In “My Papa’s Waltz,” poet Theodore Roethke uses sensory details and ambiguous language to persuade both the boy and the reader that the boy still loves his father, despite him being an alcoholic. On the third sentence of the first stanza, Roethke uses ambiguous language by stating: “But I hung on like death. Such waltzing was not easy.” Although this plainly means that the boy was holding onto his father without ease, it can be interpreted in another way; the boy still loves his father, even though it is hard to love him with his alcoholism at times, and the boy still loves his father very much. The boy is reflecting on this idea while waltzing with his
The lines can be interpreted as a dad whipping a kid with a belt, but that is not what the author intended
Causes of abuse can stem from anything, from small stressors or even traits inherited from an abuser’s parents. 68% of kids who have been abused were abused by a family member (Child Protect). Within the poem, “My Papa’s Waltz,” the son recalls memories of his childhood with his father through adoring eyes. However, readers can analyze these recollections and see the hints of abuse. The abuse exhibited in the poem could originate from internal and external matters.
The father/son relationship are shown in both poems. Both are adults reflecting on their past. “My Papa’s Waltz” is about how the father would dance daily with the son. Although it was painful when he sometimes missed a step and his “right ear scraped a buckle”, this was a memorable memory for the son (Line 8). The poem has a happy tone of the sons childhood days.
The Glass Castle Scenes In the memoir The Glass Castle written by Jeannette Walls, there have been a number of scenes in which contain violence and domestic violence. These scenes are mainly involving Jennette's father Rex Walls. Rex is an alcoholic and often becomes aggressive with his family and mainly his wife, Rose Mary Walls. An early scene in the book was when the Walls family had fled from the authorities and were on the road, Rex and bought a bottle of tequila and drove while drunk.
Directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse, The Dressmaker, starring Kate Winslet, is an iconic Australian film that portrays the story of a famous clothing designer named Tilly who after 20 odd years returns to her hometown to care for her ailing and mentally unstable mother, Molly. Set in a small town named Dungatar in rural Australia in the 1950’s, The Dressmaker is a story that revolves around the theme of revenge as Tilly explores her tormented past and retaliates against the townspeople who had made her childhood a living hell. The Dressmaker delivers a sort of contemporary twist on the classic Spaghetti Western films that dominated the film industry during the mid-1960s. The western style theme of revenge incorporated into The Dressmaker, combined with multiple other elements adopted from Spaghetti Western films, transforms and enhances the movie into a visually stunning piece
The relationship between father and son is one that is both sacred, yet complex as each side of the relationship faces hardships. This relationship between a son and his role model, a father and his child, is one, has its ups, but one must also know it has downs. In Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz,” Roethke’s use of ambiguity through diction allows room for the audience to interpret the text in a positive or a negative way, representing the relationship between a father and a son, which on the outside can be interpreted in an either positive or a negative way. Roethke’s use of diction creates an element of confusion for the audience of his poem.
"They left my hands like a printer’s or thieves before a police blotter" (line1-2), which begins the poem with an unforeseen dull meaning. This makes an unmistakable picture of his hands recolored purple, in each niche and wrinkle on his hand. The words in this poem influences it to appear that the boy considers himself nothing superior to a criminal. The boy fending for himself denies him of that sweet youth purity. However, "almost needful as forgiveness"(line 12-13), gives the feeling that the boy is waiting for pardoning.
What would you do if you had a gun pointed at your head by your spouse several times? Or beaten twice a week? Leslie Morgan Steiner, has been though domestic abuse and creates a speech to answer a question most people ask, “Why does she stay?” (Steiner). In the speech logos, pathos and ethos are used to make her point proven on how domestic abuse is an important issue and why it need to be spoken about.
Every story consists of different elements, such as characters, plotlines, and settings. Nonetheless, many stories portray the same messages or ideas. “My Papa’s Waltz,” by Theodore Roethke, depicts a reckless father who is loved by his child, while “Those Winter Sundays,” by Robert Hayden, depicts a hardworking father whose child is indifferent to him. Though the poems depict exceptionally different childhoods, both contribute to the idea that perceptions of parents alter as one grows into adulthood. Both poems use harsh words and critical tones in order to convey this notion, however in “My Papa’s Waltz,” they signify the recklessness of the father and how the narrator perceives his father as an adult, while in “Those Winter Sundays,” they
Meanwhile, Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” the speaker implies abuse through a metaphor about dancing, where, in lines 5, 6, and 11- 13 the speaker vaguely mentions abuse, saying “We romped until the pans/ slid from the kitchen shelf”, “at every step you missed/ my right ear scraped a buckle./ you beat time on my head.” These lines imply the father is abusive, boisterously beating the child in the kitchen so much so that pans fell, without actually saying so. In both poems, the speaker experiences abuse from the father figure in their
Although “Papa” may not be the most sensitive man around, but he is still to be a hero in his son's eyes. Referring from the title of “My Papa’s Waltz”, “Papa” does not seem like he’s being violent intentionally but not accidentally hurting his son. This poem also, symbolizes dance in the relationship of a father and
My papa’s waltz his/her dad was drunk while his son/daughter trying to teach waltz and in Grape sherbet his/her dad made recipe of swirled snow. “But I hung on like death/ Such waltzing was not easy” (line 3 and 4). “Dad appears with his
In the final analysis, most readers of this poem tend to deduce a dark theme of physical violence due to its tone, word choice and imagery. Nonetherless, Roethke balances positive and negative tones of the poem to give it a rich and ambiguous quality. The exceeding tendency to paint the picture of child abuse deprives it, of this quality. “My Papa’s Waltz,” illustrates a special and powerful moment, shared between a father and a son through a waltz.
It reads as follows, “the hand that held my wrist was battered on one knuckle;” (9-10) again, we see the choice of words. Roethke did not use the words “calloused hands, rough hands,” He chose “battered.” As in, this was not the first time the father had struck his son. Upon the ending of stanza four, we come across these lines, “at every step you missed, my right ear scraped a buckle.” (11-12)
