In "Say You Love Me," the complex family dynamic, especially between the narrator and the sister, demonstrates how one can both love and hate a family member. Having to deal with an abusive, alcoholic father brings exceptional challenges. How do you find the strength and courage to endure something like this for so long? At first, you would think the narrator in this story would be terrified of her father in this story, but at the same time, you suspect this kind of behavior is rather frequent and that perhaps she sadly has grown accustomed to it. Examining "Say You Love Me" a little more closely, one finds this to be true, but she seems to also be intrigued by his behaviors. The narrator describes how she's trapped in a chair with her father hunkered over her, with him exclaiming, "Do you love me? He began to sob, Say you love me!" (L.8) The father acts as if he's an infant just wanting love. The alcohol amplifies these emotions, but the underlying reason for him acting out is simply that he desires love from his daughter.
             The narrator recognizes that her dad just wants love, but she also is frightened by him; she becomes somehow both less and more terrified of him because of his urgency to feel loved by her.
             The love/hate relationship in this story and her resistance to the dad is a very interesting dynamic. The (narrator's) sister states, "He'll get mean! Just tell him!" (L.10 &11;) She brings her knee up, hesitates, but is anxiously waiting what will come next. Fear began to set and forced her to become silent. She loves her father and doesn't want to do anything to harm him and knows he only wants to be reassured of her love for him. But, when emotions are running high, it makes for a very intimidating and scary situation. The fathers' actions, despite his drunkenness, makes things very confusing. The father is exclaiming he just wants to be told that he is loved, but the tone and anger infliction in his voice, in con...