Relationship Between Father And Son

In the poem A Story written by Li-Young Lee the author reflects the complexing relationship between father and son through the fathers collective fears of one day losing his son due to his own incompetence. Lee's constructive use of literary devices explores the in depth nature of the fear of loss illustrated by the bond of father and son. This is shown through various points of view, selective diction, and the poems own structure.

Throughout A Story, the author shifts from the continuing view of the father and the son to emphasize a growing differences between the two characters and the fathers own fears that those differences will be the downfall of his continued respect from his son that “ he thinks, the boy will give up on his father.” This showing that the father feels that at the one moment in time when he is unable to supply a requested story, it is the one moment that will forever decide his relationship with his son. Reflecting this we view a glimpse at the fathers fears of
The young innocence of the child as he refers to his father as “Baba” is cast aside as his father imagines the boys future and “he sees the day the boy will go.” At this point the father blames not his son but his own weakness as he refers to himself as a “god”. It can also be inferred that the sons use of the name “Baba” was what built up the fathers concept that to his son he is a provider and a creator, but the moment the father envisions his son later in life he sees that his son no longer sees him as these, explaining the removal of the name “Baba”. Finally, the speakers structure of the poem focuses around two points, one being the present and the other an imaginative world built upon fears and lost opportunity. When the transition occurs the father attempts to grasp onto what is already lost by offering