Any interpretation of this story is due to the reader’s personal emotions and feelings toward his or her own Papa. This story can be either a dance between him and his father, thus bringing them closer together. However, there is a darker side of this poem, on this side it is an unsettling fight between a boy and his drunken father and all the intimacy of the dance does not make an impression on the reader and is overshadowed by the anger they feel. Theodore Roethke manipulates our emotions in this poem using literary convention. A Waltz is a lighthearted, easily accessible dance. In a waltz, a couple sways back and forth as they go in a circle. Our emotions of this poem seem to follow this same path as we can see comforting and frightening images at the same time in this poem making us go in circles on whether this poem is about a boy dancing with his father, or a boy fighting his father. An example of this “waltz” we have in this poem is in the first stanza as we get the frightening image of “The whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy” (Line 1-2). Then he follows with “we romped,” thus undercutting the serious tone that we are given from the first stanza; however, the romping is giving seriousness immediately when the pans slide from the kitchen shelves and “The mother’s countenance could not unfrown itself.” Another part that can be taken in either a positive or a negative reading is when the poem reads, “The hand that held my wrist was battered on one knuckle.” This can mean that his father was a hardworking man whose hands are altered from working long hours as a grafter, or this could mean that his hand was battered because it is the same hand being used to beat him. This gives us yet another spin on our emo... ... middle of paper ... ...e fathers overpowering the son to do what he wants. The clinging in the last line can be viewed as the boy just trying to survive and is grabbing whatever he can to just make it through this ordeal. There is no way for him to fight back due to him being so young, because in the first stanza just for him to hang on is not easy. The narrator could focus on many other instances with his father, but he does not because this one hurts him the most deep down. He does not describe his father he just focuses on his knuckles and belt. There is no clear correct way to analyze the poem and judge who is more correct is in the reader’s hand not the writers. If to readers sought different meanings each party would have a valid reason to why theirs is correct and the opposite party must accept it. The one agreeable argument is that this is an interesting and powerful poem.
In the poem "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke, the speaker is reflecting on a childhood experience involving his father. Through diction and details, the speaker conveys his complex attitudes toward his father. When first read it, it appears the young boy is afraid of his father. The first line of the poem writes: "The whiskey on your breath; could make a small boy dizzy." Apparently, the father likes whisky and the smell of it is remaining on his person, which causes the young boy's aversion. The diction of "dizzy" depicts the young boy is getting overwhelmed by the smell of the drink. Imagine how a little child feels when he notices the strange smell of his parent, He feels weak or even scared. That is exactly what the young boy feels when he saw his drunken father with the distasteful smell. The poem then goes on saying: "but I hung on like death, such waltzing was not easy." This simile compares the fear of the boy to the death. To have a feeling of death is not a pleasant feeling, therefore when they started "waltzing"; the young boy thinks it is "not easy." This shows that ...
The poem is written in the father’s point of view; this gives insight of the father’s character and
In this poem, Roethke used symbolism, simile and rhyme scheme to allow the reader to understand the purpose of the poem. The author titled this poem “My Papa’s Waltz” and reference this dance (waltz) throughout the poem. The author description of the waltz symbolizes their relationship. For example , it states that “ At every step you missed, my right ear scraped a buckle”. The description of all the mistakes in their waltz symbolizes the mistakes the father has made in life and how it negatively impact the son. When the author uses words such as “scraped”, it gives a agonizing tone; showing that this waltz caused extreme pain to the son. Moreover, the author used a simile when he said “ But I hung on like death”. The pain of witnessing death can cause an everlasting impact on someone’s life. As a result, the author compared the constant effort of hanging on to their relationship to the continuous pain of death . In addition, the poem has a basic ABAB rhyme scheme, which give emphasis on the lines that rhyme. As a result, the figurative language allows the reader to understand that even though their relationship is unhealthy, the boy will stick through it
The poem can be easily interpreted to be a scene of a troubled father and son in a dysfunctional home, while at the same time it can also be interpreted to be a warm scene of the relationship between the father and the son. Both interpretations are correct. There is enough evidence in the poem to argue for both sides. And because there is, that’s why there’s so much disagreement between the readers: The disagreement proves that people can interpret the same event, or in this
The poem is told by the child’s view and everything is described in order for the reader to visualize what is happening. “The whiskey on your breath/Could make a small boy dizzy.”(1-2), Roethke starts off by describing the father through sense of smell instead of his facial features. Another use of imagery, “We romped until the pans/Slid from the kitchen shelf/My mother’s countenance/ Cold not unfrown itself.”(5-8), the kitchen is a mess and the mother only watches, providing no help. They “romped” until the pans fell, this creates an image of destruction because the dad is drunkenly moving through the kitchen and destroying everything. The mother only watches in despair and she had no power of the actions of the father. “The hand that held my wrist/Was battered on one knuckle” (9-10), the battered knuckle means that the father is violent and giving a strong image of how the father is. Roethke uses amazing imagery in order to make sense of the story. He wants the reader to connect with him and to visualize what he is trying to
The subject of the poem “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke made a passionate academic debate from professors, scholars, and students alike by using; imagery, symbolism, and diction to make his poem clear. The poem “My Papa’s Waltz” describes the abuse the author's experiences growing up as a child with his intoxicated father. The author share his experiences through this poem. The poem is a horrid experiences from the author's point of view. The author share his experiences and also the author In addition the author develops imagery to let the readers experiences the abuse from his intoxicated father as a child.
