There are a variety of abuses that occur throughout the world, such as mental, physical, and verbal abuse. However, between 960,000 and 3,000,000 incidents of domestic violence are reported each year, while many other incidents go unreported. It is estimated that more than ten million people experience domestic violence in the United States each year. In “My Papa's Waltz” by Theodore Roethke, the author tries to embellish the horrific experience of his son's abuse into a joyful and loving waltzing session. The waltz is a dance that involves interaction, rhythm and interdependence between two people, thus symbolizing a relationship between father and son. However, in reality, the waltz actually symbolizes a beating, the word choice throughout the poem often indicates the beating that takes place. The poem is driven by her dancing around the house with her son, while the beatings take place. In Roethke's “My Papa's Waltz” the author uses the form of “dance” to describe an abusive relationship towards his son. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The poem states “With every step you missed, my right ear scratched a buckle,” which can be interpreted as an innocent dance between a child and his drunken father. However, from this verse we can actually understand that “dance” is not just fun and games for the boy, as he is scratching himself a lot. The boy is afraid of upsetting his father, which is why he still insists on continuing to dance with his drunken father despite his father constantly hurting him. In the early 20th century, it was common for a father to discipline his children by beating them with a belt. Such a punishment is not explicitly shown in this poem, but the same belt could also have been used to discipline the boy. Battered child syndrome was a major problem during the 1940s and 1950s, in which many children suffered from a variety of symptoms, injuries, and signs of maltreatment seen in severely or repeatedly abused children. During this time period, it was common for children to be abused by their fathers or male relatives due to the enormous amount of power that men held in their homes and in society. Abused children or "non-accidental injuries" had been identified by pediatricians since the 1950s. It became a major political issue of the 1960s and 1970s, although more associated with the actions of mothers than of fathers or other male relatives. Thus, child abuse was a big problem during the 1940s and 1950s, which explains how the father's behavior could be a norm for the child and also for the mother. In the poem, it indicates how the mother/wife was not happy, due to the mess her husband was making in the kitchen, but remained silent out of fear and submission. In the third stanza, the speaker illustrates how his father mistreats him throughout the dance. “The hand that held my wrists/was struck on a knuckle,” these lines show the roughness and severity of his father's grip on the wrist instead of a firm, rhythmic posture that the usual partners should be. The father's battered knuckle symbolizes the effect of the beating that occurs and the aggression that Roethke's father has towards the child. The interpretation in the fourth verse also allows us to grasp the indication of the beating, “Beat time on my head/with the palm encrusted by the earth”, in which we see more of the father's roughness during this “waltz”. The word “beat” has a negative connotation, referring to the baby's heartbeat because you can “keep” time more than you can beat, but “beat” has a.