Sage Wintle

Mrs. Jackie Burr, Instructor

English 1010, Section 2
January 5th, 2017
Analysis of the fragility of life in Robert Frosts Out, Out-
In the poem titled, Out, Out- Robert Frost conveys the meaning and fragility of life and
how quickly it can change, and even end. Frost uses phrases such as Little--less--nothing!
(Line 32) to describe the young boys pulse as he slowly fades away after unintentionally sawing
off his hand. Frosts poem alludes that the undertone of his poem is about war, and the waste of
life and loss of innocence in wartime circumstances. The tone changes throughout this poem,
from a certain tension or pressure on the boy to sympathetic and forlorn as Frost describes the
waste of the life of a youth doing a mans job, which presents the theme of the poem as lost
innocence or the frugality of life.
Frost uses personification throughout the poem in describing the buzz saw the youth is
using, making it out to be a sentient being. Words such as snarling and rattling are used
repeatedly, as well as phrases such as At the word, the saw, As if to prove saws knew what
supper meant, Leaped out at the boys hand. (Line 14-16) The buzz saw is meant to act as a
change in the boy, a different kind of change he had never experienced, one a boy should not
have to know, since Frost focuses on the youths innocence in the end of the poem using phrases
like Then the boy saw all-- Since he was old enough to know, big boy Doing a mans work,
though a child at heart-- (Line 22-24) The melancholy tone of that sentence shows the youth,
treated like a man, but truly a boy at heart.

With the innocence of the boy in mind, one can assume that Out, Out- is a critique
relating to how warfare can force the innocence and morality out of young boys who leave their
childhood behind and go off to war, conclusively being destroyed by situation and circumstance
created by war, or the responsible adult. Frost uses his poem to raise awareness of one of the
grimmest issues surrounding his time by using diction and imagery, along with personification of
the buzz saw. It uses these to show that the speaker of the poem has come to terms with death in
a time of war, manifesting itself in the young boy.
Another question of this poem is whether it was nature that took its course, in return
taking the boys life, or was it humanitys corruption of nature through the use of the saw and
other technological advances created by people. The boys familys response was that his death
was simply a fact of nature, said in the phrase, And they, since they Were not the one dead,
turned to their affairs, (Line 33-34) they moved on with their lives, and turned back to their own
lives, their own jobs that had to be done, jobs similar to the boys, chopping wood with a buzz
saw, not a tragedy to be dwelled upon.
Much the same as war when someone dies, the rest move on with their lives, they dont
have the leisure of dwelling upon one life lost. The boy with the buzz saw in the poem relates to
a boy in war, not understand or knowing what to do, eventually losing their life. Frost
successfully conveys the message of his poem, the importance and frugality of life, by using
personification, tone, and imagery. The boy with the buzz saw died from doing a mans job, and
in the process of doing so lost his innocence, and in the end, his life.

Citations

Frost Robert. Out, Out- The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer.
10th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2013. 1105. Print