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Before reading this essay, click on the links to the right. The first link will take you to instructions that explain how to use the Paper Bank. The second link offers basic suggestions for how to go about writing this type of paper. The main organizing principle of this essay is that the interpretation moves down the length of the poem, line by line. That is, rather than explicate the poem by focusing on a specific theme or themes, picking lines as they illustrate each subject, the writer of this explication systematically moves down the poem. The essay begins with the title and moves line by line from that point on to the end of the poem. |
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LIT 110
Explication of Robert
Frost's poem:"Out, Out--"
Robert Frost has always been known as a master of using metaphors and hidden meanings to give life to his poetry. In his poem "Out, Out--," he displays this mastery. Throughout the poem, he uses a splendid mix of subtle meanings and other literary devices in order to paint a vivid mental picture for the reader.
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By looking at the title, readers already feel a sense of ambiguity in the poem's meaning. With the repetition of the word "Out" in the title, he illustrates the major theme of the poem. This theme involves getting out; however, as a reader we can only speculate what it is that needs to get out, who needs to get out, and why it is they are getting out. As we are trying to figure that out, we also need to ponder how it is going to get out.
In the opening line, Frost uses a textbook example of personification by saying, "The buzz-saw snarled and rattled..." By using those types of words, he gives the reader an impression of the saw being a caged animal, needing to get out. He continues to add to the personality of the saw by stating, " ... made dust and dropped stove-length sticks of wood ..." This allows the reader to imagine the saw as a being, literally "dropping" pieces of wood.
In the following lines he describes the setting in which the saw is laboring. He uses good examples of description by describing the scent of the dust being spewed forth by the saw, and the view of the mountains in the distant sunrise. This could possibly symbolize the freedom that is the destination once it gets "out," or it could be representative of the end of a long day of work. Throughout this entire series of description, Frost could be referring to the desire of the saw's controller to be released from work, or to get "out" of work; although, this is unlikely since the controller has not been introduced yet.
Once again Frost uses repetition; however, the line in which he repeats a statement is actually a repetition of an earlier point. Frost, thus, shows the importance of the statement. He states "And the saw snarled and rattled, snarled and rattled..." In saying this, he strengthens his point that the saw indeed symbolizes a person or being. He demonstrates the saw's growing desire to get "out" by repeating the earlier line, and goes on to reinforce his personification of the saw when he says, "... as it ran light or had a load to bear." By Frost's choice of words here, he allows the reader to picture the saw as a being burdened by the strains of an alternating heavy work load and times of rest or lighter work.
In the next line, Frost states, "And nothing happened: day was all but done." In this line, for instance, a reader could be led to believe that the sun has gone down or that the saw refused to continue to work, as if in defiance of its "captor." On the other hand, the saw could have simply been put down, due to time or even just as a break.
The controller of the saw is finally introduced in the eleventh line, in which the speaker reflects back on his wish for the boy (the saw's "master") to be released from his chores early; thus, this line also goes back to the title's ambiguity that this action represents a way to get out. The fact that the speaker is looking back at the events is important because it shows that the boy was involved in the speaker's life; it also introduces a sense of sorrow or impending doom for the boy.
When the boy's sister calls out "supper" in the next lines, Frost again makes reference to the saw being animate or coherent when he states, "... as if to prove that saws knew what supper meant..." This leads into the next couple of lines in which "... the saw leaped out of the boy's hand, or seemed to leap --..." These lines continue to illustrate the point of the sentience of the saw. The speaker is stating that the saw essentially made a conscious decision to jump free of the grasp of the tyrant that is keeping him from getting out. By saying, "...neither refused the meeting," he makes it clear that not only was the saw struggling to get out, but that the boy was curious as to what would happen when he offered his hand. The speaker follows up his observation of these actions with the exclamation "But the hand!" This statement establishes the hand as a personified character that is not involved in the question nor can it voice its opinion until it is too late.
Following this series of events, Frost takes the saw out of the spotlight and focuses instead on the boy's reaction. Initially Frost's description of the boy's reaction is fairly straight forward, explained with details such as the boy's "rueful laugh," which suggests that the boy did not understand what had happened. In the next line, Frost could have used more simple language, yet he chooses to use more descriptive terms. He gives the poem more realism by making the statement , "He swings towards them..." Whereas he could have used the more simple phrase, "he turns towards them..." to relate a similar meaning, this line does not create as vivid of a picture to the reader.
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Frost makes it appear as if the boy is somehow torn between his curiosity and his desire to "keep the life from spilling," which makes the reader view the boy's life as a cup or chalice which has been overfilled with the experience. Then he explains the connection that is suddenly made as the boy sees his life through adult eyes. He uses such language as to insinuate that although a boy can do a man's job, he shouldn't, due to the risk of a curious or wandering mind. When the boy says, "Don't let them take my hand..." Frost is continuing with his earlier sense of impending doom. He also uses repetition here to allow the reader to see the importance of the statement.
Following that, in line twenty-eight, Frost makes the statement, "So." From this I gathered that he wanted the reader to see that the boy's pleading to his sister was in vain, possibly signifying a dying man's last request. Although people do listen to a dying man, what they say should not necessarily be taken as important. With that said, Frost implies that the family heard the boy's words, but nothing could be done, possibly referring to an incurable illness in a sickly individual.
Finally, the way that Frost puts the statement about the anesthesiologist appears to be letting the boy out, releasing him from his consciousness and freeing his spirit. He explains the reaction of the "watcher of the his pulse" as he follows what he believes to be the path out. Essentially the reactions described in lines thirty and thirty-one are similar to the reactions of someone who discovered the loss of a loved one. He goes into detail, for dramatic effect, about the boy's heart slowing and stopping. Frost used this as a way of showing the understanding of the great loss, and the human ability to accept loss and move on, "--and that ended it." The final lines of the poem affirm these thoughts by saying, "And they, since they were not the one dead, turned to their affairs." I think the poem is telling the reader not to dwell on problems in life because life is simply too short.