Theodore Roethke is one of the most accomplished and influential American poets. He has published various volumes of award-winning and critically acclaimed poetry. One of his affluent poems is “My Papa’s Waltz” which was published in 1948. The poem depicts an image of a young boy waltzing with his intoxicated father. The voice of the persona in the poem contributes to the poem’s effectiveness since it is told from the young boy’s perspective. He is indirectly expressing his feelings regarding his father’s lifestyle. To summarize, the father had too much whiskey and began to waltz around the around the kitchen with his son. The waltz was extremely clumsy as the son kept scraping his ear on his father’s belt buckle. After the shenanigans, the young boy’s father waltzed him off to bed. Therefore, the theme of “My Papa’s Waltz” is the young boy’s reminiscent of his father’s alcoholism.
“My Papa’s Waltz” is a poem gracefully written by the critically acclaimed, Theodore Roethke, in which he projects his internalized emotional confusion through the innocent soul of a young boy, whose thoughts most likely reflect that of Roethke’s former childhood self. The account expressed in the poem is one of controversy, occurring between the young boy and his father; the encounter is either abusive or playful; however, much of the poem supports the position that the encounter is playful. In “My Papa’s Waltz,” the child is not the victim of abuse, but rather of playfulness, which resulted in unintended emotional scarring from the combination of the enamor he had for his father as a consummate whole, and the dislike he had for the part of
Some people believe that, “My Papa’s Waltz” is one of a happy exchange between a father and son. The more convincing interpretation is that is has a hidden message of parental abuse, because when a careful analysis of the keywords and stanzas are examined, the theory of child abuse by a drunken father comes to life.
The waltz is a dance performed by two people who in tune with each other and should bring the two people closer together. However, the dance in this poem does not portray a loving and intimate dance but instead portrays the dark side of the waltz and sets the undertone mood of the poem that there is something darker and deeper going on than what you see on the surface. Theodore Roethke shapes the way the reader responses to reading the
Roethke used imagery to show his readers that this father may have made some forgivable mistakes, but he worked hard for his family and still came home after a hard night’s work to enjoy a romp with his son. Roethke continues to symbolize this loving memory of a boy and his father by comparing it to a waltz. His diction allowed the reader to imagine this sometimes-too-rough rough housing was a dance between father and son. Roethke referred to specific terms that are used often when it comes to dance. In line 11, Roethke writes, “At every step you missed.” He also made his readers visualize a linked dance between the two with lines, such as “You beat time on my head” (line 13). Symbolism was not the only powerful form of literary conventions that stood out to me in this
There is no greater bond then a boy and his father, the significant importance of having a father through your young life can help mold you to who you want to become without having emotional distraught or the fear of being neglected. This poem shows the importance in between the lines of how much love is deeply rooted between these two. In a boys life he must look up to his father as a mentor and his best friend, the father teaches the son as much as he can throughout his experience in life and build a strong relationship along the way. As the boy grows up after learning everything his father has taught him, he can provide help for his father at his old-age if problems were to come up in each others
As some words used in this poem “My Papa’s Waltz” are negative texture. Some people might think that this poem is written in a abusing way and that it has a hidden message of a parental abuse, but looking and understanding the poems attitude it is very non harmful and a cheerful atmosphere. The both of the characters in the poem the parent and the child are having a good time with each other after the father had a long day at work. The narrator of this poem Roethke talks about a very important and heart breaking situation, when remembering his childhood memories with his father and how he finally understood the the parent and child relationship now as a grown man. He relives those time that he once spent with his father. And so he writes the poem in a child's perspective and not adult to create a visual memory. Roethke explores the ambiguity of the parent and child relationship.
In the poem, My Papa’s Waltz, Theodore Roethke shares the male main character’s reminiscing memory about a specific time in his youth reflecting his emotions of love and fear towards the imperfections of his father. The young boy in the poem loves his father’s presence and eats up every second he has with him fueling his masculinity and macho-ness.
“My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke can be interpreted in a few different ways. The most obvious one being that he was dancing around with his father, having so much fun that he did not want to stop. His father is very drunk though, which leads us to believe that it is no just a fun story of him and his father dancing one night. What Roethke is really trying to show us, is the abusive relationship he had with his father.