Fathers

The two poets have differences in their experiences and they use different ways to reflect their points in each their poems. The constant manipulation by her father and her husband is equated with the worst period of the twentieth century the period of Nazism. Sons and fathers most commonly share a much closer bond than fathers and daughters.

Another seeming similarity between the two poems is that their tone seems to be negative but in reality Roethke's poem is mostly positive while Plath's poem is completely negative and dark. Each poet uses different kinds of language to emphasize their main idea or point. With the use of this language it makes the reader feel as if this was not a man, but some kind of a beast. For example: "The whiskey on your breath could make a small boy dizzy; But I hung on like death: Such waltzing was not easy. These differences allow us as readers to understand the authors intent and main idea of each poem. This also reflects the closeness father and author shared. The word clinging reflects the bond he had with his father, and the good times they shared. Roethke finishes the poem with purely positive language, "Then waltzed me off to bed / Still clinging to your shirt. A relationship close enough that when his father came back from a hard day at work he still found time to "romp" around with his child. Plath's comparison of her father to the Nazi Germany shows us that he was a man that was very controlling and rough with her.