No individual’s life is completely perfect and the choice of how you portray the scenario can affect how the reader feels when reading different pieces. When reading Theodore Roethke’s, “My Papa’s Waltz,” it can be assumed that it is titled and written from the style that it is for a certain purpose. In this particular case “My Papa’s Waltz” is written in a children’s point of view. This makes the poem easy to read and also shows the unruly desire for a child to have affection from his father. Theodore Roethke uses a child’s point of view of a bad situation and shows how children unknowingly look for the positive side of anything throughout this poem to represent the negativity in this relationship. This child’s goal is to attain this desire, no matter what the flaws of the situation are. 

In this particular poem, Theodore Roethke, chooses a children’s point of view and this makes the reader empathize with the child in the situation. From the beginning of the poem the reader can recognize the negativity in the circumstance. Theodore Roethke opens up the piece with the statement, “The whiskey on your breath” in line one, and the reader is able to immediately recognize the negativity in the situation. Opening with this statement depicts a negative tone that shows that the remainder of the poem will have a negative downside to it. 

The presence of alcohol in the relationship between a child and the father depicts the negative undertone of the situation and of their relationship as a whole. The parent can be assumed to be a drunk and somewhat reckless, if this is what the child’s first statement about his father is. Because of the negative tones in this poem, the reader can grasp the fact that the child relates his father to the smell of the whiskey in which he always drinks. 

The child uses negative phrases and words which depicts the negativity towards what is happening. The child relates these negative things; the whiskey, the abuse, and the withdrawal of his dad’s attention to their relationship. The fact that the child recognizes these negative concepts at a young age means that the relationship has affected him, already, but he still wishes to continue to beg for his father’s approval. 

When the child states “my mother’s countenance could not unfrown itself” (Roethke, 7-8), it informs the reader that the mother is not offering approval of this situation. The mother does not approve of the drunken dad’s relationship with the child. She does not understand why the son is constantly begging for the father’s approval even when he treats the child so poorly. She does not approve of the drunken and abusive relationship with the son. The child’s need for the father’s love is not a positive reoccurring situation and the mother is aware of that. According to the child and his unruly obsession for his father’s affection, he does not mind that their relationship is not perfect and that it contains flaws of its own.

Diction can be used to show how bad a situation is without being straight forward and saying exactly what is occurring. The choices of words an author uses helps the reader assume exactly what is happening and how they should feel about the situation. The diction that Theodore Roethke chooses for the child to use shows this abusive relationship that the father and son share. The child uses phrases like “such waltzing was not easy” (Roethke, 4). This gives the reader a sense of familiarity of the struggle that goes on with the family. The idea of waltzing through life makes it obvious that this is an everyday occurrence and this is how the child portrays their relationship. Waltzing is a metaphor for the father’s life and how the two interact with one another. The child’s life is not easy, and through this statement that is made apparent, but the child still continues to seek approval and acceptance from his father no matter how bad the situation is or the included flaws and downsides of it. Most children go through life with a since of naivety and innocence, however; this child makes it clear that he is aware of his family's problematic lifestyle. The child is aware of his family’s flaws. Children typically yearn for their parent's affection, and negative consequences occur when negative relations arise between parent and child. This is not the case for the child.

Theodore Roethke is good about using an excessive amount of choices of diction to emphasize exactly what is happening. More examples of diction that connect to the negativity in the relationship between the father and son are apparent throughout the piece. Words like “battered” (Roethke, 10), “scraped” (Roethke, 12), and “beat” (Roethke, 13) are used throughout this poem. These words make the apparent abusive nature of the relationship obvious to the reader. But still, after stating these harsh words and phrases, the child finishes off with saying “still clinging to your shirt” (Roethke, 16). This helps the reader become more aware of the fact that no matter the flaws that are apparent to the reader, the child still thrives off of this relationship between the child and the father. 

The fact that a child uses these harsh words also references to the fact that he may not know exactly what the words mean. The child may not know what the words mean, just like he may not understand why things are the way they are for him. Just like the child may not understand the words he is using, it can probably be assumed that he may not totally understand the situation as a whole either.

Theodore Roethke almost masks the majority of the negativity through using the child as the narrator. By using the son’s point of view, as a reader, you are only familiar with the love and the obsession that the child has for his father, even when dealing with the bad circumstances that are involved in this toxic relationship that they have. The child uses diction throughout the poem to show what is really occurring, but the majority of this piece is the child having this desire to have his father’s attention. 

In conclusion, Theodore Roethke uses a child’s point of view to emphasize the negativity in the situation, as well as, keep the reader interested and empathetic towards the situation. Also, the diction the child uses when speaking about his father contributes to the idea that the child does not understand the situation, just like he may not totally understand the terms and phrases that he is using. By using the child as a narrator, the piece is more interesting and the reader maintains focus easily and it is obvious that no matter how many flaws are in a situation, the child is still going to have this connection with his father that is not easy to understand. Even though there are flaws in the bond that they share, the son admires his father for being his father and looks past the negativity in hopes of one day building a better relationship with his father.
