the father’s anxious point of view to express the complexity of their relationship by showing that each, father and son, view their connection with conflicting attitudes.
Finally, Lee uses shifting tenses to create a complex structure for his poem that parallels the disconnection between the father and son. The first three stanzas are written in 3rd person present tense. However, in the fourth and fifth stanzas, the poem shifts to future tense as the father over analyzes and creates false, distant perceptions of the future. “Already the man lives far ahead, he sees the day this boy will go.” This jump in tense parallels the disconnection the father is creating himself by allowing his fears