Similar to "My Papa's Waltz", is the short story "Reunion", by John Cheever. It also shows an alcoholic father and an abused son. It is solely a recall of one of his own memories mainly about a reunion with his father, but the story has a more subtle implication psychologically when it comes to a relationship between a prolonged absent father and an innocent son, who was so looking forward to meeting his father and expected a change in him. The son expects to have some good time with his father, what he gets is abuse. Both stories show a dysfunctional father-son relationship where the son is abused by the alcoholic father.
But we don't think he's actually there with the boy because, after all, we hear nothing back from the man. Instead, his son is probably just thinking about talking to him. Line 3 But I hung on like death: This line indicates that the whiskey is indeed making our speaker quite dizzy, because he has to hang on like death, perhaps the one thing that hangs on to us all. Using the word "death" so early in the poem clues the reader in that this poem isn't just a happy memory – it's also haunted. Saying that the boy hung on "like" death is an example of a simile.
We can tell that the writer resents and is frustrated by his father as it says “and he being him can’t help but say.......... and I, being me” which shows that he is frustrated at their relationship. However the Harmonium is used to describe his father so therefore his family life whereas in Nettles it is reversed. The Nettles, that had caused pain for the boy, is actually describing soldiers and war therefore the underlying message is not about family but about war and the underlying message
It is also important to note that the father had been drinking. It is quite possible that the boy held on for his own protection, seeing as his father could drunkenly drop him at any time. The boy obviously trusts the father to hold him either way. As I continued through the poem I got the message that the mother probably wasn’t as outgoing as the father. According to line 8, she seemed displeased with the father’s frivolous behaviors with their son in the kitchen.
However, in the mist of it all, he still cared and loved his father. The speaker proves this point by using similes of how he hung on to his father by using “Death.” Death is something that is inevitable, and by using this vague simile, we can conclude that he loves dad to death. In addition, the author states, “Such waltzing was not easy.” With this statement, the reader can infer that the author’s relationship with his father was not always an abusive one; it simply proves that his father was a drinker. The third stanza of this poem is where the plot takes a turn and the author sees the abusive side of his father. The first two lines of that tercet makes one think that the father is either working at a harsh labor facility or he is occasionally punching objects or people.
Sedaris and Sanders both describe their events with an emotional state in their lives, one being "Cyclops" which describes his father's exaggerated messages towards dangerous encounters as "Under the Influence" by Sanders causes a mournful tone as he recollects his father's alcoholism. "Under the influence" By Sanders truly sparked a dramatic scene in my head as I read his story as a kid dealing with a dramatic house hold experience. He dealt with a loving relative which happened to be his father, self destruct before his eyes as he watched helplessly. I can remember being at that age, where most things seem simple until I met my fathers other half. It was like night and day as weekdays turned into weekends and father figures turning me into an agitated and frusterated kid.
Why do we have to pay for other peoples mistakes? In the book “Flight” by Sherman Alexie Zits deals with many disappointments in life. One of his biggest disappointments is not having a father or someone that loves him like he wants to be love, “My father was a drunk, too more in love with beer and vodka than with my mother and me. He vanished like a cruel magician about two minutes after I was born” (Alexie4). This most of been hard for him to know that his dad didn’t care for him and that he only cared about his beer and vodka.
Hally’s father, an alcoholic, is an antagonist, suffering from an illness and a drinking problem. Another thing that makes Hally want to go ballistic, is when Hallys father is drunk, he will hit his mother. The father’s drinking problem has a very deleterious effect towards the family’s relationship. When his father is feeling bad, he uses alcohol as a palliative. Hally’s father is an onerous man, because he drinks instead of standing up and taking care of his responsibilities.
“My Papa’s Waltz” is a magnificent short poem, with great tone and use of symbolism that also displays more than one example of theme. “My Papa’s Waltz” shows a young boy that either really loves or hates his father, depending on which theme you’re thinking of. As mentioned earlier there is more than just once theme in this poem, which makes this such an interesting poem. One way to look at this poem is where a hardworking father and his son are simply just horse playing, and wrestling around the house late one weekend night. Now this is the side of the story that I see, and the theme for this said would be the importance of family.
“My Papa’s Waltz” The vagueness of “My Papa’s Waltz” makes it difficult to be certain what it is about. Some might argue that the poem is a tale of child abuse, but it is more likely telling the story of a father and son’s horseplay. “The whiskey on your breathe could make a small boy dizzy.” This line doesn’t refer to the father as being stumbling drunk. Many people have an evening drink without getting drunk. “But I hung on you like death.” The boy holds on like his life depends on it because he is having so much fun, not because he is terrified as it may seem.