Fathers

A detailed Summary of Fathers

The simple word father can conjure up many images and emotions. A father can be a warm and joyful memory, or a dark and dismal one. Two poets confront these memories in Sylvia Plath's poem "My father and husband "Daddy" and in the poem by Theodore Roethke "My Papa's Waltz". At the first look these might seem to be very similar, but upon further investigation it becomes clear that these two poems are more different than same.

The two poets write about their fathers, and their childhood experiences with them. The two poems both focus on the subject of a father, but have significant differences with how and what each conveys to the reader. Plath poem relays a message or explanation of the awfull relationship she had with her father. She is explaining to us that her farther was more of a symbol, rather than a caring and loving man. In sharp contrast to Roethke's simple poem intends to bestow a warmth and joyfulness in remembrance of his father. He intends to show us his endearment of this hard working man he called papa.

The two poets use all the poetical elements too express their personal view of a father. Each share the same subject but use individual styles of poem structure, language, rhyme, tone, situation, and speaker to exp

The first obvious difference in each poem is the gender of the speaker. This difference may be reflected in the opinions and body of each poem. Sons have different experiences with a father than daughters do with their fathers. Sons and fathers most commonly share a much closer bond than fathers and daughters. This relationship may have had some bearing on the opinions and feeling of each speaker. Plath's relationship with her father may have been bad due to that lack of this gender bond. In turn Roethke may have had a more positive remembrance of his father due to the fact that he was a male.

ress their opinions. These differences allow us as readers to understand the authors intent and main idea of each poem.

Another seeming similarity between the two poems is that their tone seems to be negative but in reality Roethke's poem is mostly positive while Plath's poem is completely negative and dark. The poem of Roethke is a joyful remembrance of a time gone by. The harsh language in the first stanza might throw some readers into thinking that this poem is definitely not warm and joyful. For example: "The whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy; But I hung on like death: Such waltzing was not easy." With the words such as whiskey, dizzy, and death it would be easy to assume that this is not a very cheerful poem. As the poem continues the language ceases to be too harsh o

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 938
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English