Analysis of a Contemporary Poem by Li-Young Lee: A Story

A Story 

Sad is the man who is asked for a story
and can’t come up with one.

His five-year-old son waits in his lap.
Not the same story, Baba. A new one.
The man rubs his chin, scratches his ear.

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.

Already the man lives far ahead, he sees
the day this boy will go. Don’t go!
Hear the alligator story! The angel story once more!
You love the spider story. You laugh at the spider.
Let me tell it!

But the boy is packing his shirts,
he is looking for his keys. Are you a god,
the man screams, that I sit mute before you?
Am I a god that I should never disappoint?

But the boy is here. Please, Baba, a story?
It is an emotional rather than logical equation,
an earthly rather than heavenly one,
which posits that a boy’s supplications
and a father’s love add up to silence.

The poem,  A story, by Li-Young Lee, conveys a complex relationship between the father and a son through their dispute between the old and the new, more so, holding on to the past rather than moving on to the future. Seen in stanza one,  is the characterization of the father, or the man- that fact that he "can't come up" with a new story shows two main things: firstly, he may not have been accomplished to share a new story and perhaps that is his only story as a role model to tell and secondly, perhaps he doesn't want to tell a new story as he is "stuck in the past." Stanza two not only captures the characterization of the boy but also a further understanding of the father, or the man. In line 4, the boy wants "a new one." This need for something new lends its hand to believe that child wants to explore new things, hear new stories in order to learn about the world. But, is the father ready for this dispersement into the world of knowledge? Does he believe that the boy is ready for a new story, perhaps a new journey? No- this is seen in line 5 when "the man rubs his chin, scratches his ear." Such actions are all common signs of curiosity and fear. The man as he is stuck in the past, fears his sons leaving and wants to replay the same actions in order to stop the young man from growing. The growing is not taken in a negative way by the man, he is just simply fearful. It is interesting to note that in stanza 3, the speakers states that out of all the stories in the world, he only told one. Why? Perhaps if the man tells about the world rather than a story concentrated with the knowledge that he wants the boy to know and learn from, he may go astray. Although, this lack of progression and the stagnation in the past hinders his relationship with his son- in line 8 to 9, the speaker even states that "The boy/ will give up on his father." Stanza 4 shows the nagging by the father to hold on to his son, and not let him grow from a boy who is dependent on his father's stories to a man that can make his own stories by exploration. Note that in stanza 5, the boy  has no shame towards the fact that he is leaving his father. The symbolism of the keys is the opening to the door' the boy is now ready to learn something new, therefore, he is unlocking the door into the new world (away from his father's confinement).  It is ironic that the father views himself as a god like figure,  but doesn't live up to this name as he hold his son from discovering- usually god is a figure of evolution, one that helps man discover. But is the father truly helping? The last stanza ends in relief and sigh as the father states their partition builds silence...but that is true love. The boy will remember the stories without asking (hence an emotional attachment).