
In the poem My Papa’s Waltz by Theodore Roethke we learn about how complicated family relationships can be. Through the view of Roethke we see a possible struggling relationship between a son and father. The word choice and rhyme scheme Roethke uses in this poem leads to believing this. Some of Roethke's choices of words show an abusive father son relationship. These same words, along with rhyme, can also be read as just a sloppy drunk father having fun with his son. By being able to read the poem two ways shows a confliction. This confliction shows how Roethke’s childhood relationship with his family is one with complications and possibly one he even struggled with as an adult. From the first line we already get a picture of what the poet’s father is like.  The first opening remark is, “The whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy” (Roethke, Lines 1-2). This paints the picture of father who drinks alcohol and might be drunk. The next lines are, “But I hung on like death: Such waltzing wasn’t easy” (Roethke, Lines 3-4). These following lines further the relationship as one of love, but also one of difficulty because he says the “waltz wasn’t easy”. This first stanza sets the scene for the rest of the poem. It shows a father who is drunk, but a son who seems to not mind this. The use of slang language and rhyme scene adds to the poem making it seem like a lighthearted opening about a father dancing with his drunken father. The second stanza further uses the lighthearted tone, but we see a development in the strain of the family relationship. It starts off by saying, “We romped until the pans slid from the kitchen shelf,” which supports the tone of being playful as the father is having fun with his son as they dance around the kitchen (Roethke, Lines 5-6). It is the next two lines which makes it seem like a different view of what is going on. These lines say, “My mother’s countenance could not unfrown itself” (Roethke, Lines 7-8). This shows a major develop in the story line the poet is telling. The look on the mother’s face is that of sadness and displeasure leading us to believe that this “waltz” the poet is talking about is not something as lighthearted as the tone describes. At the same time it could just be a look the mother is giving because she disapproves of the father and sons drunk dancing. This waltz could be something the father is doing to the son but the context is not developed enough and is still too lighthearted to assume this just yet. The third stanza is integral to the development of the relationship between the father and son in this poem. This stanza opens up with, “The hand that helped my wrist was battered on one knuckle,” which immediately changes the view on the father (Roethke, Lines 9-10). The lines prior to these just showed a drunken father dancing with his son, but these lines show a possible abuse to the son by the father. These two lines show the intimacy of the holding the father’s hand, but being hurt with battered knuckle. In the next two lines sit says, “At every step you missed my right ear scraped a buckle” (Roethke, Lines 11-12). In these lines it can be read in two ways. It can be read as the son is being abused by the father or the father is sloppily drunk dancing with his son and he accidentally scraped his ear. By being able to read the lines in two ways we can see how Roethke struggles to determine what this relationship between father and son is, showing how complex it can be. The fourth stanza sums up the whole idea of two relationship the father and son could have. In the conclusion it says, “You beat time on my head with a palm caked hard by dirt, then waltzed me off to bed still clinging to your shirt” (Roethke, Lines 13-16). This can be read as father continuing to abuse his son, but the son still loving his father despite the abusive relationship he might be experiencing. If the poem is read looking at it from an abusive standpoint we can see how the son struggles with the fact his father does this to him, but the love for his father overpowers this. At the same time this last line can be read in the other way as a sloppily drunk father having fun and bringing his son to bed once they have had their fun. If the poem is read in this way we see a father who drunkenly had fun with his son until it was time for bed. The fact that the poem can be read in two different views shows how complicated this relationship with family is and how there is probably a mental struggle to decide which relationship is the real one. This is possibly a type of coping mechanism for the poet to rationalize what happened to him. Specifically in this poem the use of word choice and rhyme lead to showing two different outcomes to this poem further showing the complicated family relationship. The poet chooses to use these two writing techniques to show two sides to this story: one with a drunken loving father and one with a drunken abusive father. Roethke probably chooses to do this because he himself is struggling to determine the relationship he had with his father. His own struggles are displayed in this poem because the some of the words he chooses can be read in a positive or negative tone, but then on top of that the fact the poem rhymes inflicts positivity on the whole thing. By being able to read this both ways we get to see how Roethke views his father. This seems to be a problem he has struggled with for a while. Many times people struggle with how to view their parents because there is so much love for them it can be blinded by the bad they might do. This poem proves that families have complicated relationships that are difficult to describe and sometimes the only way to cope and understand them is to do it in a way such Roethke did in the poem My Papa’s Waltz.

