"A Father's Story": A Testament of Love
A father's love for his children surpasses all other forms of love. "A Father's Story", by Andre Dubus narrates the lengths of a father's love for his daughter and the extent he will go to protect her, even if it means he must sacrifice a part of himself in the process. By proving his love, a father must face challenges with his own values and morality. Luke Ripley, the protagonist of the story, throws away his ethics and his principles in order to protect his daughter, but not without struggling with his loyalty to God and betraying the trust of his only friend. Yet, even though through this he loses a part of himself, he gains something more important in return; a meaning for living.
As a father of three sons and a daughter, Luke knows that paternal love for one's children can often draw out intense emotion and passion.
Andre Dubus
Luke with the Rope in the Solarium
LukeAlthough he is pretty much estranged from his sons and is not significantly close to his daughter, he still cares for them, especially for his daughter Jennifer. "Jennifer is twenty, and I worry about her the way fathers worry about daughters and not sons (477)". Even before the incident that would change Luke's life, Jennifer is presented as a special person in his life. He regards her differently than his other children, placing more emphasis on her well-being and her life. In spite of that, there exists a rift between the two.
His daughter, Jennifer, is the only remaining family member with whom he maintains a relationship. In the midst of embarking into womanhood, a stage in her life that Luke cannot even begin to comprehend, Jennifer begins to slip from his already unsteady grasp. "It was womanhood they...