Analysis Of My Papa's Waltz By Theodore Roethke

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Reminiscing On Fond Memories: An Analysis of “My Papa’s Waltz”
Theodore Roethke first published his poem, “My Papa’s Waltz”, in a magazine in 1942. Over the years, this poem has sparked many debates between people of all ages and statuses. There are two common interpretations of this poem: one being that it is a story of an abusive alcoholic father and the other, that it is a fond memory of the speaker’s childhood. George Hillocks, Jr. states, in his book, Reading, Natural Learning, and the Interpretation of Literature, “Theodore Roethke’s "My Papa's Waltz" is a straightforward, simple statement of the speaker's reminiscences of his childhood romps with his father. . . .” (Hillocks) A small group of critics agree that this is a fond memory; …show more content…

(R. Line 13) The phrase “beat time” has a very musical connotation. The word “beat” is often taken to mean physical abuse when in fact, in this situation, the wording makes more sense in association with a beat of a song. As it is said the father was beating the time on the boy’s head, which in no way conveys physical abuse, but simply keeping the time or beat by tapping on the boys head to the song. (McKenna) The use of the phrase “beat time” could be construed as some sort of physical abuse such as hitting the child on the head. However, this term is commonly used in musical circles as a reference to keeping time with music by using the movements of one’s hands or feet to stay on the beat or keep time with the music. So to say “You beat time on my head” could simply mean keeping time with the music, whether actual music or imagined. (R. Line 13) The author does not tell us if music was playing, but the music could easily be playing in the father’s head as he danced with his son. And the father could have easily been gently tapping or lightly patting his son’s head as a means of keeping time. His father tapped on his head keeping time with the song by using his hands that are hardened from working with dirt in the green houses all day. The indication is that his father is a hardworking man who uses his hands extensively in his work, and those hands have become hardened and calloused over time. Even still, he enjoys the opportunity …show more content…

Line 15-16) “[…] this image of swirling movement and musical accompaniment […]”, in this context seems to indicate a more playful attitude. (Zbikowski) An alternate word choice could have been the word dragged if the intent was to convey that the father was being abusive in his actions. Had the father been abusing his son in some alcoholic rage, it does not seem reasonable that his son would be clinging to his shirt at all, much less “still clinging”. The more likely scenario if this is about abuse is that the son would be attempting to disengage from him and try to not near him. The language here suggests that the son had been having a wonderful time with his father and simply did not want to let go so that the wonderful moment of closeness could be extended for as long as

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