Comparing Alcoholism In My Papa's Waltz And First Confession
Frank McCourt opens his memoir with “It was of course a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood” (McCourt 11). A common stereotype about the Irish is that they either are very religious or can’t resist the pint. In the memoir Angela’s Ashes, the poem “My Papa’s Waltz” and the short story “First Confession”, alcoholism affects the life style of these families in a negative way. It’s a daily struggle for each character to grow up in the environment with a family member who has an addiction. Both Frank McCourt and the speaker in “My Papa’s Waltz” do not realize until they are older
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Back in the early 1920s and 30's some parts of the world were very oppressed, and some thought alcohol would help them deal with their struggles. In My Papa's Waltz, a little boy is dancing around the kitchen with his drunken father. The speaker of the poem refers to his father's "Palm caked hard by dirt" (Roethke). This quote is saying that the man is a blue collar worker and he works hard for his money, but wastes it at the pub. His family probably waits up for him to bring home the days wages, but are disappointed when he arrives without a penny in his pocket. The narrator says, "My mother's countenance could not unfrown itself." The women is used to her husband coming home at late hours and putting the house in an uproar. Her countenance could not unfrown itself conveys that she could not get that disappointed, sad, angry look off her face. We can infer that she loves her husband but wishes he would change his selfish ways and be responsible. The four works of literature that we studied all have a very bittersweet tone, which is a mixture of two opposing feelings. One which is satisfactory, and the other which is abominable. My Papa's Waltz shows what life was like for children with alcoholic fathers. It wasn't easy, but they had to manage and work with what they
Back in the early 1920s and 30's some parts of the world were very oppressed, and some thought alcohol would help them deal with their struggles. In My Papa's Waltz, a little boy is dancing around the kitchen with his drunken father. The speaker of the poem refers to his father's "Palm caked hard by dirt" (Roethke). This quote is saying that the man is a blue collar worker and he works hard for his money, but wastes it at the pub. His family probably waits up for him to bring home the days wages, but are disappointed when he arrives without a penny in his pocket. The narrator says, "My mother's countenance could not unfrown itself." The women is used to her husband coming home at late hours and putting the house in an uproar. Her countenance could not unfrown itself conveys that she could not get that disappointed, sad, angry look off her face. We can infer that she loves her husband but wishes he would change his selfish ways and be responsible. The four works of literature that we studied all have a very bittersweet tone, which is a mixture of two opposing feelings. One which is satisfactory, and the other which is abominable. My Papa's Waltz shows what life was like for children with alcoholic fathers. It wasn't easy, but they had to manage and work with what they