In the poem “My Papa’s Waltz,” Theodore Roethke develops the idea that complicated family relationships teach lessons for the future, it prevents an individual from missing a step in life. The poet uses imagery and metaphors to enhance the theme of the poem. Individuals can portray the images developed by the poet differently but the same theme is taken from these images.
The first stanza in the poem already depicts the idea of complicated relationships being compared to the waltz, which is a dance that is “not easy.” The whiskey on the breathe of the father creates an image of being unstable as a small child dealing with hard working parents and shows how it can affect the relationship between parent and child. In line 3 of the poem …show more content…
Right away the speaker mentions how the waltz is “not easy” and exaggerates when stating he “hung on like death,” literally this would mean that the boy is scared of doing the dance because he is just a small child. However, as an extended metaphor this can show the complicated relationships start and how it’s never been easy for him. Using the word “death” implies a scary feeling so early in the poem. As the poem continues it is evident that the rough way the father and child were dancing can demonstrate the idea of “missing steps” in a family relationship. Since the speaker only mentions the mother’s frowning face once we can imply that maybe the mother was not very present in the child’s life and that is why the father is acting that way, the mother couldn’t do anything about it. The extended metaphor in this poem, the main one, has to be the entire poem and the title. “My Papa’s Waltz,” the waltz is the extended metaphor, it is being compared to complicated family relationships. Families are never easy, just like the waltz even though the father was trying, the speaker does not have the brightest flashback since at the end he feels as though he’s “still clinging” to his father's
The first stanza in the poem already depicts the idea of complicated relationships being compared to the waltz, which is a dance that is “not easy.” The whiskey on the breathe of the father creates an image of being unstable as a small child dealing with hard working parents and shows how it can affect the relationship between parent and child. In line 3 of the poem …show more content…
Right away the speaker mentions how the waltz is “not easy” and exaggerates when stating he “hung on like death,” literally this would mean that the boy is scared of doing the dance because he is just a small child. However, as an extended metaphor this can show the complicated relationships start and how it’s never been easy for him. Using the word “death” implies a scary feeling so early in the poem. As the poem continues it is evident that the rough way the father and child were dancing can demonstrate the idea of “missing steps” in a family relationship. Since the speaker only mentions the mother’s frowning face once we can imply that maybe the mother was not very present in the child’s life and that is why the father is acting that way, the mother couldn’t do anything about it. The extended metaphor in this poem, the main one, has to be the entire poem and the title. “My Papa’s Waltz,” the waltz is the extended metaphor, it is being compared to complicated family relationships. Families are never easy, just like the waltz even though the father was trying, the speaker does not have the brightest flashback since at the end he feels as though he’s “still clinging” to his father's