Star Food Ethan Canin Analysis

In the short story “Star Food” by Ethan Canin, Dade a teenage boy from a small town named Arcade makes a decision that disappoints both of his parents. Dade’s father owns a grocery store and wants Dade to focus on work and therefore become successful. His father, not to mention being a very opinionated person, hates when Dade slacks off because he thinks that if he does not work hard he will end up on the curb. Dade spends most of his time on the roof where he daydreams because his mother believes that if he stares at something for a long period of time he will eventually discover something and become a great man just like Leonardo da Vinci and Thomas Edison. Usually he never disappoints both of his parents at the same time, but at the end when he decides to let a shoplifter go instead of turning her in, not only does he disappoint his father, but also his mother. Dade lets the woman go because he felt sorry for her and did not agree with his father or his mother and makes a decision finally for himself and …show more content…
Dade lets the shoplifter go because he realizes that turning her in would be giving in to what his father wants for him and he does not want to end up like his father. “My life is making sense” (pg 59) When Dade says that, he’s made the decision that he will never become a man of limited fame like his mother wants because he does not know where he is going to go in life, he is caught up with the ideas of his parents. Making a decision for himself when he decides to catch the thief made him think he could become someone for himself and not for his parents, but ultimately turning in the thief would nonetheless make him just like his father