The relationship between a father and son is one of the most important things a child can have. A good relationship with one’s father results in a more stable life and mindset. Both My Papa’s Waltz by Theodore Roethke and Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden display father and son relationships. These poems have complications in the relationship between the two, but My Papa’s Waltz is a more negative complication. Those Winter Sundays shows more of a misunderstanding from the son’s point of view. Negative complications help emphasise how important a healthy relationship between a father and son is. My Papa’s Waltz shows a conflicting relationship between father and son. The boy seems to love his father. This is evidenced by the boy …show more content…
However the very issues each poem encompesses differ. My Papa’s Waltz has the son showing love for his father even though he is inadvertently being hurt by the father who only thinks it is a game. Those Winter Sundays in contrast, highlights a son that only shows love for his father later in life, as he did not understand the things his father did when he was still young. The fathers of both sons can be contrasted as well. They have differing parenting styles. One father does a lot of hard work, and asks for little reward from his own family, and he receives virtually none. The father in Those Winter Sundays is not very involved directly with his son’s life, but he still shows his love for him in subtler ways, such as shining his shoes.The father in My Papa’s Waltz is more involved with his son’s life merely by the fact that his is having a “waltz” with him. However due to his alcoholic nature, his good intentions may end up causing harm to his son. His son still loves his father regardless however. This is where the sons contrast. The son from Those Winter Sundays only learns to truly appreciate what his father did when he was older. The son from My Papa’s Waltz seems to love his father even though he is being caused pain by his father’s unintentional roughness. Both poems cover the same topic in general, but they show contrasting views on how the