Out, Out Poetry Essay

1971 Poem: “The Unknown Citizen” (W.H. Auden)

Prompt: In a brief essay, identify at least two of the implications implicit in the society reflected in the poem. Support your statements by specific references to the poem.

 

I chose this prompt because the poem is referring to the industrialized society that is leading to the destruction of the people who created it. I felt doing a prompt on society would fit this poem well.

In his poem “Out, Out.”, Robert Frost condemns a society’s transition to industrialization by focusing on one family on a farm. Frost details a scene where a boy cuts his hand off while using a buzz saw. This poem implies that the people on this farm live in an industrialized society and the all-consuming concept of work has caused the traditional family to lose its meaning. The fact that this poem is detailed on a farm shows that not even the most hard- valued people are swallowed by industrialization’s gaping mouth.

The buzz saw is the symbol of industrialization. It is personified as snarling and rattling like the metal machines in factories. The buzz saw leaps or appears to leap of its own accord at the sound of “supper” and it met with the boys hand as if they were meant to come together. Frost was implying that industrialization is going to lead to the destruction of what we need (like our hands). The boy knew that without his hand he would not be able to complete his share of the family’s work. The third person omniscient point of view allows the audience to see the juxtaposition into the boy’s thoughts when his hand was cut off and his realization of what that meant. The boy laughs at first with a sad humor and looks for his sister as if to say “Look, look at what I’ve done.” The boy then becomes rather frightened and begins to panic because of the doctor cuts off his hand then he can’t work. But the hand was gone anyways. The syntax and tone of the last few lines suggest the family’s reaction to be dispassionate and unconcerned because the sentence is very relaxed. A family not corrupted by industrialization would care, but this one went back to work like normal because the boy’s death did not directly affect them.

Frost’s description of the loss of the boy’s hand provides insight as to how he viewed this changing world. Frost implies that the industrialized world will lead to the destruction of families and will lead to the creation of impersonal people caring only for what affect them.