The poem "Out, out--", by Robert Frost, can be interpreted
in several ways, as is common with Frost's poetry. But it includes a description of
various responses to life's tragedies.
In this narrative
poem, much pathos is created for the young boy whose hand is severed from his arm by a
buzz-saw. The accident results in the boy's death. This accident is shown as being a
freak one: if the sister had just called him to supper an half an hour earlier, then the
accident would have never occured. Frost seems to show us how quickly life can be taken
away, how quickly everything can change.
Yet, we also see
that the boy was not supposed to die from this accident. Because he lost his hand, "he
saw all spoiled." The boy could not envision his life without a hand, and indeed farm
labor is very difficult with this handicap. It's as if the boy had not the heart to
continue to live. Can we be so devastated by tragic events in our lives that we lose the
will to live?
Frost shows us that after his death,
everyone else "tended to their affairs." Was the boy's life meaningless? Did his life
matter? The title refers to Macbeth's speech after learning about his wife's death. In
this speech, Macbeth refers to life as a
walking shadow, a poor
player
That struts and frets his hour upon the
stage
And then is heard no
more.
As Frost portrays life
moving on from this tragic event, he seems to question the harshness of a lifestyle that
allows no time for mourning and continues on as if the boy never lived.
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