A parent and a child’s relationship is an unbreakable love. Especially a father and daughter relationship, that is how we got the saying “Daddy’s Little Girl.” In the two poems “Daddy” written by Sylvia Plath and “My Papa’s Waltz written by Theodore Roethke we see how each poet expresses their feelings toward their father’s. “Daddy, I have had to kill you. You died before I had time.” (Sylvia 1-2) In the poem, “Daddy” we are introduced to the speaker/narrator and their father's relationship. Using strong words and figures of a speech she articulates the hatred between her and her father. While in the poem “My Papa’s Waltz”, he has a different appreciation for his father, which is loving and affectionate, we can analyze this by reading the keywords
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In “My Papa’s Waltz” The father drunkenness doesn't make him an abusive father but a loving one. Although some may interpret Theodore Roethke and his waltz with his father as aggressive due to his saying, “We romped until the pans, Slid from the kitchen shelf, My mother's countenance, Could not unfrown itself.” (Roethke 4-8) Each reader has their own way of interpreting poems, it doesn't make their reasoning right or wrong. If analyzed deeper their waltz caused the pans to fall from the shelf due to the father's intoxication. While being under the influence one may find it hard to keep balance, especially while having a child hold on to your unsteady self. Although he states that his mother is frowning, it is not because she is angry inside but angry because of her kitchen becoming disarrayed. On the inside, she is glad to see her husband and son bonding together. This is the complete opposite of Plath, in her poem we get a clear understanding of the relationship between her and her father. She makes it clear by saying, “At twenty I tried to die, And get back, back, back to you. I thought even the bones would do.” (Plath 62-64) The abuse and hatred were so forceful it caused her to commit suicide, but failing to do so she realizes it is not worth it. By comparing her father to a vampire we are able to understand in depth the type of person he is said to be as she says metaphorically how he has sucked the life out of her and is giving her no reason to live anymore. She comes to the realization that it is now over, with her father dead, she can breathe again and do as she please as stated in the closing stanza, “So daddy, I’m finally through.” (Plath 70) She beings to think of what would happen if she were to die, she would not only kill herself but her husband as well. He would have to deal with the aftermath and cope as a widowed husband who is
In “My Papa’s Waltz” The father drunkenness doesn't make him an abusive father but a loving one. Although some may interpret Theodore Roethke and his waltz with his father as aggressive due to his saying, “We romped until the pans, Slid from the kitchen shelf, My mother's countenance, Could not unfrown itself.” (Roethke 4-8) Each reader has their own way of interpreting poems, it doesn't make their reasoning right or wrong. If analyzed deeper their waltz caused the pans to fall from the shelf due to the father's intoxication. While being under the influence one may find it hard to keep balance, especially while having a child hold on to your unsteady self. Although he states that his mother is frowning, it is not because she is angry inside but angry because of her kitchen becoming disarrayed. On the inside, she is glad to see her husband and son bonding together. This is the complete opposite of Plath, in her poem we get a clear understanding of the relationship between her and her father. She makes it clear by saying, “At twenty I tried to die, And get back, back, back to you. I thought even the bones would do.” (Plath 62-64) The abuse and hatred were so forceful it caused her to commit suicide, but failing to do so she realizes it is not worth it. By comparing her father to a vampire we are able to understand in depth the type of person he is said to be as she says metaphorically how he has sucked the life out of her and is giving her no reason to live anymore. She comes to the realization that it is now over, with her father dead, she can breathe again and do as she please as stated in the closing stanza, “So daddy, I’m finally through.” (Plath 70) She beings to think of what would happen if she were to die, she would not only kill herself but her husband as well. He would have to deal with the aftermath and cope as a widowed husband who is