Symbolism In My Papa's Waltz, By Theodore Roethke

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

The memories made during childhood, positive or negative, are recollected during one’s lifetime. Throughout “My Papa’s Waltz,” the reader may find it difficult to underline the true tone of the poem. Although, depending on the reader’s childhood, the tone may be evident. In “My Papas Waltz,” Theodore Roethke uses the title, diction, and tone to depict a hardworking and playful father waltzing his energetic little boy off to bed.

A parent in a child's life is a role model in there eyes. If one has bad influences on your child, in what way do would think one may impact on his or her life. The narrative poem “My papa’s Waltz”, is written by Theodore Roethke in 1948. Papa is a extremely hard working man by the show of his hands. Papa and his son are in the kitchen waltzing around remarkably rough, while mother is not too happy about it. While the father and son are dancing around the son keeps getting hurt. While in the end papa waltzed his son right off to bed. In the narrative poem “My Papa’s Waltz”, Roethke uses symbolism and imagery to reveal the theme, parents impact children's life, even after they are grown.

Theodore Roethke wrote “My Papa’ Waltz”, a poem with a peculiar twist. The poem describes the relationship between a father and his son, which is told from the point of view of the son. At first, the poem may appear to be a bad memory of his father, but this bad memory quickly turns into a good memory. The way the speaker use imagery in the poem, allowed the reader to imagine what was going on without being present. To be able to grasp the true meaning of the poem, you must remain open minded.

The first line of the poem which states “The whiskey on your breath” was an indication of the father being an alcoholic which portraits the complicated relationship they have. In this stanza I sensed the son’s fear of how the father would react towards the son in his state of being drunk. For example, in the second stanza from lines five through eight

While the subject of “My Papa’s Waltz” has spurred passionate academic debate from professors, scholars, and students alike, the diction, context, and imagery of the poem clearly support the interpretation that Theodore Roethke writes “My Papa’s Waltz” about a fond memory of an intoxicated father and a young child waltzing around enjoying every moment they have together. In this case in the title, the author intentionally uses the word “papa” instead of the word father or dad to describe the relationship he has with his “papa.” However, many other readers notice a different perspective in this poem. Readers assume the poem is about a little boy being abused by his father. Although ,after deconstructing the poem it becomes undeniably clear that it's about a young boy and his father waltzing around making memories together. Roethke uses context to prove his point.

While the subject of “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 this ambiguous poem with the intent to create a controversial interpretation which can be viewed as both or either an abusive or fond memory between father and son. Both interpretations can be supported by multiple pieces of evidence which creates a conflict for the reader to need clarification for which way to interpret the poem.

The poet Theodore Roethke in his dramatic poem, “My Papa’s Waltz,” illustrates a moment in the life of a father and a son. As a result, readers have their own perspective of the poem either if it is about a child getting abused or a child going back to his childhood and talking about his wonderful memories with his father. While the subject of “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke has spurred passionate academic debate from professors, scholars, and students alike, the imagery, syntax, and context of the poem clearly support the interpretation that Roethke writes “My Papa’s Waltz” to an abusive father who is always drunk and abusing his son. He describes his childhood in this poem and how he was abused by his dad. While it is true that it might be about a father and a son having a fun moment and playing around with each other, it does not necessarily follow that it is positive because the poem has a larger number of a negative connotations than positive connotations.

Theodore Roethke’s, “My Papa’s Waltz” is a short but extremely powerful poem. The message Theodore Roethke is delivering in this poem is that love will always oust hate. The speaker recalls numerous tragic events he would endure throughout his childhood that most others would certainly want to bury deep away and never relive. The speaker thinks back to nights his father would barge into their house like an angry storm. His breath reeking of whiskey as he lashed out on the ones who loved him the most. He recalls times looking to his mom for strength, only to be met by the harsh reality, she was just as helpless as he was. You would think one would have resentment and hate towards such a man, but that certainly isn’t the case in this story as the speaker still yearns for his troubled father’s love.

This short poem has a lot to say about a father and son’s relationship even though it does not directly say it. Theodore Roethke published My Papa’s Waltz in 1942 and got the idea to write this poem from one of his books The Lost Son. This poem can be interpreted as an abusive relationship between a son and his father or simply a happy memory of a son dancing with his father. My Papa’s Waltz is a metaphor for a child being beat by his abusive father but plays it off as if it were just a dance.

To begin, the meaning of “My Papa’s Waltz” is influenced by the context of Roethke’s childhood. No matter what stance one takes on the meaning of this poem, a statement that all can agree on is that the author remembers the memories he had with his father. This is demonstrated in Roethke’s life. In the poem, Roethke talks about his father who has hands “caked by dirt.” Likewise, his father is a market-gardener who owns a 25 acre greenhouse that Roethke spends most of his childhood in. Another example of the poem incorporating Roethke’s real life is seen when he talks about his father “waltzing him to bed” while he “clinged to his shirt.” These words from the poem help confirm the fact that his father dies of cancer when he is only fourteen years old; furthermore, Roethke still loves him unconditionally and misses him dearly no matter what he does to him. Finally, Roethke is a heavy drinker and deals with depression as an adult. This absolutely depicts the true meaning of the poem because although the poem is in the form of a fond,

Theodore Roetheke uses connotation throughout the poem, “My Papa’s Waltz” to evoke a negative feeling and make us feel sorry for the boy because of how confused he is by the situation he is in. Theodore Roetheke says in his poem, “The whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy, but i hung on like death.” By putting these words in the text, Theodore indicates that the kid is confused with the fact that his dad is a drunkard

Theodore Roethke in his poem “My Papa’s Waltz” tries to describe the relationship between the parents and children.The relationship that is portrayed in this poem is especially between a father and a son.Through imagery, this poem gives the impression of hardship as well as love between a son and his father. Imagery usage in poetry as a literary device is used to create vivid details dealing with one’s sense of sight, taste, smell touch and sound. Theodore Roethke imagery in his poem “My Papa’s Waltz” conveys a boy’s emotion as together with his father experiences late night dance. The poet uses imagery to show the exploitative relationship that exists between the boy and his father. Every stanza in this poem presents the relationship that existed between the poet and his father.

“I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection.” (Sigmund Freud). As the quote states, a father’s presence is thought to be crucial in a child’s life, so when that presence is lacking, the result is great pain and sorrow. Unfortunately, poet Theodore Roethke was one of the unlucky people who had to endure such a fate, as his father died of cancer when he was at the tender age of fifteen. Furthermore, his uncle, who had served as a father-like figure to him, committed suicide shortly after. These two tragedies, in addition to his already low self-esteem, shaped Roethke’s life and led him to suffer from manic depression. His poem, “My Papa’s Waltz,” describes how his father taught him how to waltz as a young boy, and is commonly thought to be a poem that explores themes of an abusive father, but his positive relationship with his father counteracts this misconception. Rather, the poem is about how deeply he misses his father and how he remembers him nostalgically, with fondness and sorrow. Through the use of diction and imagery, Theodore Roethke effectively creates a nostalgic tone in "My Papa's Waltz."

My Papa’s Waltz, written by Theodore Roethke, is a poem about a child and his father. Theodore’s poems are greatly influenced by his father’s life and his childhood experiences with him. His father died of cancer and his uncle committed suicide when he was only thirteen. Theodore was born in Saginaw, Michigan, where most of his poems take place in his father’s greenhouse. He attended the University of Michigan, Harvard, and taught at other universities. Later he started his poetry residency at University of Washington in 1948. He won several prizes for many of his poems and books. In My Papa’s Waltz, Theodore Roethke writes about his father’s illness and one of his most memorable last moments with him.