Love Is Not Simple
In the story A Conversation With My Father, Grace Paley uses two narratives interwinded to covey the complexity of family love, especially between two different generations. The story is about a conversation between an old man and his daughter. Even though they love and care for each other very much, due to their different perspectives and worldview, their generation gap is obviously represented and unable to fill off.
The daughter, also the narrator of this story, is having a conversation with her dying father. Despite his physical weakness, he is still bright and embraces a strong mind. His last wish for the daughter is that she can tell him a straightforward, familiar pattern and “simple story,” that she used to tell. To please him, she reluctantly tells that sort of the story. With the first version, the father complains that it is too plain and has no details. With the second version, she adds a lot of information for her characters, but her open ending again makes him dissatisfied.
Superficially, the father seems to have a perfect family. He is successful in his career and and his daughter is also a well-know writer. The daughter is devoted to stay with him, hoping that she can entertain him to overcome this difficult time. Even though he asks her to do things that she dislikes and things against herself, she talks to him kindly and obey him well. The father also cares a lot about her, and he always wants to teach her to be better and stronger..