The "Perfect" Father - Original Copy

The “Perfect” Father Ⓒ 2019
Based on a true story.

Introduction

Dear Dad:

Since you seem to always have varying degrees of success
finding my cards and gifts to you,​ almost​ everything will be
presented digitally this year. I also have a very large physical gift
for you that should be impossible to lose. Thus, without further
ado, what is your digital gift?

I wanted to use my literary skills to craft a short narrative
for you. After completing English IB and learning to analyse
literature, I wanted to share the pleasure of reading and
understanding a short story with you. Before continuing any
further, here is the phonetics guide on how to pronounce the
names of the characters. When reading any story, this is one of
the basics.

Phoena: Fee-na 1
Dennis: Den-is2

Enjoy the story,
Rose

1 Pronunciation sourced from h​ ttps://www.howtopronounce.com/phoena/
2 P​ ronunciation sourced from h​ ttps://www.howtopronounce.com/dennis/

The “Perfect” Father
This is a story of a father with three children. He loved all three
equally, or so he insisted. Each morning, he drove his children to
school, like a rogue car in a wild police car chase. He drove with a
frenzy, whizzing in and out of the lanes, foot alternating between
slamming the gas pedal and the brakes. It was an excellent exercise
for the children, who always ate their breakfast on the short ride.
They mastered their ability to eat without spilling, learnt to adapt to
the fear of collisions by sitting in the back seat, and conquered the
car-sickness that came with having one’s head thrown back and forth
every few minutes. Most importantly, they never fell asleep in their
8am classes because of the adrenaline and cortisol the ride provided.

After school, the children would bus home and work on their
homework, until the father came home. Then the youngest child,
Phoena, would go downstairs and talk to her Dad as he cooked a
delicious meal. The father loved hearing her daily stories, which
always made him laugh.

When dinner was ready, he would call for his two older children
to come eat. “Phoena, tell them everything you told me.” He would
say. Whenever the other siblings interrupted her, he shushed them
and told Phoena to continue on in a louder voice. She was the only
voice that he wanted to listen to during dinner. While the other
siblings did not laugh at her jokes, he would give a hearty laugh and
wipe the tears from his eyes. “That was hilarious” he always chuckled
to the other siblings stony silence.

After dinner, the father washed the dishes while his three
children returned to their homework. When the father finished, the
middle child, Dennis, would come downstairs. “Dad,” he said, “come
play with me.” They would have a special boys night out until the last
drops of sunlight vanished from the summer sky and the clock
chimed an hour before midnight. “Son, you have school tomorrow
and I have work. We better return home.” The father reasoned to his
son’s protests of one more game.

So the days of this family continued on like this, until one day,
when the father returned home after another boys night out, he
found his eldest daughter waiting for him instead of in bed. “Don’t
you have school tomorrow?” He asked. “Why are you still awake my
dear?”

“Sweet words mean nothing. Don’t call me that.” She refuted.
“You laugh about Phoena’s stories, you smile when spending time
with Dennis. What about me?” She fumed. “From after work until
dinner, you listen to Phoena’s stories. From after dinner to past dark,
you spend time with Dennis. When do you spend time with me?”

“Sweetie, I talk to you everyday” The father responded.

“But talking isn’t the same as having a conversation. When have
you asked me to share my day or asked about my stories?” The
daughter raged.

“It’s not never.” The father protested.

“Talking isn’t the same as having a conversation.” The daughter
reiterated. “All you ever say is ‘My work shift is at 7:30 or I’m on the
late shift. No you can’t do this you need to study. Okay, good night.
Sleep earlier.” What else do you ever say to me?”

“I don’t want to talk to you anymore.” The father said.

“Yes, you say that too when you get mad.” The daughter added.
“Why do we never talk about anything other than academics? What
about global news, books or movies, and our faith? Why do you never
think about spending time with me? You don’t even look at me at
dinner. Your eyes are fixated elsewhere! You have never laughed at
my stories at all, while you’re laughing at Phoena’s stories all the
time.”

“Good night.” The father cut her off abruptly. He was saddened
by his eldest daughter’s thoughts, but the criticisms went in one ear,
and out the other. Why did it matter that he might lose her love,
when he could maintain the love of his two younger children?

Guiding Questions
Now that you finished reading, what do you think? Please take a
minute or two to reflect on the following questions before continuing.

1. Is the father truly perfect? Why or why not?
2. How does he treat his youngest daughter Phoena?
3. How does he treat his middle child, Dennis?
4. How does he treat his oldest child?
5. Does it sound familiar in any way? If yes, in what ways does it

sound familiar? Do you know anyone who fits this story?

Analysis Part 1
The story is an allegory,3 of which I will briefly analyze.

Upon the first impression, the father ​seems​ (not ​is​) ideal. He
represents the best characteristics of you. He drives his children
to school, and makes delicious meals for them. He takes care of
their needs, and also spends time with his youngest child,
Phoena, and middle child, Dennis. However, an inspection of the
details reveals a darker truth.

The first clues of deeper flaws is in the way that the father
drives. It is wonderful that he brings his children to school, but
the manner that he drives is dangerous and a poor role model.
His driving is described “like a police car chase”4 and that he
alternates between “slamming the gas pedals and the brakes,”
which negatively impact the children who are trying to eat their
breakfast.

