Out, Out In Robert Frosts Out, Out , imagery and other literary devices are utilized to convey the

he response, or lack thereof, to the boys death. Ultimately, this response proves the meaning of the poem: that life is but an unforgiving chance. Frost begins the poem by personifying a buzz saw, saying that it snarled and rattled and made dust and dropped stove-length sticks of wood. By giving this buzz saw life, he forces the character to confront the risk of death. The words snarled and rattled evoke images of danger and threats. In calling upon such images in conjunction with an object that the boy clearly uses daily, Frost emphasizes the omnipresence of the chance of death. This message is also intoned as he repeats snarled and rattled twice more in the poem. Frost next imposes imagery of five mountain ranges that lie beneath the sunset far into Vermont. With this description, he depicts the beauty of life, juxtaposed with the snarling and rattling of the saw. Yet, this beauty of nature goes unappreciated, as only those that lifted eyes could count the five mountain ranges. This implies that some do not bother to lift their eyes, thereby not acknowledging the beauty and miracle of life. Frost now foreshadows the imminence of something by saying that the day was all but done. If the day were done, there would be nothing left to occur. But, as the day is not quite yet done, the possibility that an event of great significance will occur is highly likely. Yet the narrator wishes that they had call[ed] it a day, because it would have pleased the boy to have an extra half hour. Though literally this half hour would merely be time spent not working, in actuality it would be an extra half hour of life. At the sisters mention of the word supper, the saw is

personified once again as leaping (or seeming to leap) out of the boys hand. This once again forces the boy to confront the risk of death. Though the narrator is uncertain about whether the boy gave the hand or not, neither refused the meeting. This means that regardless of whether or not the boy purposely severed his hand, unforgiving chance was given its moment to strike. The phrase But the hand! reminds the reader that, even bigger than whether or not it was done on purpose, the hand is still being cut off. In essence, the guilty party is irrelevant. The boy now attempts to keep his hand attached, half in appeal, but half as if to keep the life from spilling. In other words, he is in denial that his hand is cut off, but he is still trying to stem the blood flow and stay alive. Yet, the boy saw all was spoiled, that he was certainly going to die. Depicted as a big boy doing a mans work, though a child at heart, the boy gains an image of innocence that, in a sense, makes his impending death more tragic. The dashes used in these lines serve to create a sort of parenthetical statement. The boy is in denial once againbegging his sister to not let the doctor cut his hand off, though he realizes his situation is futile. The response to the boys death can be largely ascertained even before the boys heart has stopped beating. So. The hand was gone already, perfectly conveys the indifference that was felt by the others. This line begs the question, so what? The hand being cut off is irrelevant; it doesnt matter. The hand is already gone. Three lines later, this indifference is displayed once more. And then serves the same idea. The dash gives pause, bringing about an air of dwindling compassion. As they listened to the boys heart, no one believed. By this, Frost intones the

message that no one believes death will happen to him or her until it does. Because death is such an unforgiving chance, it is both unexpected and unthinkable. As the boys heart begins to stop beating, Frost uses dashes to allow for pauses as the boys heart slows. When the boy dies, those around him simply turned to their affairs because they were not the one dead. Their indifference is more than a lack of compassion, but a necessity. They are still alive, and therefore, the unforgiving chance of death within the unpredictability of life still awaits them. Therefore, they have no choice but to move on, and keep living. This brings everything back to the title, Out, out-. This title is an allusion to a monologue from Shakespeares Macbeth. The monologue, spoken by Macbeth, serves to explain the brevity and meaninglessness of life. This idea coincides with the general theme of this poem. Together, the two warn of the unforgiving chance that is life; how its fleeting nature makes it devoid of value, and ultimately, signifying nothing.