My Papa's Waltz By Roethke

Families face many struggles throughout life. Some families are happy and thriving together, but many households do not have that lifestyle. Sadly, many children endure abuse from an alcoholic parent or guardian in their household. The place where they are supposed to call home is their place of pain, neglected by their parents. A helpless child cannot do a lot to stop it but endure it until they are old enough to leave. As an adult, growing up in that household, it is hard to find peace with their parents' drunk actions. It shows the consequences of alcohalism in a family with problems. In Roethke’s poem “My Papa’s Waltz,” he is talking about his childhood struggles with his alcoholic, abusive father. The dynamic of the father and son was

Imagery is used to create vivid pictures to enhance a poem's meaning. Roethke's poem displays strong diction that created vivid imagery of child abuse in the poem. Roethke says, “We romped until the pans, / Slid from the kitchen shelf” (lls 5-6). This implied that he would try to fight back and in the process the pans from the kitchen would end up everywhere. The word “Romped” implied that a tussle or fight occurred between the father and son. This phrase depicts a lot of imagery because you can visualize the fight that occurred that caused all the pans to leave the shelf. The author could only fight back when his father was beating him. It showed dark dynamic of the father-son relationship as a child. The poem had many vivid pictures that used spcific word choice to show

The speaker and his alcoholic father have this derranged relationship. His father beats on his head but then walks him to sleep while the boy clings onto him. His father shows this contradicting love towards his son because he still takes him to bed. The son also shows this love because he holds onto his fathers shirt. His mother watches helplessly while the abuse and fights occur. The word “Waltz” is used throughout the poem because it’s a two person dance and the way you hold them is by the wrist. This can be used to show the father restraining him or when they are fighting, dancing can be used to show they are figthing. The poem is very dark and sad. The author would have to endure the abuse while his mother watched with a frown. The mother can’t do much when the father was under the influence of alcohol. The poem was written like it was a frequent occurrence. It showed the struggles of an alcoholic father in a