Holding a child’s wrist is not a loving action that a father would do when guiding them off to bed. Instead, this action can be interpreted as aggressive towards the child. Along with proving this point is the quote “my right ear scarped a buckle” (Roethke 12) indicating that the child is not only being held at their wrist, but is being dragged along by their wrist. The phrase is stating that the boy is being forced along that as the father walks the child is getting hurt by the rough movement sending him into his father’s belt buckle. Finally, the father is described to “beat time on my head” (Roethke 13) when it comes to the child. The word beat is such a strong word to describe a movement that while the child may be trying to hide the harsh reality of being beaten, the reality instead appears clearly to the reader. So, this waltz in the end may not truly be a dance, but a child’s way of wrapping their mind around their beatings delivered to them at the hand of their father whom they love whole
Holding a child’s wrist is not a loving action that a father would do when guiding them off to bed. Instead, this action can be interpreted as aggressive towards the child. Along with proving this point is the quote “my right ear scarped a buckle” (Roethke 12) indicating that the child is not only being held at their wrist, but is being dragged along by their wrist. The phrase is stating that the boy is being forced along that as the father walks the child is getting hurt by the rough movement sending him into his father’s belt buckle. Finally, the father is described to “beat time on my head” (Roethke 13) when it comes to the child. The word beat is such a strong word to describe a movement that while the child may be trying to hide the harsh reality of being beaten, the reality instead appears clearly to the reader. So, this waltz in the end may not truly be a dance, but a child’s way of wrapping their mind around their beatings delivered to them at the hand of their father whom they love whole