Annotation In Robert Frost's Out, Out

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Hanging from a noose, drowning under meters of water, and having a hand chopped off are perfect examples of the tribulations that millions of people face on a daily basis. These examples of meaningless, morbid death are the universe’s way of proclaiming the irrelevance of the human race and its desire to end it. In the poem ‘Out, Out—‘, Robert Frost makes clear how the world feels about humans as the death of a little boy leaves everyone returning to their affairs, unbothered by the candle that is blown out by the boy’s death. Using a pessimistic tone, Frost captures the attention of the reader when he personifies a buzz saw, using the words “snarled” and “rattled.” These two words are repeated throughout the poem to give the reader a sense of the wickedness that controls the saw. This ruthful vengefulness contributes to the irony that is portrayed in the poem as Frost writes about the setting: “five …show more content…

Entering the dark of ether, the little boy dies as “his pulse took fright.” Incomplete, much like the little boy’s life, Frost uses the fragment “No more to build on there” and “Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs” as a way to emphasize the little meaning that is associated with the boy’s life before and after death. This senseless irrelevance, the basis of this poem, is where the name, an allusion, is derived from. This allusion to Shakespeare’s Macbeth: "Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing,” advances the title, purpose, and message of this poem: the universe does not care about its inhabitants and it feels that it is not obligated

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