My Papa's Waltz Analysis

Father and Child and relationships can be difficult. Some better than others and some worse. In the poem “My Papa's Waltz” by Theodore Roethke the way I interpret the peom is an abusive husband who is never home and when he is he is intoxication. Starting from the first “The whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy” to me means the father just came home from drinking and knocking the kid out dizzy. The next line continuing the same thought as the previous line “But I hung on like death” Could be the young child is out unconscious and just hanging on to his life.

This displays the fear that the author had for his father. When reflecting over the poem, John J. Mckenna stated, “The author replaced the rather benign ‘kept’ with ‘beat’ thus making the situation more ominous, more negative” Roethke’s father worked manual labor and had a strong physique. This means that he might’ve been too rough with his son at times, but not intentionally to hurt him. That is one of the reasons Roethke feared his father slightly. Another change Roethke made to the poem was the gender of the child.

In The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, Rose Mary is the mother of the Walls children who often does not act as a true adult. Rose Mary’s attitudes and behaviours are childlike, and therefore her children must take on responsibility for the lack her own. Rose Mary ignores her obligations as a parent and chooses an irresponsible way of life which endangers her children. Rose Mary has never properly matured into adulthood due to her lack of financial stability, bliss ignorance and optimism, and her selfishness nature.

Brother is at fault for Doodleś death because he is a bad brother and overworked Doodle. Brother made Doodle work too hard when trying to teach him how to walk, run, and swim. In the story Doodle cannot do things that most people can easily do, so Brother tries to teach him to walk and then later swim. He tries way to hard and overworked Doodle.

Selfish choices and behaviors can have a harmful and unfortunate ending for others. This idea is made clear when two brothers face complications in their relationship. In “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, one's selfish pride is displayed by character development and an ironic resolution. The selfish mindset of the narrator helps his younger brother develop an ability that no one believed he could ever demonstrate.

Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” is about a son (the speaker) remembering one night with his papa, whereby his drunken father waltzed him around their house’s kitchen. The waltz was not easy for the speaker as his father was constantly hurting him with his belt buckle. Yet, the speaker was unwillingly to let go of his father at the end. He endured the pain his father caused him because of the love he had for his father, regardless of his father’s alcoholism and misbehaviours. Meanwhile, Ed Sheeran’s “Afire Love” demonstrates a grandson (the singer) reminiscing about his loving grandfather, his grandfather dying of Alzheimer’s disease and his grandfather’s funeral.

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.

In “Flowers for Algernon” and “The Scarlet Ibis” pride has a big impact on Doodle’s brother and Rose. Rose and brother manipulated and mistreated Charlie and Doodle There are many examples of Charlie and Doodle being mistreated by Rose and Doodle brother in both of the stories. In both stories, Charlie and and Doodle both felt unwanted and unloved by Rose and his brother. For example, In “The Scarlet Ibis” Doodle’s brother had a lot of pride and could not accept him as he was.

Theodore Roethke wrote the poem “My Papa’s Waltz” to display his love towards his father through their playful actions and his need to spend time with his father. Roethke’s father spends most of his time at work and for that reason Roethke wants to spend time with his father despite of him being drunk. The end of the poem ends as they are about to fall asleep. Roethke “Still clinging to [his father’s] shirt.”

The simile “But I hung on like death” (3) in Theodore Roethke’s poem allows the writer to clearly set the darker tone of “My Papa’s Waltz”. In this poem, the poet describes his father’s odd behavior. He also defines that alcohol was a factor and, consequently, his mother’s disapproved of the father’s actions.

Some people are never ready to be parents. Even when the baby is about to come out, people aren’t prepared for the life of a parent. It isn’t until you hear your child cry that your instincts flare up and you just take control, and in that moment you are a parent. However not everyone takes control in that moment because even in that moment they just aren’t ready. It’s a tragic topic that ties into two poems: “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke and “The Mother” by Gwendolyn Brooks.

Loss of Innocence The consequence of hope is loss of innocence. Can a person go through so much, lose so much, and feel so broken they refuse to go on? As human beings we can only live if we have something to live for, even then we have to chose whether we can fight for it, or if we need to escape to freedom. Sex trafficking in Haiti mostly consists of children, at an estimated 150,000-500,000 cases as of 2013. In Danticat’s Krik?

In the poem, My Papa’s Waltz, the speaker, Theodore Roethke, writes about a father and son waltzing. Further investigation suggests there is more going on than a waltz. The poet utilizes figure of speech and a negative toned vocabulary throughout the poem. Thus, alleviating the reader of the harsh truth of an abusive relationship whilst never dehumanizing the father.