Next, throughout the story, he “listens” to Phoena talk.
However, there is no indication that he ever responds and that
there is a conversation. Instead, it seems very one sided with the
father listening and laughing to his youngest daughter speak as
he cooks. Similarly, the same occurs when the family eats dinner
as “ he only listens to her voice.” He “shushes the voice of the

3 A​ llegory: a story, poem or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden, deeper meaning.
4 Q​ uotations surround a quote that is directly taken from the story.

other siblings” who want to talk and share their stories as well.
Phoena is an imperfect rhyme5 to phone. The youngest daughter
is a personification6 of all the TV shows you watch on your phone.

Similarly, the father spends most of his evenings as bonding
time with the middle child, Dennis. They play until “an hour
before midnight” in the evening, and reluctantly leaves only then
because “the father has work the next morning”, otherwise he
would play longer, and doesn’t care about how the other
members of the family feels about his late night fun. Dennis is a
perfect rhyme7 to the word tennis, which is what the middle child
symbolizes.

Knowing this, please re-read the story and consider the following
questions:

1. Who or what do you think the eldest daughter represents?
2. What is the ​main​ complaint that the eldest daughter has

towards her father?

Turn this page ​only after​ you have read the story for a second
time.

5Words that look similar or that they should rhyme, in this case Phoena looks similar to phone-a.
6Personification is giving inanimate objects human like attributes.
7 ​Perfect rhyme are words that rhyme perfectly. Other examples are bright, night, and light.

Analysis Part 2
Now it’s time to test your own critical analysis skills and see if you truly
understood the allegory. 8 Have fun!

1. W​ hy does the daughter say, “Sweet words mean nothing”?
a) She dislikes the nicknames that her father calls her.
b) She wants her father to show that he loves her instead of merely

saying it.
c) She believes that her father’s neglectful actions towards her does

not match the affectionate terms.

2. What is the eldest daughter’s m​ ain​ complaint towards her
father?

a) Her father does not take the time to engage in meaningful
conversations with her.

b) Her father does not spend any time with her.
c) Her father is biased towards her younger siblings and does not love

her as much as he loves them.

3. Which of the following quotes b​ est explains​ the eldest
daughter’s main complaint?

a) “​You have never laughed at my stories at all, while you’re
laughing at Phoena’s stories all the time.”

b) “You don’t even look at me at dinner. Your eyes are fixated
elsewhere!”

c) “Talking isn’t the same as having a conversation...When have you
asked me to share my day or asked about my stories?”

8 Questions are presented in chronological order from the text. Re-reading may be necessary.

4. What literary technique was used in the title and how does it
enhance​ the story’s message?

a) Metaphor: The indirect comparison of the father to the idea of
perfection reveals that the father is slowly on the path of becoming a
better father to his children.

b) Irony: while the father was initially depicted as perfect, a closer
reading reveals his underlying flaws. He is far from perfect towards
his eldest daughter.

c) Hyperbole: The word choice of perfect exaggerates the father’s
abilities. It reveals the impossibility of parenting three children.

5. What is the s​ ignificance​ of the last line, “Why did it matter that
he might lose her love, when he could maintain the love of his
two younger children?”

a) It creates a sense of tragedy in that the father spends more time
with his two younger children than his eldest daughter and also
reveals his decision to change that.

b) It reveals that he is not the perfect father that the title suggested
because of his favouritism, while also defending the father’s choice
in how he balances his time between his three children.

c) It causes the reader to question whether the father has made the
right choice, knowing that the story is an allegory and that he
spends more time with his two hobbies, than his real-life, daughter,
who is unnamed in the story.

Bonus question: how is the father b​ est​ characterized?
a) Caring, but with miscalculated priorities.
b) Considerate and looking out for the best interests of his children.

c) A skilled but rather reckless driver.

Turn the page when you’re finished.

Author’s Note

For my Dad. I wrote this story for you.

However, you might be wondering, why did I write it?9 Because I
wish that I didn’t have to share your attention and time with my other
“half-siblings.” The short story conveys my mixture of disappointment
and frustration that you spend more time with your phone or tennis than
with me. You don’t spend much time c​ ultivating a deeper relationship
with me and ​creating a sense of family,​ even though you d​ o​ a lot for me,
which I appreciate. Even if you’re physically present at home, you’re
mentally absent. I’m always touched by when you pull down your
headphones to listen to me speak or when you’re in a good mood and
pause the video that you’re watching when you hear me talking. However,
the point is that you don’t do that very often, instead you block out Mom
and I most of the time.

The story is a longing hope that you can spend less time on your
headphones and more time with me, and simply enjoying silence. I don’t
understand how you listen to a sermon in the chaos of the mornings and
spiritually absorb what the pastor is saying. What about setting a
separate time with merely silence and your bible to reference what the
pastor is saying instead of cramming it into the frenetic morning? And
when you mow the lawn into a beautiful green landscape, is it too much I
ask for you to detach from the virtual world for half an house?
Furthermore, what about your ears? The lawnmower is already really
loud; I can hear the noise from indoors. How loud is the movie you’re
watching to hear over the noise of the lawnmower in your headphones?

9 ​Answers: 1. C) 2.A) 3.C) 4.B) 5. C) Bonus: A)
Did you achieve 100%?

Ultimately, I wanted to convey my dissatisfaction because at times I
do love you so much, but other times I struggle to do so. Like all art, the
short story is a medium to convey a message, but its power lies in what
the reader learns from it. What will you do with this knowledge? Will it
go in one ear and out another? Will you act upon it and seek change?

Today is a celebration for all that you do as a father, but it is also a
day to reflect on habits to improve since you’re a role model, being Dad. I
hope that I can write a happier ending (or sequel) for this story next year.

Happy Father’s Day!

Love,
Rose