The Silence of Lee's Story

In the poem entitled, "A Story," silence is used quite a bit. However, silence, I believe is meant to mean something. Silence possibly could symbolize the relationship between the son and the father. The son and father initially had so many things to discuss and talk about but as they both grew older, they may have drifted apart and lost the once ignited spark of conversation. The father, possibly endeavoring to keep his old relationship with his son alive, may have attempted to use old topics and repeat old conversations. However, the son, grows tires and moves farther away from his father. I think the quote, "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" (line 6-9) shows the distance growing between the son and father. The father may also be trying to stop his son from growing up and moving away; he may want to keep him as his little boy forever, shown with the quote, "Don't go! Hear the alligator story! The angel story once more..." (11-12). From the father's perspective, the son is leaving and will never return as his once little boy. However, the son's perspective is quite different. The son desperately wants the father to rekindle their old relationship, symbolized by desire for a new story. Maybe the son wants one last story before he heads off on his own and leaves his father. I believe the son is asking the father to continue with him, though he knows he must journey towards life on his own. The father knows this, but wants to keep his little child with him as long as possible. The inability to tell a story and the unfulfilled wish for a story both show that the father and son are not showing their true emotions. Outwardly, the son is leaving, but inwardly, he wants to stay with his father. He appears to not be listening to his father as his father screams silently, "Are you a god...that I sit mute before you?" (16-17). Outwardly, the son is not listening to his son's silent plea for a story; inwardly, he desires for his son to stay with him a little while longer. However, the father loves the boy and knows that he must let him go off into the real world to become his own person. The son also knows that he must leave and have his "supplications" unanswered because he must leave. Apparently, silence speaks loudly in this poem and tells a great deal about both the father and the son.