Symbolism In My Papa's Waltz By Theodore Roethke

In “My Papa Waltz”, Theodore Roethke displays a happy little boy and his father dancing together after a long day of work. The little boy is enjoying the time spent with his father. His mother is watching with a disapproval look because the little boy is supposed to be in bed. But the father ignores the mother’s facial expression and continues enjoying his son.
“My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke writes about a little boy who is about to go to bed, and his father comes home with a strong smell of alcohol on his breath, “The whiskey on your breath / Could make a small boy dizzy;” (Roethke 1-2 ). This shows that the father has been drinking and the smell is so strong he is getting dizzy from it. Even though the little boy dad is drinking he is very happy to be with him. As Roethke points out, “But I hung on like death: / Such waltzing was not easy” (Roethke 3-4). As the little boy and his father continued to dance around the house and have a good time, the little boy’s mother was getting angry at the father. Roethke concludes,” My mother’s countenance / Could not unfrown itself” (Roethke 8-9). Roethke adds, “The hand that held my wrist/Was battered on one knuckle;” (Roethke 9-10). This shows his father is a hardworking man. The work that his father produces makes his knuckles bleed. As they continue to dance the little boy realizes that if he doesn’t keep up with his father’s dancing, his ear scrapes his father’s belt buckle. The father is having such a good time with his son, Roethke adds, “You beat time on my head / With a palm caked hard with dirt” (Roethke 13-14). The father with his filthy hands is playing drums on top of the little boy’s head. Roethke concludes with, “Then waltzed me off to bed/Still clin...

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...my life to have that moment back. I would hold her and comfort her we would talk through her confusion, and I would put her to bed with the boundaries between us intact. I love her more than my life. I hope that one day she can forgive me. I felt I could not betray her again by telling you or Roslyn. Forgive me…” (Lemmons).
In the letter it shows that Cisely did not only love her father, she was in love with him. Even though what had occurred made Cisely to stop talking her father truly and unconditionally loved and adored her.
To conclude, in both pieces their displays to different ways a child could love their father. It necessarily doesn’t mean it right. But regardless of how the children feel about their fathers, the father love for his child is pure and unconditional. There is nothing that can get in the way of that, not even the mother of the child.