Response Paper
Matthew Chavana
English IV AP
Chavez
15 February 2013
Response Paper #1
In Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” and Donald’s Hall’s “My son, my executioner” there is a glimpse into a dysfunctional relationship. We see this unconventional outlook from a child’s point of view and from a father’s, both faced with the tribulations which their corresponding father/son bring upon them. Hall’s “My son, my executioner” very much disturbed me as the speaker blatantly poisons the beauty and innocence of a child with the evils of an “executioner”.
The speaker of Roethke’s piece talks of a “waltz” between father and son while the father had “whisky on [his] breath,” (Roethke 1) and further describing the situation by using words like “death”, (Roethke 3). The most insidious factor behind this blatant depiction of abuse is that it is being covered up by the act of a waltz. Evidence of using a blanket to cover up the reality is when the speaker notes, “such waltzing was not easy,” (Roethke 4) then talks of moments that depict abuse and not innocent dancing. In Hall’s piece, probably the most shocking of all the lines is when the speaker notes, “My son, my executioner,” (Hall 1), which show a distinctly odd association between something normally loved versus something normally loathed. The speaker looks upon the son as merely a “document of [his] decay,” (Hal 4-5), for the son seems to only mark the beginning of the end. The victim of this relationship is the son for the speaker is the one whom is introducing such a cynical outlook on the existence of the son. In Roethke’s piece, the victim is again the son but such emotions are being seen through the eyes of the son during an instant of suffering. The father figure assumed in Hall’s piece seems to share a similar outlook on love and care that the drunken father in Roethke’s has. Both show a basic and total disregard of an acknowledgement toward another’s feelings, nor do they care much about morality.
The speaker in
English IV AP
Chavez
15 February 2013
Response Paper #1
In Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz” and Donald’s Hall’s “My son, my executioner” there is a glimpse into a dysfunctional relationship. We see this unconventional outlook from a child’s point of view and from a father’s, both faced with the tribulations which their corresponding father/son bring upon them. Hall’s “My son, my executioner” very much disturbed me as the speaker blatantly poisons the beauty and innocence of a child with the evils of an “executioner”.
The speaker of Roethke’s piece talks of a “waltz” between father and son while the father had “whisky on [his] breath,” (Roethke 1) and further describing the situation by using words like “death”, (Roethke 3). The most insidious factor behind this blatant depiction of abuse is that it is being covered up by the act of a waltz. Evidence of using a blanket to cover up the reality is when the speaker notes, “such waltzing was not easy,” (Roethke 4) then talks of moments that depict abuse and not innocent dancing. In Hall’s piece, probably the most shocking of all the lines is when the speaker notes, “My son, my executioner,” (Hall 1), which show a distinctly odd association between something normally loved versus something normally loathed. The speaker looks upon the son as merely a “document of [his] decay,” (Hal 4-5), for the son seems to only mark the beginning of the end. The victim of this relationship is the son for the speaker is the one whom is introducing such a cynical outlook on the existence of the son. In Roethke’s piece, the victim is again the son but such emotions are being seen through the eyes of the son during an instant of suffering. The father figure assumed in Hall’s piece seems to share a similar outlook on love and care that the drunken father in Roethke’s has. Both show a basic and total disregard of an acknowledgement toward another’s feelings, nor do they care much about morality.
The speaker in