Robert Frost "Out, Out--"

Part I:

The poem “Out, Out-” by Robert Frost is a sad, and maybe a bit disturbing, piece, but still quite enjoyable. The language was simple enough to understand without making me want to my pull my hairs out, and the main idea of the poem was pretty blatant. I rather enjoyed interpreting this work, because each time I read it, I would find certain phrases or words that I hadn’t given much thought to before. Overall, a great poem and thus far, I haven’t been disappointed by Robert Frost poems.

Part II:

Frost has an interesting way of creating layers of meanings in his work. Even a single image can represent more than what meets the eye. For example, in his poem “Out, Out--” Frost gives a haunting image of a boy pleading for his life, his hand and his youth moments after he accidentally severs his own hand with a buzz saw. Tragically, he dies shortly after. This image, as gruesome as it may be, is used by Frost to summarize the entire poem – death is inevitable, and far too often, people allow work to take precedence over living life. In the poem, it reads “doing a man’s work, though a child at heart” (24). There is no mention of a father or mother-figure, so it can be assumed that the boy, who lives with his sister, is doing difficult, laborious work that would normally be done by someone much older and capable. It is implied that the boy only received thirty minutes of relaxation on any given day. Thus, the issue of child labor is raised here, and even hints at issues within society regarding class.

The boy’s death represents man-kind as a whole and how many people work too hard, whether by need to provide means for their lives, or just because they can. The power of the scene lies within the line “then the boy saw all” (22). Many don’t understand the importance of being happy and living a fulfilling life until death is knocking on their doors, regardless of age. In the case of the boy, he suddenly realizes that he wants to live and be a child, but understands that this will never happen; he knows that his life is about to end.

Even more disturbing than the boy’s death, is the lack of response from the doctors, and even his own sister. They all “turned to their affairs,” after he dies, as if his death was meaningless; as if moments before, he wasn’t pleading for them to save his life. The “affairs” Frost is referring to are their jobs, or rather work in general. Yet again, he shows how work is the top priority in some people’s lives.

One last thing Frost uses this scene to describe is the dichotomy of class in society, the rich versus the poor. The poor in this poem are the boy and his sister, and the rich would be the doctors. It is a possibility that the reason the doctors lack a response to the boy’s death is because he is of a lower class than they are. There are clearly no opportunities presented, or indicated, in this poem that the boy had a future that matches that of a doctor. Also, the doctors didn’t really seem to put much of an effort into saving him.