Did you agree with the assessment and analysis of My Papa's Waltz. Does it surprise you that a reader once wrote that "Roethke expresses his resentment for his father, a drunken brute with dirty hands and a whiskey breath who carelessly hurt the child's ear and mistreated him". Is this claim valid?
You can read what some students wrote about this poem last year if you want some ideas.
O.Pelletier
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It depends. If we had background information about Roethke childhood maybe we could conclude that in his poem, 'My Papa's Waltz' his dad actually is a drunken brute. Since we don't really know about that information let's say that we can analyse the poem but can't really claim that this is the truth.
ReplyDeleteWell, we don't really know anything about the author so we can't conclude that this is his story. But at the first reading, I thought it was a sad story about a child and his alcoholic father. But in another way, it could be a simple story of an happy kid. So I think this claim can not be valid.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I was pretty much the one who made that statement and thinking back on it, I had vey few proof or information to make the idea valid. I do recall more than one element being related to such a hypothesis, but nothing concrete enough for it to have any certainty.
ReplyDeleteJust as stated below... it is quite unsure either it is valid or not since we do not have the background information. Though, In my opinion, I'd claim it isn't valid.
ReplyDeleteah yea... just as the second comment right over Jonathan's comment... ''clearly'' foggy.
It does not surprise me that someone wrote something like this because a lot of writers are inpired by what is around them and their own experiences. We cannot be sure if it's really true but my first feeling was that the poem was about a little boy( he could be the poet) who loves his father even if he does not act like one. Roethke could have imagine a family like that or be inspired by someone else.
ReplyDeleteI think that "My Papa's Waltz" can be both a happy and a sad poem. It just depends how you interpret it. At the first read, I thought it was really sad because the little boy is getting hit by his drunk father. But, on the other hand, the little boy doesn't seem to feel sad nor to realise his situation. We can see it at the last line when he says "Still clinging to your shirt".
ReplyDeleteSo, depending on your interpretation, this poem can be profoundly sad or merery happy.
It think it's valid. Because it totally feels like he wrote about a father who was drunk and was beatting both his son and his wife. But even if the father was beatting his son, the way he described it, it felt like it was kind of ok. Because a waltz is a beautiful thing, and comparing something horible to a waltz feels kind of weird.
ReplyDeleteI am getting the impression that the little boy was kind of helping his father on his way because he was always with him and trying to help him in the stairs and to walk straight even if his father was mean to him... maybe he didn't want him to be alone or that he had the feeling he could get better with his help.
ReplyDeleteAnyway I'm also feeling that it is a true story because the point of view is very personal and near reality
You know, the first impression I had of this poem was that it was a happy poem. There was this boy who didn't want to go to bed, and his father is dancing with him / trying to get him to bed. I was one of the few who thought it was happy, though.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the fact that his dad had rough hands, and the boy's ear was hurt by the belt buckle isn't really an indication of violence. Dads do tend to play rough, and don't always notice if their kid is alright with that. Doesn't mean he's a child abuser.