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My Pappa's Waltz

Chris Watkins
March 5, 2003
English 1302
Tuesday/Thursday 9:30a.m.



Father



Theodore Roethke in “My Papa’s Waltz,” is discussing spending time with his father. “My Papa’s Waltz” brings questions of physical and mental abuse in regard to Roethke as a child. “The whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy”, is an indication of a disaster waiting to happen. Most individuals cannot operate properly under the influence of a large consumption of alcohol. Roethke’s father being drunk, romping around, and striking Roethke might indicate that child abuse is taking place.
The physical danger in the type of waltzing they are doing is indicated when Roethke states, “At every step you missed, my right ear scraped a buckle” (224). Roethke received scrapes on his ear due to his father being to rough with him. This type of dangerous activity is uncalled for and nothing was being done to stop it as indicated when Roethke states, “My mothe...

Posted by: Margaret Rowden

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