My Papa's Waltz Meaning

To me “My papas waltz” is about an abusive relationship between father and son. Some may say that it’s just a dance in a kitchen, or it’s just a boy who was dancing with his dad but got hurt so he was put to bed. Through this essay I will explain to you how it is not just a dance, or how it’s just a little boy getting hurt.

The poem My Papa Waltz by the title sounds like it could be sweet and loving. The poem is actually very dark in my opinion. In the poem the father is drunk, stumbling and hurting the boy.Even though they could just be having a good time, running around, and the father could also be trying to teach the boy to grow up, I believe that the poem is about a boy being abused by his father. Because he also states that the father is so drunk that his breath could get a small boy drunk. the boy talks about trying to run away, and the boy talks about being beaten. I have a few reasons why I believe this. Some might disagree, here is my evidence.

The simile used in the first stanza is “I hung on like death”(3). The next line, “Such waltzing was not easy”(4) suggests that the father and son’s boisterous, wild “romping”(5) around was difficult for the child, and he had to hang on tightly because the father was romping around drunkenly and did not hold onto him well. If he did not hang on as tightly, he might fall and get hurt. This simile could be related to the idiom “hanging on like grim death”, which means to hang on tightly, for fear of falling. The word “grim” might have been omitted so that this line can fit into the iambic trimeter.

“My Papa’s Waltz” and “Those Winter Sundays” describe a character who reflects on their childhood. Although they based on the same theme, the two poems have very different perspectives. “Those Winter Sundays” talks about how the son regrets for not showing his love for his father, when all his actions went unnoticed. “My Papa’s Waltz” reflects on a son 's memory with is father where his danced around the house after the father long day at work. Both poems reflect on how their fathers showed his love for his son, the time spent with their fathers, a maternal conflict, and their relationship with their father.

Every so often, we take for granted those who are important in our lives. Sometimes, we can ignore those who we think will always be there. The fact it, one day, they won’t. The poem “Abuelito Who” by Sandra Cisneros and the folktale “The Old Grandfather and His Little Grandson” retold by Leo Tolstoy are two examples of this important lesson. However their different genres, change in characters, and mood give a contrasting interpretation of their essential message.

In Nikki Giovanni’s poem, “Legacy”, the speaker shares a message through the eyes of a grandmother and a granddaughter who have thoughts about the role of legacy, family bonds, and respect, but do not openly share them as they talk to each other. The poem is a short arrangement of sentences which depict one interaction between the 2 characters, but is meant to set the stage for establishing the pattern of communication between generations. The setting is probably a fall day before a holiday where the children are outside playing and the grandmother is inside baking some items for an upcoming family gathering. The grandmother has a history of baking and these rolls are an example of something that she prepares for the family that they enjoy and are part of her identity. The grandmother has great pride in the rolls and wants to make sure that the family continues to be able to enjoy them long after she is gone by passing it down to her granddaughter: “I want chu to learn to make these rolls” (line 3). Although this is a straight forward request of the granddaughter, it really is much more. The grandmother is acknowledging

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

Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy” and Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” are similar because they focus on the same subject. However, they differ in how the speakers’ feel about their relationship with their parent(s). In Plath’s “Daddy”, the speaker is a daughter thinking about how her father treated her. She tells about how she felt trapped by him and how she tried to ‘kill’ him, line 6 of the poem, but he dies before she has a chance. The ending of Plath’s poem implies that she got married to a man like her father. In Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz”, the speaker seems to be an adult reminiscing his childhood through a metaphor of a dance. The poem suggests that the boy was abused and the mother stood by without doing much about it. Three topics that

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.

“Fences” the play by August wilson and “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke, Both share a common theme and are based around the love of family. Love that can also cause pain intentionally but can accidentally hurt the people around them. ”Fences” and “My Papa’s Waltz” embodies character, symbolism and, figurative language throughout both poem and and play.

“My papa’s waltz” by Theodore Roethke is a poem about the relationship between father and son, where the son try to teach the father waltzing. “Grape Sherbet” is a poem by Rita Dove, describes his/her childhood memories of father. Both author used literary terms such as simile and alliteration from the line/quote that I pointed out.

Everything in life has similarities and differences as long as you're looking for them, but some have more than others. Comparing similarities and difference between two things in life is making a compare and contrast (book) . When comparing and contrasting two pieces of literature you have to observe not only the themes of them but also the plot. Fences by August Wilson and My Papa's Waltz by Theodore Roethke have many similarities and differences throughout the literature due to themes and the plot.

In the poem, “My Papa’s Waltz”, Theodore Roethke illustrates the complex relationship between a little boy and his father by juxtaposing images of love and violence through word choices that portray feelings of fear yet affection for his father. Roethke’s shifting tone encompasses distress and a sense admiration that suggests the complexities of violence both physically and emotionally for the undercurrents of his father and son relationship.

Many literary scholars, researchers and readers in general, driven by intrigue, have tried to dissect, analyze, and interpret the ambiguous meaning of Theodore Roethke’s poem, “My Papa’s Waltz.” Their explications however, result in ambivalent, and sometimes controversial views. Some critics argue that “My Papas Waltz,” portrays the physical violence inflicted by a father to his child. In a rejoinder, an equal number posit that, the poem vividly depicts a complex, but a loving relationship between a father and his son, through the child’s voice.

Theodore Roethke’s, “My Papa’s Waltz,” uses a great deal of imagery by using the metaphor of the word “Waltz.” A Waltz is a dance that has a step to every beat of the music, while in close proximities to the other dancer, there is not much change and it is in fact quite repetitive. Already we begin to form an image Roethke is trying to provide us by saying “My Papa’s Waltz.” His usage of the word “Papa” is quite informal compared to the word, “father.” It is only upon reading and analyzing the rest of the poem that we realize the struggle tied to the word.