The author’s diction shows the tones of negligence and physical vituperation because he wants to show the son being beaten. Roethke’s father’s abuse of “whiskey” leads to his own “romping” with his “battered” hands. Alcohol plays a large factor into Roethke’s unnecessary beating, also the father has rough hands leading to the connotation of abuse because of the rough tone of battered hands, which very accurately sums up his personality as a person. Roethke also talks about the roughhousing done, which he thinks is playful with his father is actually very spiteful towards himself. Roethke says he and his father were, “waltzing” and that every step his father missed, because of his father’s alcohol problem he “scraped” his ear on his father’s belt, but this so called dance Roethke speaks of is a metaphor, for his father is really beating him with fists “caked” with sediment.
This leads the reader to believe that the two probably had a strained relationship much of the time due to the alcoholism his father struggles with. But even though this is a problem the small child still “hung on like death: Such waltzing was not easy” (Roethke 501). While the speaker does not approve of his father’s actions he accepts them for what they are. The ‘Waltz’ is a direct symbol of the father and son’s relationship. The next stanza gives the reader insight into the many problems that the father causes in the speaker’s household.
Roethke develops violent imagery which is associated with the father to create an impression of child abuse. This child abuse from the father is happening due to the adverse effect of alcohol. At the beginning of this poem, the son, who is the speaker of this poem, starts with the reason of dancing waltz with the father. Reader can imagine that the father is so drunk when they are dancing the waltz through olfactory imagery of whiskey in line one Reader can see that the father does not only drink a small amount of whiskey. He is so drunk that even the smell of his breath could make his son, who is just “a small boy”, feels a bit woozy.
My Papa’s Waltz By: Theodore Roethke My Papa’s Waltz Theodore Roethke wrote this poem to make his readers actually think about what he was trying to tell them. Some people think this poem is about a son and father dancing. While others seem to believe it is about abuse. In the first line of the poem “The whiskey on your breath” it is saying how the father has been drinking (line 1). “Could make a small boy dizzy” is telling us that the fathers breathe smells of alcohol.
An example of the language in the poem that helps you “see” what the boy is thinking and feeling is: “The whiskey on your breath Could make a small boy dizzy But I hung on like death” (1942) And, “The hand that held my wrist Was battered on one knuckle At every step you missed My right ear scraped a buckle. You beat time on my head With a palm caked hard by dirt.” (1942) The son was able to deal “justify” his father’s drunkenness by noticing all of the things that showed his father was a hard-working man, as described above. The content was engaging to me because I come from an alcoholic family on my mother’s family. For example: “We romped until the pans Slid from the kitchen shelf My mother's countenance Could not unfrown itself.” My grandmother felt much the same way as this boy’s mother did when my grandfather was drunk (which was a lot of the time). According to the textbook, “the central details in "My Papa's Waltz" relate to the father—his breath, his irregular dancing, his battered knuckles and rough hands—there are important descriptions of the boy's responses, and the mother's too.” (Journey) Those details make the theme of the poem.
The speaker starts by letting us know that the father is drunk. He describes to us how the smell of whiskey on his father’s breath “Could make a small boy dizzy” (2). The speaker doesn’t paint the picture of a mean, intimidating father, but that of a playful father who is drunk. The father is not painted as what one would consider a typical, loving father. He is described as drunk and dirty with battered knuckles; “With a palm caked hard by dirt” (14), “Was battered on one knuckle” (10).
The first line says, "the whiskey on your breath/ could make a small boy dizzy"(1-2). This is showing that the father has been drinking whiskey, and the smell of it causes the young boy's aversion. The diction of "dizzy" means that the young boy is getting overwhelmed by the smell of the whiskey. The second line shows says, "but I hung on like death / such waltzing was not e asy"(3-4).This line shows that the boy is having a hard time dancing because his father is drunk so he can not dance very good, and the boy is afraid to fell down. The boy is felling a little uncomfortable when he is dancing with his father," the hand that hold my wrist was buttered on one knuckle"(9-10).
Both reasonable thoughts when considering the proportions of child versus parent, also evoke thoughts of habitual abuse especially from intoxicated persons. The actions in this case are left to the interpretation of the reader, either the child is literally scraping his ear on the belt buckle of the father’s belt. Furthermore, the double meaning of the word “beat” connotes both the beat of the song, as well as abuse, highlight Roethke’s central idea that children do not always know when enough is enough. Such in the end of the poem when
It is at this point, the narrator finally lets go and deals with his own sadness. Certain events in the narrator's life such as the deaths of his uncle, father, and mother have turned the narrator into an unfeeling man who can not forgive his brother Sonny for falling into a life of heroine addiction. Throughout the story the narrator is angered by the the choices his brother makes such as not attending school, drug use, hanging out in nightclubs, and eventually his arrest. The narrator's anger is expressed in one scene where he goes to his brothers apartment and tells Sonny “that he might as well be dead as live the way he was living”(Baldwin, 2007). It is not until the narrator's death of his own daughter Gracie does he try to reconcile with his brother Sonny through a letter to the prison.
Essay "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke and "Cats In The Cradle" by Harry Chapin have many similarities and differences.In "My Papa's Waltz" the author describes an abusive father towards his son.In this poem the father, an alcoholic doesn't seem to recognize his actions in abusing his son.In "Cats In The Cradle" the author describes a father not spending time with his son.Even though the father is a hard worker he doesn't give his son the valuable time he needs. One similarity between these two poems are that both authors wrote about a relationship between a father and a son.For example, in "My Papa's Waltz" It states "The whiskey on your breath" and "At every step you missed my right ear scraped a buckle".This causes me to assusme that the father is an abusive alcoholic who doesn't realize the harm he's doing to his son.In "Cats In The Cradle" it states "there were planes to catch and bills to pay" and "he learned to walk while I was away".The author makes me infer that the father had a job to do to help pay the bills, because of this the father scarafices his son's childhood memories.Another similarity is that both authors explain in detail how both son's are affected by their father's actions.According to "My right ear scraped a buckle" in "My Papa's Waltz" it claims that the son was affected physically. "When you comin' home, Dad I don't know when, but we'll get together then you know we'll have a good time then" was in "Cats In The Cradle" this points out that the son is affected emotionally ,because of the father not spending time with his son the son is heart broken.Another simlirarity between these two poems are that even thought the fathers aren't really good fathers the son's are desperate for their attention and affection. One difference in these two poems is that in "My Papa's Waltz" the father is an unacceptable alcoholic