Eating Together by: Li-Young Lee

Eating Together By: Li-Young Lee

Li-Young Lee is an American poet. He was born on August 19, 1957 in Indonesia to Chinese parents. His great grandfather was actually the first republican President of China who attempted to crown himself Emperor. Lee's father was a personal physician for Mao Zedong for some time, and then the family was relocated in Indonesia. There Lee's father helped found the Gamaliel University. In 1959 the family fled to escape anti-Chinese sentiment. After five years of running, through Hong Kong, Macau, and Japan, the Lee family ended up in the Americas in 1964. Li-Young attended a few Universities such as the Universities of Pittsburgh and Arizona, and the State University of New York at Brockport. He went on to teach at a few universities including Northwestern, and the University of Iowa. He wrote several novels and pieces through the years, and is now residing in Chicago, Illinois with a wife and two kids.
After reading "Eating Together," I noticed a few things. The beginning portion of the poem describes the dinner of the family. He uses sensory, and some imagery, to paint out a picture of the dinner table, and the trout center piece of the meal. The words he used makes the reader feel like they are reading a piece with "Smellavision." The second section of the poem is describing the death of his father. He transitions from the first portion to the second be describing how his mother will be eating the sweetest meat of the fish, the head, just like his father had, before he died.
"Then he lay down to sleep like a snow-covered road winding through pines older than him, without any travelers, and lonely for no one." He is comparing his father's death to a light snowfall to show how his father died peacefully. And even though he is alone, he will never be lonely because he will always be in their hearts. And whenever the family gathers to eat dinner, they will always be eating together.

Three Poems By: Li-Young Lee

I will be writing about the first poem out of the three, "A Story." The plot if the poem is that a child is asking his father to tell him a story, but the father does not know one. The father is trying his best to muster up a story to satisfy his son's wants but he fails. Instead he imagines the future. He sees his son all grown up, and ready to move out of the house. The boy is packing and looking for his keys. The father all of a sudden wishes to tell the boy a story. But now he knows many stories. He feels that he has failed his son by not being able to recite a story when he asks. But just because he cannot tell him a story does not mean that he does not love his son. The way i see it, the mother will raise a child with care and nurture, but a father will raise a child with wisdom, and knowledge that will benefit in the long run. Just like a mother's love, a father's love is also unconditional. The man then snaps back to reality and the boy is still here. Waiting on his father's lap, for a story. But still the father is unable to tell him one.
"It is an emotional rather than logical equation, an earthly rather than heavenly one, which posits that a boy's supplications and a father's love add up to silence."
I do not think that there is any specific reason why his work is considered American other than the fact that the poet is American.