Situation and Setting "To a daughter leaving home" by Linda Pastan

The situation and Setting in this story on tells a single story, but is symbolic of the daughters entire life span before leaving home. The narrator or parent in this poem tells the story of the daughter first learning to ride a bicycle. The parent was afraid that the daughter would loose balance and kept listening for the "thud" of her fall, but never heard it. She was expecting her to fall, or loose control (of her life), but it never happened. The narrator mentions running to catch up to the daughter as she rode her bicycle, but was never ableto because the daughter kept "pumping for her life". Both the Setting and Situation in this poem shows that the parent is certain that the daughter will be successful when she leaves home.