Analysis Of My Papa's Waltz By Theodore Roethke

In “My Papa’s Waltz,” Theodore Roethke illustrates an image of a father-son romp around the kitchen that is both harsh in its play and delicate in its memory. Roethke illustrates the poem’s images from his own childhood memories. Roethke uses simple words to create puzzling phrases that could be interpreted in different ways. The poem is ambiguous due to certain word choices that have baffling double meanings. Roethke’s poem paints an image of his childhood interactions with his father. Roethke paints this picture by using ambiguity within a waltz-like structure.

The poem “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke, uses four stanzas to explain what many readers would conclude as a beating by an abusive and out of control father. He uses metaphoric language to set the tone for his poem. Studying Roethke’s biography you learn his poems are based on events he experienced during his development from childhood to adulthood.

Poetry is made to express the feelings, thoughts, and emotions of the poet. The reader can interpret the poem however they see fit. Critics are undecided about the theme of Theodore Roethke's "My Papa's Waltz." Some people believe that the poem is one of a happy exchange between a father and son. The more convincing interpretation is that it has a hidden message of parental abuse. Careful analysis of the keywords and each individual stanza back up this theory of child abuse by a violent and drunken father.

In the poem "My Papa's Waltz" written by Theodore Roethke, the interpretation of the poem depends on the readers`perspective. Some people think that this poem is one of a happy exchange between a father and son. Other people believe that this poem has a hidden message of parental abuse. In my point of view, the imagery and language, the symbolism, and tone in the poem gave me the impression of the love between the father and son, not of an abusive relationship.

In the poem "My Papa's Waltz" written by Theodore Roethke, the interpretation of the poem depends on the readers` perspective. Some people think that this poem is one of a happy exchange between a father and son. Others believe that it has a hidden message of child abuse. In my point of view, the imagery and language, the symbolism, and tone in My Papas Waltz gave me the impression of the abusive relationship between the father and son, but then later realizing the positive side.

“My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke sparks differing opinions within the minds of many. Roethke was influenced greatly by his experiences as a young boy. For instance, his uncle and father both died when he was the age of fourteen. “My Papa’s Waltz” is written in remembrance of his father after this dreadful occurrence. The author’s use of imagery brings light to the his adoration for his father. Notably, his way of stringing together ideas reinforces the fond memories they shared. Roethke’s captivating choice of words supports his purpose to make known the love he has for this man. While the subject of “My Papa’s Waltz” has spurred passionate academic debate from professors, scholars, and students alike, the imagery, syntax, and diction of the poem clearly support the interpretation that Theodore Roethke writes “My Papa’s Waltz” to bring attention to the loving relationship he had with his father.

At first glance, “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke is very intriguing as the poem is very ambiguous at first. Many people that read the poem at first believe it to be about child abuse, which is very easy for readers of the 21st generation to confuse as we see everything with a dark meaning behind it. The poem is about a boy who dances with his father, hence the name of the poem “My Papa’s Waltz”. Once the poem has been reread several times, we can take a closer look at what Roethke is really implying in the poem. Therefore, it becomes clear to the audience that the poem has a lighter meaning and has a more positive outlook than a negative outlook to the situation occurring in the poem.

The controversial poem, “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke has spurred passionate academic debate from professors, scholars, and students alike; the imagery, syntax, and diction of the poem clearly support the interpretation that Roethke writes “My Papa’s Waltz” to reminisce on a bittersweet memory with his father. His unclear commemoration has sparked a divide on what the true purpose of the poem is. Some may argue the poem’s purpose is to shine light on the subject of abuse, whereas others believe the father and son were sharing a moment while “roughly playing.” However, the more one examines this piece of literature, it becomes undeniable that the poem portrays a scene of a toxic father-son relationship. Although there are a

"We romped until the pans / Slid from the kitchen shelf" (5-6). In numerous poems different readers vista a variety of ways to interpret what poems actually mean. This is very much true in Theodore Roethke's poem "My Papa's Waltz." The quote mentioned has caused many misconceptions about what the poem; "My Papa's Waltz" actually refers to. The two superior interpretations of critics are that Roethke's poem describes abuse or a dance. The abuse seems much more apparent in "My Papa's Waltz" because of the language that Roethke uses. The dance is interpreted because the boy is innocent and knows nothing else therefore the abuse seems normal. The drunkenness of his Papa, the mother's

Child abuse is physical mistreatment that unfortunately happens to children everywhere around the world. In the same way, the poem “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke, describes and gives the readers an insight of what child abuse is like. The poem presents a relationship between a drunken father and his son. Therefore, the setting, sensory details, and word choice of the poem allows the reader to understand the violence the little boy goes through after his father returns from work.

“My Papa’s Waltz” is a poem by Theodore Roethke in which a young boy describes the actions of his father under the influence of alcohol. Like most children, the young boy has a naïve mind that observes his father's abuse differently. To the child, it is all a graceful waltz, but he is covering the truth with a happy illusion. This might come from the fact that he is a child and does not know enough or he knows too much and has to numb the pain. In “My Papa’s Waltz” Theodore Roethke uses dramatic irony, understatement, and hyperbole in order to express the idea that in order to numb the pain, one covers it with a happy illusion.

Theodore Roethke’s poem “My Papa’s Waltz” illustrates a nightly ritual between a working-class father and his young son. In the first stanza a young boy holds tightly to his father. The second stanza describes a playful roughhousing between father and son. The fourth stanza shows again the boy’s unwillingness to let go of his father. Roethke’s AB rhyming scheme and waltz-like meter set a light and joyful cadence. The music of the waltz comes through in the reading and with it a carefree and innocent tone for the telling of the short amount of time between a hard-working father arriving home and the time when his son must go to bed.

Carolyn Spring once stated, “The happy family is a myth for many,” and Theodore Roethke, sadly, proves that to be to true. In the poem, “My Papa’s Waltz” Roethke illustrates an abusive relationship between an angry drunkard of a father and his child. The ‘dance’ being described is really the act of the father injuring his child; the waltz is a metaphor for the abusive acts taking place. Roethke orchestrates the vile wrongdoings of the father not only with various literary devices, such as tone, structure, figurative language, imagery, and diction, but also in the descriptions of the mother, father, and the child narrating this poem. All in all, in“My Papa’s Waltz” Theodore Roethke provides readers a twisted look inside of a dysfunctional, abusive family through the characters: the father, mother, and a child.

In Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz”, the speaker displays complex feelings about his father, which are love and longing, with a hint of nervousness. The speaker is an older, mature man reflecting back on an important childhood memory. To begin, although his father’s whiskey breath made him dizzy, his younger self still “hung on like death” which indicates the speaker longed for a connection with his father. As well, his “right ear scraped a buckle” everytime his father missed a step, which caused discomfort to the young boy, but he did not mind. The speaker speaks of his father’s hand that was “battered on one knuckle” that held his wrist, which subtly mentions his father being abusive.

My Papa’s Waltz Analysis Theodore Roethke’s poem, “My Papa’s Waltz” is about a small boy no taller than a man’s waist, dancing around the kitchen and the house with his drunken father. Roethke did not have an easy childhood. His father died of cancer while his uncle tragically committed suicide all by his age of 14. This lead to the creation of poems revolving around natural imagery and people’s mentalities and emotions. The underlying message within this poem is not everything is always as perfect as it sounds, meaning dancing around the house with your family is not as nice as it seems when the father is actually a drunk.