The Actual Meaning of My Papas Waltz by Theodore Roethke Essay example

The Actual import of My Papas Waltz by Theodore RoethkePoetry is made to express the feelings, thoughts, and emotions of the poet. The reader basis interpret the metrical composition however they see fit. Critics are undecided just about the theme of Theodore Roethkes My Papas Waltz. Some people believe that the poem is one of a happy exchange surrounded by a father and news. The more win over interpretation is that it has a hidden message of parental iniquity. Careful psychoanalysis of the keywords and each individual stanza back up this theory of child abuse by a violent and drunk father. The word that is key to the poem is romp. Roethke states that we romped until the pans / slid from the kitchen shelf (5-6). The word is usually associated with happy, boisterous, and energetic running around or dancing. A second definition is rough, lively play. Alcohol would cause a person to act in such a harsh manner. In athletics, a romp is an easy victory over an easy opponent. T his marrow one side is clearly superior and beats the competition with madness and ease. The father could be viewed as a dominating and overpowering propel to a small child. The younger son could not possible skin back to his bigger father especially with the added influence of liquor. Further construe of the poem will back up that meaning of the poem is to expand parental abuse. The first stanza sets the scene with clear imagery. The father appears to be in a heavily drunken state because the son can reek the whiskey on your breath (1). The reader knows the drinking is excessive because it to the highest degree made the boy dizzy. Clearly, the father is in a heavenly drunken state because someone else is feeling the effects of his drinking. Critics will ague that the son was enjoying ... ... is a happy time between a father and his child. through careful reading, that interpretation is not valid. In 1948, actions such as this whitethorn commit been a part of life. Maybe that is why Roethke wrote the poem this port because the event was probably happening in many households and people accordingly could identify with this. Because of the vivid imagery, the reader can feel the boys pain and aid of his father. In this case, the waltz is not a bonding time between a father and his son. People now would identify with the son and dominate a hatred for the father because of the mental and physical toll this could have on a child. The father does his dance by waltzing all over his son. Works Cited Roethke, Theodore. My Papas Waltz. Discovering Literature Stories, Poems, Plays. Ed. Hans P. Guth and Gabriel L. Rico. Upper Saddle River, NJ Prentice Hall, 1997, 536.