He was a little boy who enjoyed the time he was spending with his father. Even though his father had “whiskey” on his breath and it was enough to “make a little boy dizzy,” Theodore “held on” as they danced. If this had been an unpleasant memory, Roethke would not have clung to his father if the situation had been a horrible memory. They were waltzing, and even though it was difficult, he and his father were rocking out everywhere. Theodore's father had a “bad…knuckle” and a “dirt-encrusted palm” that symbolized that he was a laborer. As a factory worker he is never home, so Theodore appreciates the time he spends with his father even if he is drunk. When dad "waltzed him to bed", but Theodore didn't want that joyful moment