In Jane Smiley's "A Thousand Acres", the main focus is one of the family and familial relationships. Smiley presents what at first seems to be a typical American farm family, but is quickly revealed to be anything but. Her message is quite clear (since she stole it from Shakespeare); love in its very nature is something one cannot measure, attempting to do so can only lead to disaster. However, Smiley has put a new spin …
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…the family stemming from the father may have larger and further reaching implications than one farm in Cabot, but she proves her point here by warping the Lear story around the monster of a father she created in Larry Cook, making his fatal flaw his perversion as opposed to the hubris and pride of Lear. Her lesson about false love and the sins of the father hold true, at least for her creations in Cabot.