Q. Discuss ways in which Robert Frost presents his poem 'Out, Out-'
The title of this poem is an allusion from Shakespeare's Macbeth, it represents death and so the reader knows from the very beginning that something bad is about to happen. At the end of the title is a hyphen that can represent uncertainty but can also represent something cut off halfway through, this also foreshadows the events occurring in the poem in relation to death. This hyphen acts as an ambiguity to represent what a child's death is like and how a child's life is over before it begins.
Frost uses a stern and sympathetic tone, he narrates the entire poem in such a way that the environment is gloomy, mournful and sinister. The reader is constantly in suspense even though due to the foreshadowing such as 'the day was all but done', the reader knows what is happening and what is about to occur. Dramatic irony gives the reader insight regarding the poem's end but the personas are left in the dark, this creates a feeling of helplessness and pity that adds further depth to the overall scenario.
Frost has given the poem a rural setting and includes a haiku to create beautiful background imagery contrasting with how the antagonist, the saw, is represented: 'Five mountain ranges ,one behind the other, under the sunset far into Vermont.'. The saw is represented as a predator through onomatopoeia, 'snarled and rattled in the yard.' It is personified as a living thing which creates an illusion of cruelness but in the end, it is an inanimate object and cruel are but the humans responsible for its creation and the people who put something so hazardous in the hands of a child. The contrast between the scenery and the saw also creates the impression that though evil exists, there are beautiful things in the world to look up to. It can also give the impression, that though tragedies happen in the end the world is too big, not everyone will care and life will go on which is also represented by the last verse, '..Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs.'
Alliterations used in certain parts of the poem attract attention and allow the readers to contemplate over the meaning of presented words and phrases such as 'sweet-scented stuff..'. At first this allows the readers to feel safe but once they contemplate upon it and link it with the rest of the poem they realise that the narrator is being ironic. Dust is referred to as sweet-smelling, it shows how the people who favour industrialisation see this as just dust or the scent of something sweet like a reward but for the labourer child it is sweet venom. 'Saw snarled and rattled, snarled rattled.'. This repetition creates a sense of warning or alarm, it can be said that the saw is about to pounce at the child as it is being personified as a wild, hungry animal.
An allusion comes to mind when the word 'supper' is mentioned, it relates to 'The Last Supper' Christ had before he was killed at the cross. It adds horror to the poem and also foreshadows the child's death. The saddest moment is perhaps when the child knows he is about to die but he still clings to the hope that he can be saved, can live a complete life with a complete body: 'Don't let him cut my hand off-'. Alas, that hope is destroyed, the moment, 'The doctor put him in the dark of ether.' the darkness gives an impression that his death in inevitable. The boy's family hopes he'd survive as well, 'No one believed. They listened at his heart.' probably because no one expected him to die at such a healthy young age, that too such a gruesome unexpected death! 'And then-the watcher at his pulse took a fright.' The hyphen here perhaps represents wanting to undo what has been done but ultimately it symbolises death which is an opaque theme of this poem.
Frost creates the impression of how a poor farmer's life in neglected. The child in this poem is made to work at a young age, it can be stated that he yearned for a childhood, 'To please the boy by giving him the half hour That the boy counts so much when saved from work.' but instead is forced in to hard labour by the society, 'Since he was old enough to know, big boy Doing a man's work, though a child at heart-'. It is the harsh reality of the time when Frost's wrote this poem, and in some area it is the harsh reality of today as well, society turns a blind eye towards he needs of a child if he or she is poor. They are forced to work under harsh conditions and whether they get sick or die, society turns a blind eye, only their families and friends suffer the pain but at some point even they will have to move on with the world. Life will not stop for the dead.
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English Literature 9695
Non-FictionThis is a compilation of all the essays and notes I wrote while I was in ALevels. It must be noted that not all of of these are A* material (though none goes lower than a grade B) so they aren't meant to be copy pasted for your school assignments. U...
