Notes

Example 1

The story “Star Food'' by Ethan Canin is about how a boy named Dade has encountered a difficult situation where he catches a woman shoplifting from his family’s owned grocery store. He hesitates whether to apprehend the woman, or let her go. He felt torn between his parents' wishes, his father wanting him to take over the store and his mother wanting him to follow his dreams. After a lot of thinking, He brought himself to catch the woman, but in the end he made the choice to free her. Dade lets the woman go because he finally decides to make his own decisions rather than trying to live up to his parent’s expectations.
Dade has always been made to follow the path set for him. On page 57, the text says “I stood there while they turned again behind me and lifted back toward the hills, trailing threads of vapor, and by the time their booms subsided I knew I wanted the woman to be caught. I had seen a sign.” Dade took this as a sign to take action, he believed he wanted to catch the woman. This was what he thought at first. Realistically, all he was doing was trying to please his parents. But was this what he truly wanted? This text states “I’ve never liked fishing much, even though I used to go with my father, because the moment a fish jumps on my line a tree’s length away in water I feel as if I’ve suddenly lost something.”(Page. 60) This analogy is compared to how he felt when he caught the woman. But as he walked her to the stockroom, he didn’t feel he was doing the right thing. The connection between his parents made him fight between these decisions. This leads to my next piece of evidence.
Dade has always been influenced by his parent’s, expecting better from him. He wanted to please his parents, who both had different ideals. When Dade decided to catch the woman, he felt strong and good, but as he led the woman to the stockroom, he felt remorse. The text says “This flushed me with remorse. Don’t spend your time looking backwards and forward.”(Page. 61) The text shows he wanted to please his parents by catching this woman, but he began to feel regretful. He feels that this isn’t what he truly wanted. So he then lets the shoplifter go knowing that this is his decision.
On page 61, Dade leads the woman to the stockroom. He began to read the speech on the card his father always uses on shoplifters. The text says “DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE DONE? it said. DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS TO STEAL? I tried to think of what to say to the woman.” This piece of evidence supports my claim because it shows that Dade started having droughts about what to do with the shoplifting woman after catching her. After this quote, Dade soon realizes he doesn’t want to follow in his fathers footsteps. He wants to have his own expectations and to be able to make his own decisions.
Although some may argue that Dade didn’t know what he wanted because of the quote “I felt alone in the world, in the way that makes me aware of sound and temperature.”(Page. 62) Others could argue and say Dade didn’t know what he wanted because he felt alone after he let the woman go. They could say he wanted to please his parents, but realizes he doesn’t really know what he wanted anymore. Although this may be true, the quote “When I thought of this and the woman I was sad. It seemed you could never really know another person,” shows otherwise. This quote shows that Dade felt a connection with the shoplifter. It is true that he believed he wanted to catch the woman at first, but let her go because he felt a connection. So he made the decision and freed the woman. He realizes he doesn't want to follow in his father’s footsteps and decides for himself what he will truly want.
In conclusion, Dade lets the woman go because he decides to make his own decisions rather than living up to his parent’s expectations. He thought he wanted to catch the woman, but it was really what his parents wanted. Once he caught the woman, he felt remorse as he was walking the woman to the stockroom. When he takes the woman to the stockroom, he then realizes that it wasn’t what he wanted. Following in his father’s footsteps and taking over Star Food isn’t what he wanted. He wanted to live up to his own expectations rather than his parent’s. In the end Dade knew what he wanted, and he lived up to his own expectations.