A Conversation with My Father

The writer, whom Paley seems to have modeled after herself, is the story’s narrator and main character. Like Paley, she specializes in a kind of postmodern story that has a simple plot. When she tries to write a more straightforward, linear story to please her dying father, she ends up undercutting the story’s pathos by adopting a detached, wry tone. As a result, her father concludes that while she might have a “nice sense of humor,” she uses it to avoid facing the tragedies of life head-on (Paragraph 36).

Whether this is true is debatable. The writer links her dislike of linear narrative to the sympathy she feels for her characters and, in particular, her reluctance to sentence them to a definite ending. In other words, she is acting out of pity rather than naiveté. To the extent that she is more hopeful than her father, however, her outlook is likely a reflection of her younger age. While her father is facing imminent death, the writer’s future could still take several different courses. The difference between these characters outlooks may also speak to Paley’s experiences as a first-generation immigrant.