Roethke and Salinas

In “My Papa’s Waltz” we read about an alcoholic father who neglects his son. Although the poem recites this story about the drunk father, we sense a loving tone from the boy's voice and description of his father. As the boy expresses “but I hung on like death such waltzing was not easy”, readers are able to notice that the boy still hangs onto his father even through the pain and sorrow he faces.

While in the poem “My Father is a Simple Man”, we are read about a boy’s perspective on his loving father. The son describes his father to be a hard worker and appreciates his old man, while they journey through the street and share life lessons together. They rejoice with the simple life as the son looks up to his father “I can always remember that here was a man who was a worker and provider, who learned the simple facts in life and lived by them, who held no pretense.”

These two poems teach us about the importance of parenting and the effects it has on a child's mental as well as physical state. There is a great difference in the fathers of the two poems, thus portraying a father’s role in a child’s life. Roethke’s poem consisted of a father who was abusive while Salinas’ poem presented the opposite; a loving father.