Review of Grace Paley's A Conversation With my Father

Review of Grace Paley's A Conversation With my Father Works Cited Missing Grace Paley's short story "A conversation with my Father," is a story

of a patriarch relationship between a father and his daughter. The

father in this story has made a last request for his daughter to

"write a simple story just once more" (26) before he passes away. The

father's idea of a simple story is in the same format as those stories

written by well known male authors. Paley uses symbolism and character

to emphasize the patriarch relationship. The father has a patriarchic

ideology by telling his daughter how to write, and by always getting

the last word in during arguments between the father and the daughter.

The father's character in the story mirrors a patriarch. A patriarch

is an "old man who is venerated by a group and whose opinions have

great influence or authority" (Merit Students Dictionary 738). The

reader is introduced to the father at the beginning of the story as a

very old man. He is "eighty-six years old and in bed. His heart, that

bloody motor, is equally old and will not do certain jobs anymore"

(26). One can see that the father holds authority over others by the

fact that the daughter has promised her entire family she will always

give him the last word in an argument. This shows the father has the

power to have this privilege without asking for it. One can also se...

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different instances. The first time she lets him have the last word is

after he has complained about her second story. They end their

argument for a moment and she writes an ending she thinks he may like

although he has not asked her to write the story again. The second

instance is when Paley's story ends. The father is still upset with

his daughter's writing and does not like her new ending, but nothing

is said after he asks her "When will you look it in the face?" (30).

Having the advantage of always getting in the last word assists the

father in gaining more control over the family.

The father in this story mimics a patriarch because the father

patronizes the daughters writing and tells her how to write. The

father mirrors patriarchic qualities by making demands for his

daughter to write the story over again.