Lost for Words

In the poem, A Story, by Li-Young Lee, there is a central tension between a dad and his son. The speaker uses metaphor and symbolism to create the central tension.The son requests a new story from his dad and when the dad is unable to muster a story, the tension arises that if the dad is unable to come up with the story, he will lose the admiration and love from his son. This scares the dad in a way that he is afraid of being deserted in the future by his son. As the dad sits with his boy on his lap, “In a room full of books in a world of stories, he can recall not one, and soon, he thinks, the boy will give up on his father.” This metaphorical expression emphasizes the panic of the father, afraid that his son will grow tired of him, as there are numerous stories he could tell, but he can’t recite one. As the father looks into the future, he sees, “... the boy is packing his shirts... Are you a god, the man screams, that I sit mute before you? Am I a god that I should never disappoint?” The father in his vision of what's to come, he sees his son, packing his bags to leave. He does not understand, he uses the symbolism and representation of a god to express his reaction; after all, only a god would cause one to sit dumbfounded before him. Only a god, would have no other obligation but to not disappoint. To the father, telling his son a new story is everything, and the lack of one creates the central tension of the poem.