Child abuse is physical abuse that unfortunately happens to children all over the world. Similarly, the poem “My Daddy's Waltz” by Theodore Roethke describes and gives readers insight into what child abuse is. The poem presents the relationship between a drunken father and his son. Therefore, the setting, sensory details, and word choice of the poem allow the reader to understand the violence that the little boy experiences after his father returns from work. The setting of the poem is very important in understanding the key elements that the poet is trying to understand. express. The poem “My Dad’s Waltz” takes place in the family kitchen. The lines “The whiskey on your breath…slipped off the kitchen shelf”; let readers assume that some type of music is playing on the radio in the kitchen to which the little boy and his drunken father are dancing (Roethke 126). But the little boy's mother doesn't seem very happy and the apparent reason given in the poem is that the waltz in the kitchen knocks all the pots and pans off the shelf. The mother's misfortune can ...