This article analyzes contemporary United States author Cornelius Eady’s critique of patriarchy in his portrayal of a father-son relationship in his prosepoem You Don’t Miss Your Water. The article focuses on how Eady’s portrayal of the father-son relationship in turn implicates the father’s callous victimization of the entire family. This study seeks specifically to emphasize Eady’s insight into symbolic appropriations of self, with respect to the father and mother, and his insight into both the tragedy and the problematic consciousness produced by patriarchalism.