Transactional Reader Response

The transactional reader response theory uses the text and the response it stimulates in the reader to determine meaning in a work. Using this theory, the details “A Father’s Story” presents, and how the reader fills in the gaps determines the amount of empathy the reader has for Luke in his action of covering up Jessica’s murder.
Throughout the story, it is presented that after Luke’s wife, Gloria, left with their children, he does not see the children very often. After the boys grow up and start lives of their own, the only time Luke sees them is on holidays. Jennifer “is the only one who still visits” (Dubus 41) which shows the reader the bond between the two, the father-daughter bond, is stronger than the relationship Luke has with his sons. This bond is developed further when, in his conversation with God, Luke
Luke is telling God that because he only had a Son, he cannot understand what he went through. The same goes unsaid about Father Paul not understanding Luke. Father Paul never had children nor was he married. Luke wanted to be able to tell Father Paul what he had done, “I… wished I could as I could as if he were simply a friend who sold hardware or something,” (Dubus 47) but he knew because he was a priest, he should not tell him. Luke had to keep this enormous secret from one of the only people he had in his life. Luke’s only friend, could not empathize with him, making the reader the only one that can take on the role of empathy for Luke. Luke’s conversation with God could also be directed at the readers if they are trying to judge Luke for his actions, he says that God, or the reader, would have done the same thing he did had they been put in his situation. All of these combined details, lead the reader to reducing the seriousness of Luke’s actions, because the reader can feel compassion for