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My Papa's Waltz


            What is the attitude the child has towards his .
             father in Theodore Roethke's "My Papa's Waltz"? After .
             reading the discussion following the poem, I noticed a few .
             of the ways he could have felt. .
             As we can tell by reading lines 13 and 14:"You .
             beat time on my head, With a palm caked hard by dirt", that .
             the father is more than likely a blue collared worker and .
             has been doing manual labor at his place of employment.
             I(We) could assume that he has been at work, and afterwards.
             went out with his fellow workers for a couple of drinks.
             He then comes home and "Waltzes" through the door to .
             continue the waltz with his son. His son acknowledges the.
             fact that his father has been drinking, but doesn't let that.
             bother him. He hangs on to his father as he said "But I .
             hung on like death: Such waltzing was not easy." He .
             obviously has a great love and affection for his father, no.
             matter what his state of mind may be. .
             In the next four lines of the poem, it explains.
             how the father and child "romped" around the kitchen .
             knocking over pans and waltzing around as the mother stands.
             with an unchanging frown. This offers a more serious tone.
             to the poem as opposed to the happy and loving tone that .
             certain lines suggest throughout the poem. This shows .
             that the child is aware of his mother's concern for the .
             child, or the father for that matter because of his drunken.
             state. The element of the mother's serious attitude .
             definitely offers a serious attitude towards the poem.
             Regardless of the mother's frown, the child .
             continues to waltz with his father. In lines 9-12, it .
             suggests a more rough and rugged waltz. It shows how the .
             child is not intentionally being physically hurt by his .
             father's belt: "At every step you missed My right ear .
             scraped a buckle". The discussion following the poem states .
             thatsome readers say that all the hurt that has been .
             inflicted on the child would suggest that "Roethke expresses .
             resentment for his father".


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