Views of My Father Weeping by Donald Barthelme

Neeeeigh.

Here is another prime example of Donald Barthelme's post-modern literary aesthetic where narrative form and structure is more important than plot. Blocks of text are divided by bullet points and this fragmentation is essential to creating the story's ambiguity. Moreover, the author is interested in deconstructing the detective genre. The first-person narrator is trying to solve the mystery of his father's tragic death, who was allegedly run over by a carriage owned by an aristocrat. Unlike the pragmatic Sherlock Holmes character that follows clues to their logical conclusion, the narrator's search for truth is futile in an irrational world of infinite perspectives. He is trapped in a repetitive loop of distorted and contradictory perspectives from various witnesses. The dreamlike surrealism and experimental prose further highlight the temporal and spatial ambiguity of the text. 

An important question emerges: how does one reconstruct past events when fact and fiction are no longer distinguishable? Additionally, scientific objectivity offers no solace. To rationalize his trauma and despair, he strategically turns to art, performance and imagination. This is where the story becomes truly bizarre, launching into experimental high-gear. He envisions a father figure weeping and we are told that "It is someone's father. That much is clear. He is fatherly." In other words, unable to confront his immense grief, he conjures up a simulacrum of his father. However, much like the detective, this performance is merely another fictitious attempt to avoid the complex emotions he feels toward his deceased father. To make matters even more confusing, we also get fragmented memories of the father during his youth. For example, we see him has a mischievous kid putting pepper into the sugar bowl or destroying a doll house. These brief sketches of the father are not meant to provide any deep insight into his character but humanizes him in a more sympathetic light. 

During the dénouement, all the "clues" lead the narrator to confronting a carriage driver named Lars Bang, who supposedly ran over his father in the street. After he gives his version of events, he is interrupted by a little girl that calls him out as liar and the story ends with a simple "Etc.". This isn't a spoiler because a satisfying conclusion is impossible; there will always be infinite perspectives on reconstructing the past. This is Barthelme's clever way of nudging the reader, reminding them that they are engaging with a work of fiction, not an accurate representation of reality.