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

In the poem “A Story”, Li-Young Lee shows the complicated relationship between the father and the son by using point of view and structure. Italicized lines distinguish who is talking to draw on point of view to indicate the complex relationship. The poem’s structure also identifies the complex relationship by increasing the lines in each stanza by one-until the sixth stanza which goes down to four lines, and then in the seventh stanza which goes back to five lines.

Lee italicized the text when either the father or the son spoke. In lines 11-14 and lines 16-18, the father speaks, and in lines 4 and 19, the son speaks. If the conversion is italicized the title could possibly be considered a stanza of the poem because it is being spoken by the

characters, and it would also follow the organized format of the rest of the stanzas. This being said, the title would fit in with the rest of the poem if “A Story” was also spoken. Spoken by both son and father together. This possibly indicates the idea that while both want want a new story but the “story” could have different significance for both of them. When the son says that he wants to hear a new story this indicates that he wants change and when the father speaks throughout the poem, it shows how he can not tell a new story that his son wants. This can be inferred when the father says, “Don’t go! Hear the alligator story! The angel story once more! You love the spider story. You laugh at the spider. Let me tell it”. In these lines, Lee shows how the father can not change like his son wants him to and is disappointed with himself. In the next stanza, the father’s point of view shifts. He is thinking about the future and how not only how his son will be disappointed with him but how he will leave because of his father’s inability to change.