Preview

Contradictions In 'My Papa's Waltz'

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
585 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Contradictions In 'My Papa's Waltz'
Thesis 1 When first reading “My Papa’s Waltz” I got the impression of an abusive household where the father beats the son and the mother stands idly by allowing this to happen. After a couple more reads I saw the humor of the words explaining a clumsy waltz between a father and son. There are satiric words used leading many to believe that the son is being abused, but there are also contradictions in those words which leads in a different direction. My final direction is that the father is abusing his son and he doesn’t understand how he can’t be endearing and believes that he is doing wrong and clings to the hope that his father will love him. “The whiskey on your breath”, starts off the poem, already giving it a cynical feeling, why is
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    My Papa's Waltz Summary
    • 267 Words
    • 2 Pages

    My Papa's Waltz Summary

    In the poem, My Papa’s Waltz, Theodore Roethke talks about a young boy’s relationship with his father. I think that the poem talks about how the young boy loves his father but their relationship is strained. I also think that the young boy fears that his father will drink himself to death.…

    • 267 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    HANSEN Assignment 2 My Papa S Waltz Final Draft
    • 1060 Words
    • 3 Pages

    HANSEN Assignment 2 My Papa S Waltz Final Draft

    His poem "My Papa's Waltz" is a very emotionally stimulating poem. Roethke’s use of ethos in this poem helps establish his creditability. He writes the poem from a first-hand perspective, recounting some very vivid memories from a night with his father. With his use of pathos and ambiguity usually leaves the interpretation of the poem up to the reader. Some people may consider this poem to describe an abusive relationship between a young boy and his father. On the contrary, some believe this poem reflects on fond memories between a father and son.…

    • 1060 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Summary Of My Papa's Waltz By Theodore Roethke
    • 1109 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Summary Of My Papa's Waltz By Theodore Roethke

    The speaker remembers all the good that his father did and doesn’t emphasize all of his father’s faults. The title of the poem is “My Papa’s Waltz”. This is the first place you see that the speaker thinks of his father fondly and kindly. Although his father may have had a few flaws, he still refers to him as his Papa, a term that is normally used lovingly and fondly. The speaker loves his father, he used to trust to him, rely on him, and clutch to him, feeling safe in his father’s hands. This feeling of protection and love from his father is conveyed in the last two lines of the poem, “Then waltzed me off to bed \ Still clinging to your shirt.” [line 15-16]. The speaker clung to his father’s shirt because he trusted that his father knew what he was doing and would protect him. Line 15 also illustrated that it wasn’t a group effort. The speaker as a child trusted in his father and allowed his father to take him with wherever he went. The speaker and the father did not waltz off to bed together. Instead, the speaker allowed the father to lead him, giving him full faith and believing that his father would protect him…

    • 1109 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Tone Of My Papa's Waltz By Theodore Roethke
    • 563 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Tone Of My Papa's Waltz By Theodore Roethke

    In “My Papa’s Waltz’ by Theodore Roethke, the speaker’s tone towards his father is one that is loving and admiring. This is seen in the word choice of the speaker when interacting with his father.…

    • 563 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Compare And Contrast My Papa's Waltz And Those Winter Sundays
    • 226 Words
    • 1 Page

    Compare And Contrast My Papa's Waltz And Those Winter Sundays

    Both Robert Hayden and Theodore Roethke depicts how fathers in both poems love their child, but shows in different ways. “Those Winter Sundays” in line 1 Hayden states “Sundays too my father got up early,” and in line 5 “banked fires blaze.” These lines show how the father in “Those Winter Sundays” always got up early to set up a fire in the house in order warm up the house before the family got up. The father never cared for how early and how cold it was, he would always get up take care of the fire not for himself but for the family. This shows how the father is always there for the family but is not upfront with showing his love, he shows his love through doing what he thinks with help his family. In contrast, “My Papa’s Waltz” the father…

    • 226 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Synthesis Of My Papa's Waltz By Theodore Roethke
    • 1099 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Synthesis Of My Papa's Waltz By Theodore Roethke

    Triggering each person to receive the poem in a different way. (Fong page 80-81) Some saw it as being joyful with the son and father dancing and some saw it as the father being abusive with his son. Which can be assumed by the words used starting with “whiskey on your breath” implying that the father was drunk. In a book written by Jim Baird he talks about the poem “My Papa’s Waltz”. He talks about how the poem was about the way his father shows his love to his son and how the son feared the actions done by his father. (Baird) Baird goes ahead and talks about how the fear that the son had while doing the waltz was caused by the son having to hold on so tight that he would not fall. Since the dance is so intense it comes off as being abusive. Which does not mean that the father was abusive his way of showing his affection for the boy was shown after a long day of hard work leaving…

    • 1099 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Analysis Of My Papa's Waltz By Theodore Roethke
    • 665 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Analysis Of My Papa's Waltz By Theodore Roethke

