My Papa's Waltz

I believe that "My Papa's Waltz" shows the view of an alcoholic father through a child's eyes. It shows the struggle between how much the author loves his father and fears him. There are a lot of references to dance and I think that helps show that the father is in control but there is also love in their relationship. I feel like the readers experience a certain amount of fear of Papa but we also see how the child shows blind trust to his father and it makes us think that maybe he isn't all bad. It talks about how Papa has "palms caked with dirt" which makes us think he is hard working. It also says papa "waltzed me off to bed" which shows a positive view of him. I believe the writer has a complicated view of his father. We see that the mother is unhappy but she doesn't seem to do anything about it which also shows the amount of control that the father has over the family.