The Waltz (Symbol)
The waltz symbolizes the tension between the father and son, and, perhaps, the tension inherent in domestic family life. A waltz is a structured, scripted form of dance. Similarly, the nuclear family is a preexisting structure, offering a kind of script to individual parents and children. However, the waltz in the poem quickly spirals out of control, becoming a source of abuse or at the very least chaos. In other words, the structured, scripted expectation actually becomes a source of uncertainty and disarray. Similarly, Roethke implies, the gender and age-based expectations that follow every person in a family can be sources of chaos, violence, and harm quite as much as they can be sources of comfort and familiarity.
The Father's Hands (Symbol)
Though the father's appearance is not described in much detail, his hands receive a thorough descriptive treatment. We know that they are rough and "battered," as well as dirty. They become a symbol of the father's ambiguous, complex personality. In a sense, they seem to hint that he is a laborer, and that he is a devoted enough father to play with his child even while performing work with his hands. Despite his battered, tired body, he maintains time and energy to entertain his son. At the same time, the hands themselves suggest violence and damage, especially because of what they actually do—they grip the speaker's wrist and hit his head. As a result, the father's hands equally indicate that he is a victim of subjugation and that he is himself subjugating his child, neatly and dramatically summarizing the full range of possible truths about the man.