    "Inside is where the son and father will always be holding hands"(Adam Johnson). All children one way or another have a special bond between them and their father. But, a father and son form an unbreakable bond. It's natural for a father to groom his son and teach him things he himself faced when he was once young. The poem "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke entails a memory of a small boy and father perceived to be having a good time and having a good time and dancing despite the father being drunk. “My Papa’s Waltz” is a positive childhood experience because the drunk father made time for his son, the father worked hard to provide for his family and the small boy loved his father unconditionally.…

    • 665 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Compare And Contrast My Papas Waltz And A Good Man Is Hard To Find
    • 325 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Compare And Contrast My Papas Waltz And A Good Man Is Hard To Find

    In the poem “My Papas Waltz” by Theodore Roethke and in the short story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’ Connor they both share some similarities. Both the story and the poem illustrate topics such as family, innocence and selfishness.…

    • 325 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Analysis Of 'A Story' By Li-Young Lee
    • 831 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Analysis Of 'A Story' By Li-Young Lee

    In the beginning of the poem, the son refers to the father as “Baba” which shows the affectionate and innocent side of the boy when he is little. The boy is pleading with his dad to tell him a story, yet the roles are reversed later when the father is begging for the son to allow him to tell a story to him. This ironic switch of roles shows the complex relationship as the father is not in the position of authority that he should be in to begin with. The father is supposed to be the leader and role model for the son, and the father is worried about things changing in the future. He sees the point where the son is a grown man and is no longer in need of his father for everything. When the son becomes a man, he will no longer have the same innocent and affectionate characteristics he has now, and he will rely on his father in a different way. However, again the father is failing the son in his present need for a story therefore setting the precedent that the father will not fulfill the needs of the son and that he is not reliable because he cannot live in the moment. Relationships in themselves are complex as they grow and change overtime, but the father is unable to enjoy the different stages of his relationship with his son because he is constantly worried about the…

    • 831 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Tone Of My Papa's Waltz By Theodore Roethke
    • 877 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Tone Of My Papa's Waltz By Theodore Roethke

    Roehtke proceeds with more negative language, describing a father who is missing dance steps, and with every one missed, his sons “right ear scraped a buckle” (12). All the while the father it keeping his rhythm by “beating time” on his sons head (13). Again, Roethke’s word choice appears to point toward a violent, even painful encounter between father and…

    • 877 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Wael Alromaih assignmrnt 1
    • 468 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Wael Alromaih assignmrnt 1

    Theodore Roethke writes about a loving relationship between a father and his son in the poem “My Papa Waltz”. Their relation is so close and loving even though the father is alcoholic “the whiskey in your breath could make a boy dizzy.” He hung’s on to the dance with him and they dance through the kitchen making a mess and the son knows his mother will disapprove of it “my mother’s countenance could not inform itself.” The father waltzes his son to bed but he still insists on his shirt and this proves his love for his dad despite his shortcomings.…

    • 468 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    My Papa's Waltz Poem Analysis
    • 882 Words
    • 4 Pages

    My Papa's Waltz Poem Analysis

    The tone and subject create a major impact to the overall theme of the poem, creating a strong emotional connection to the boy's experience. It is evident from the author’s use of the title, “My Papa’s Waltz.” Its transparency sets up the readers’ expectation before we even read the first line. This allows the author to focus on the lyrical form and wordplay of the poem eliminating the need to explain the situation any further. A waltz is a ballroom dance that comes with a rhythmic beat of three which mimics the prevailing iambic trimeter of the poem. Furthermore, the alternating rhymes in the poem metaphorically tie in with the constant swaying back and forth found in waltz dancing. The waltzing in the poem signifies an extended metaphor for the father-son relationship, therefore, is also symbolic and ultimately ties in organically to the sensitive and delicate significance of this…

    • 882 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz”
    • 835 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz”

    In the first two lines, he recounts the smell of his father’s breath. Roethke’s use of this sense was very effective. He used the word whiskey, as it is described, being on the father 's breath, to give a negative image. Who can ever forget a person who presents themselves with the stench of alcohol about them? The amount was so great that it "The whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy" (1-2).…

    • 835 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    My Papas Waltz Analysis
    • 668 Words
    • 3 Pages

    My Papas Waltz Analysis

    Theodore Roethke, in his poem, “My Papas Waltz”, recounts his childhood and his experiences with his drunken father, where he compares it to a waltz. Roethke’s purpose was to illustrate his love for his father even though he drank. He adopts a contemplative tone in order to reflect similar feelings and experiences in his scholastic readers.…

    • 668 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    My Papa Waltz
    • 599 Words
    • 3 Pages

    My Papa Waltz

    In the poem “My Papa Waltz” Written by Theodore Roethke, a young child is running around the house following and playing with the drunkard of a dad. The child can smell the whiskey on his breath but continues to cling tightly as the child does not want to stop playing. This scuffling shakes and rattles the pans in the kitchen frustrating the mom as she is annoyed with her drunk of a husband. Bedtime has approached so the child is then carried to bed still clinging to the fathers’ shirt. Roethke uses irony, symbolism, and imagery to portray how forgiving a child’s love can be.…

    • 599 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics