Plot Summary
Star Food
Ethan Canin
Star Food
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1997
Plot Summary
“Star Food” (1988), a short story by American author and teacher Ethan Canin, concerns Dade, a boy who works for his father at the titularly named family grocery store. Dade encounters a moral quandary when he catches a woman stealing from the store; hesitating whether to apprehend her or let her go, he begins to see how individuals’ ordinary decisions are inextricably linked to moral character. He reaches a revelation that the moral characters of most people are mainly inherited from their parents. One of Canin’s most famous works, “Star Food” is known for expertly blending questions of innocence, judgment, inheritance, and independence.
“Star Food,” narrated by the adult Dade, begins as he recalls the palpable disappointment of his parents the summer of his eighteenth year. He believes that it is the only time he truly let them down, but is ambivalent about whether the fault is his own, rather than the effect of an irreconcilable difference in their moral assumptions. Dade’s father warns him that without holding himself to rigorous standards of work and social conduct, he will live a life of poverty. His father bases this view on his experience creating and running Star Food. Dade questions his father’s self-assuredness, speculating ironically that when he first proposed to his wife, he probably planned out his entire life.
While working at Star Food, Dade is a moderately committed worker, but occasionally prefers to slack off on the roof and form new ideas, torn between his father’s wishes for him and those of his mother, who envisions him as a great inventor. He perceives his father as disappointed by Dade’s lack of serious interest in running the store, and internalizes his anxiety that he will end up like one of the many impoverished residents of the neighborhood. Meanwhile, he wonders about his mother’s theory that the great men of history were merely ordinary people who spent lots of time ruminating about everyday things until struck with insight. Despite their opinions, Dade’s parents understand that he is a teenager and try not to pressure him too hard to emulate them.
Dade’s relationship to his parents takes a turn on a fateful day when a middle-aged woman shoplifts from the store. It is not the first shoplifting incident Dade has dealt with, but until now, the other culprits have been children. The woman looks poor and sad, eliciting his sympathy, though her theft is totally blatant and unapologetic. Stealing first a loaf of bread, and later some pineapple juice, the lady leaves Dade with an inexplicable moral paralysis. When he tells his mother about her, she respects his emotional reasons for letting the woman go. Likewise, his father sympathizes with him, decides to hire a guard to take care of shoplifters. A few weeks later, while Dade daydreams on the roof, he spots fighter jets out on a test flight. The moment is strangely galvanizing for him, and he resolves to become proactive about catching shoplifters.
Just as Dade expects, the same woman arrives at the store and begins to shoplift. He detains her in the back of the store and waits for his father to come to deal with her. At the last moment, he lets her go, in the same manner that his mother occasionally did with children who stole. Ashamed, Dade leaves the store just behind her, too embarrassed to face his father. He and the woman walk silently together. That night, he experiences a profound sense of isolation, feeling an irreconcilable moral divide between him and his parents. He realizes he identifies more with the shoplifter than with his own family, and wonders where his future will lead if not toward any of the models of self he has been pressured to inherit.
“Star Food,” narrated by the adult Dade, begins as he recalls the palpable disappointment of his parents the summer of his eighteenth year. He believes that it is the only time he truly let them down, but is ambivalent about whether the fault is his own, rather than the effect of an irreconcilable difference in their moral assumptions. Dade’s father warns him that without holding himself to rigorous standards of work and social conduct, he will live a life of poverty. His father bases this view on his experience creating and running Star Food. Dade questions his father’s self-assuredness, speculating ironically that when he first proposed to his wife, he probably planned out his entire life.
While working at Star Food, Dade is a moderately committed worker, but occasionally prefers to slack off on the roof and form new ideas, torn between his father’s wishes for him and those of his mother, who envisions him as a great inventor. He perceives his father as disappointed by Dade’s lack of serious interest in running the store, and internalizes his anxiety that he will end up like one of the many impoverished residents of the neighborhood. Meanwhile, he wonders about his mother’s theory that the great men of history were merely ordinary people who spent lots of time ruminating about everyday things until struck with insight. Despite their opinions, Dade’s parents understand that he is a teenager and try not to pressure him too hard to emulate them.
Dade’s relationship to his parents takes a turn on a fateful day when a middle-aged woman shoplifts from the store. It is not the first shoplifting incident Dade has dealt with, but until now, the other culprits have been children. The woman looks poor and sad, eliciting his sympathy, though her theft is totally blatant and unapologetic. Stealing first a loaf of bread, and later some pineapple juice, the lady leaves Dade with an inexplicable moral paralysis. When he tells his mother about her, she respects his emotional reasons for letting the woman go. Likewise, his father sympathizes with him, decides to hire a guard to take care of shoplifters. A few weeks later, while Dade daydreams on the roof, he spots fighter jets out on a test flight. The moment is strangely galvanizing for him, and he resolves to become proactive about catching shoplifters.
Just as Dade expects, the same woman arrives at the store and begins to shoplift. He detains her in the back of the store and waits for his father to come to deal with her. At the last moment, he lets her go, in the same manner that his mother occasionally did with children who stole. Ashamed, Dade leaves the store just behind her, too embarrassed to face his father. He and the woman walk silently together. That night, he experiences a profound sense of isolation, feeling an irreconcilable moral divide between him and his parents. He realizes he identifies more with the shoplifter than with his own family, and wonders where his future will lead if not toward any of the models of self he has been pressured to inherit.
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