A conversation with my father by grace paley Essay

A conversation with my father by grace paley - Essay Example The entire story is based on the relationship of the two main characters in the story, the writer daughter and her father. The story begins with the father in the center stage and the daughter a mere follower of his directions. As the story progresses, the limelight slowly shifts on to the daughter who creates a story that is impactful and apparently tragic. All through the story, the father and daughter duo share a healthy, communicative, expressive, and genuine relationship as two admirers of life, society, writing, and literature. The father has the air of superiority in his voice since he is considers himself more knowledgeable and a well read fan of literature in Russian and English. This is evident from his tone at: â€Å"With you it’s all a joke,† (Paley, 1994, p.233) The daughter has a more kind and considerate outlook towards the father as her affection towards him forces her to write the same story twice. It is evident from her tone at, â€Å"His heart, that bloody motor, is equally old and will not do certain jobs anymore†¦..†Yes, Why not? That’s possible.† I want to please him.† (Paley, 1994, p.232) She however, dons a corrective role when her father gets cynical about the tragic ending that men and women in society face. She defines her confidence, free-spirited nature and positivity by turning the story into a happy and well meant ending. Overall, it is a good and healthy relationship that the two main protagonists in this story share. To achieve these goals, she has used two stories in between the main story. Her conversation with her father is one story, her simple depiction of a neighbor woman another, and her detailed depiction of the same woman is the third story. While the second and third stories are the same, they are created with an emphasis on writing styles which in the first one was tragic and negative and in the second one was humorous and