Poetry Comparison Essay

Mohammed Islam 711 Poetry Essay

When it comes down to parent-child relationships, love can be shown in multiple ways. In the two poems, “Those Winter Sundays” and “My Papa’s Waltz” the speaker’s of the poems talk about their relationship with their fathers. In “Those Winter Sundays” the speaker talks about how his father does so much for him, but the speaker doesn't realize what his father does for him. In “My Papa’s Waltz” the speaker talks about how his father tries to show love to him by being playful, but ends up hurting the speaker instead. Both poems talk about how the fathers treat them, but the father’s show love to their children in different ways.

In “Those Winter Sundays” the speaker talks about how his father does so much for him,even making sacrifices. In the poem it states, “Sundays too my father got up early and put his clothes on the blue-black cold , then with his cracked hands that ached from labor in weekday weather made banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.” First of all, the dad got early before the sun got up, where no one in the family was awake, and made a fire for the family even though he was worn out from the work he does during the weekdays. This shows us that the father cared so much about the family, that instead of waking up on the same time like everyone else, he would wake up early. Also, even though he was worn out from the work he does on the week, he still works so the family will be satisfied. We can see that the speaker didn't see these sacrifices his father makes for him when he says that no one ever thanked him. Also in the poem it states that, “What did I know, what did I know of love’s austere and lonely offices.” From that line we can see that the speaker didn't understand what his father did for him. He didn't understand the way his father expressed love for him.Therefore we can see that the speaker’s relationship with the father is uncertain because he can’t really see the love the father is giving him.

However in “My Papa’s Waltz” the speaker’s father shows love to his kid in a less oblivious way, but in the process, he hurts his kid instead. In the poem it states, “The hand that holds my wrist, was battered on one knuckle; at every step you missed, my right ear would scrape a buckle.” We can see some similarities here with “Those Winter Sundays.” where both the fathers would do things for their families even though they are worn out from work. But in this poem the image the poem creates for us is the father and son dancing, and whenever the son  messed up he would “accidentally” get hurt. Another statement in the poem that shows the father and son relationship is when it says, “You beat time on my head with a palm caked hard by dirt, Then waltzed me off to bed Still clinging to your shirt.” From here we can see another way how the father is being too physical when showing love to his kid. He would use his head as a drum, and would waltz his son to bed, which means that he would dance his son to bed.This also can make the reader feel some sympathy for the speaker because even though the author is being loved, he is getting hurt at the same time. From this relationship we can see that the dad tries so how his love to his son, but ends up being too physical.

In conclusion , the difference between the relationship between the father and son in  the poems is that the father and son in, “Those Winter Sundays” is that the father shows his love in an unobvious way, while in “My Papa’s Waltz” the father does show his love in a obvious way, but accidentally hurts his son in the same time. We can also see that the fathers would make sacrifices for the sons. They both would do things for the kids, even though they were tired from the work they have already done. We can see that dads are both hard workers and care a lot about their kids. Even though some people may mistake the fathers in the poems, like in "Those Winter Sundays," many people see the father not caring the kid, just doing things for himself or in "My Papa's Waltz" people may think the dad is drunk and being abusive, but really, the dads are both just trying to satisfy their kids, but are doing it in different ways.

Night Essay

Mohammed Islam 711 Night

During the Holocaust, the Jewish people had to go through to much, that they even had lost faith even believing god's in fault that they are in the hold of the Germans. In the book Night by Elie Wiesel,it’s about young Elie in the German concentration camps with his father. Before they were in that situation, it started with Elie talking about his religion. But when he was in the concentration camps, he has lost all faith in god and thought about how his belief in god led him to him in the horrible situation he is in now. Elie has changed a lot from when he was in the concentration camps, but the main thing that changed was his belief in god.

Before in the concentration camps, Elie was sure about his faith in god. In the book on page 4, it states, “One day I asked my father to find a master who could guide me in my studies of Kabbalah.” From here we can see that Elie has certain things he wants to study for his religion. He asks his father this because he was a religious person and and had certain motives he wanted to do. We can see that he has faith in god here because he asks about a complicated study that he wants to do so he can please god, so god will praise him back. Also it said in the book that there were no Kabbalists in their area, and so Elie wants to be the first because he respects his religion. Another example of a way that we can see that Elie has faith in god is in page 4, when it says, “ I cried because… because something inside me felt the need to cry.” From here we can see that Elie cries when he prays. He gets emotional because he has a feeling that he needs to cry. This is because from his beliefs, he might feel that he has to cry because he has to because god is watching, and in order to impress god he has to cry so god will give mercy. To conclude, we can see that Elie has faith in god in the beginning, and he does things for his religion so he can impress god.

But after Elie and his father go to the concentration camps, we can see that he lost faith in god, even questioning if believing in god will always be good for you. In the book on page  32,  it says, “Never shall I forget these that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed....Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. New Things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never.” First of all, the tragic events that the Jews had to go through are cold memories that Elie can never forget. When Elie says that he will never forget the moments that murdered his god, his should and dreams into dust, we can see that Elie loses hope in God as by his days in the Concentration camps go by, he starts to lose less faith in god. Also when it says that his dreams turned into dust, we can relate to the beginning of the story when he says he wants to study the Kabbalah. We can see that not only his faith in god has stopped, but his religious beliefs have stopped as well. Also we can see that Elie has lost faith in god from only the first day when he sees people being separated from families, people getting whipped and people dieing, even small children or babies. From the actions he witnesses he starts to believe that it’s god's fault that they are going through so much pain. Another example in the book of Elie Wiesel losing faith in god is in page 65, when it says, “Behind me, I heard the same man asking:"For God's sake, where is God?"And from within me, I heard a voice answer:"Where He is? This is where--hanging here from this gallows..." From here we can see that Elie starts to question god when he says where is he, referring to god. He starts to ask where is god when they desperately need him, where people are being hanged and killed, even a young child. When he says that god is hanging from the gallows, it tells us that Elie has completely lost faith in god, and now even his questioning his presence.

In conclusion, Elie has changed a lot from his time in the concentration camps. The Germans and the pain he went through changed him a lot, even his beliefs in god. He started from a young boy who wanted to study the Kabbalah, but then turned into a matured young men who was questioning in having faith in god because he had to suffer so much,even  being separated from his family. But it has to make the reader think, we knew that in Elie’s perspective, that he was questioning god, but how was it in the fathers perspective, who was said to be a ‘cultured man’ but since going through so much, has it changed him as well?