The Open Destiny of Life

In the short story “A Conversation with My Father,” written by Grace Paley, there are two stories intertwined. The main story is about a visit between a middle-aged woman and her elderly, bedridden father. It is during this visit that the two of them discuss fiction and give their opinion towards tragedy in literature and in life. The second is a story that the daughter creates for her father at his request. She proceeds to tell him a story about a mother who, in order to be closer to her drug-addicted son, decides to experiment with the same drug and becomes a drug-addict herself, only to be deserted by the son when he rises above his dependency. Building on her relationship with her own father, Paley artfully uses intertwined narratives and character relationships to present the themes of experience and opportunity.

The central conflict between the father and daughter lies within their different life experiences due to a vast generation gap, leaving them with different views not only in life but also in literature. He is an eighty-six year old man, bedridden due to heart disease and, despite his health problems, fully alert. A physician by profession and an artist in retirement, he is still very particular with details and requires that of her as well. In comparison, the daughter, who is also the narrator, has a completely different view on life. Young, comfortable with herself and with changes necessitated by a changing world, she rejects her father’s tendency to cling to the familiar and reject change. Mellow and creative-minded, she is committed to art as a form of self-actualization, whereas her father sees it as a mere vocation- something a careful few “do” but ignorant multitudes play at “doing” while waiting for something real to do.

Thus, it is not surprising tension builds between them when he asks her to tell him a