My Daddy's a Diver Short Story Review

My Daddy’s a Diver meets the short story genre requirements well except in a few areas, an example being that it is only written from one perspective and it doesn’t have a balance of showing and telling in the story. The story does meet many of the short story genre requirements, one being that the story is based within a 24 hour period. Another example is that it has a restricted setting which is the ocean and their home. The story was a restricted number of characters; the father, the daughter and the fish. The purpose of the story is to evoke feelings of love, loss and companionship. The story connects on an emotional level with the reader, the emotions it arouses in the reader are sadness, pity, hope and love.  An example of how the uses language effectively is “lifting its seal he let the seawater in, bathing his face, easing the sadness,” this effectively shows how strongly the dad feels about the loss of his wife and the burden of grief he has been left with. The values that underpin this text are love and the importance of having a partner to share your life with. The type of journey evident in the story is inner journey.  This is shown by the realization of the father from the death of his wife that there can be hope and redemption of the new life and love from his daughter.  The story is very effective as it has strong imagery of loss but loss is also represented in the killing of the fish’s companion. The story also is effective as it shows the value of love one has for their partner in life and that love is such a previous thing and must be cherished.