Often times, when a person reads a work of literature, there are many details of the text that are difficult to understand. For example, when reading an allegory, the reader may find it very difficult to detect and interpret the symbolism in the literary work. Because the symbols may have different meanings, the theme of the story may be totally unclear for some readers. In any work of literature, a reader may be unsure of how to perceive the characters and certain events of the text. Likewise, the characters" perceptions of each other may also be unclear to the reader. This state of something being unclear is a formal device called ambiguity. Ambiguity is used by authors to enhance the structure and meaning of the story. It is present in novels, short stories, and poetry. Perhaps, ambiguity most frequently occurs in the genre of poetry. Because poetry does not contain many similar elements of other genres of literature, it is often hard for readers to understand what the speaker of the poem is trying to convey. An example is "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke. It is a poem portraying a rather strange moment between a young boy and his father. This poem may be viewed from two different standpoints. In Theodore Roethke's "My Papa's Waltz", it is ambiguous whether the poem depicts the harsh, yet unconditional love between a child and his father or the abuse of a child by his father.
One perspective on which the poem may be viewed is the display of a strange love between a father and his son. The emotions of love and adoration, while slightly smothered by feelings of contempt and disgust, are evident in the poem. In the first three lines of the poem, the speaker states, "The whiskey on your breath / Could make a small boy dizzy / But I hung on like death" (lines 1-3). The young boy in the poem obviously expresses his disgust at the fact that his father has been drinking.
