“A Conversation with My Father” is a short story by Grace Paley about a relationship between a young woman and her elderly father. The lady is a writer, and she shares her stories with her bedridden father, who reproaches his daughter for not following a straightforward plot. The two individuals seem to share a love for storytelling and writing (Paley, 1972). Both wish that each of them could understand the other person’s preferred way of writing. In particular, the father is disturbed and dissatisfied that the daughter’s story lacks a perfect ending as most tragic stories do not. An exciting and notable aspect of “A Conversation with My Father” is the style and technique used.
Paley chose to write the story in the first person to depict the connection between the author and the story. In such stories, a reader always experiences difficulty in differentiating the author’s assertions from the character’s ones. Possibly, Paley selected the technique for her describing her real-life challenges. Based on the historical context of the writing, it was created at the time when women were fighting for their rights, yet society was not ready for their opinions. It is possible that Paley utilized the opportunity to describe how she felt whenever her father failed to approve of her ideas, even when she knew she was right.
The style of telling a story within a story makes Paley’s work captivating. Two versions of the story are found within the main story. Other than the technique demonstrating the author’s exceptional emotional depth and profound intelligence, it contrasts Paley’s ending of the story with her father’s one. Without the stories, the audience could not understand how the father wanted his daughter to end the story. Additionally, two stories provide authors with a chance to experience the daughter’s imaginative levels. Thus, “A Conversation with My Father” is among the most interesting, creative, and mind-provoking short stories based on the techniques utilized to present it.
Reference
Paley, G. (1972). A Conversation with My Father. Web.