Out, Out, by Robert Frost, is an emotional poem that talks about the heartbreaking end of a young boy’s life. A commentator who watched the death event narrates the story of what transpired. There is dawning on the sister that life is fragile, as death can occur at any time (Frost, 1916). The sister’s mood in the writing suddenly changes upon her arrival at the scene, making the readers more attentive because of the unfolding developments. Her brother was operating the rattling, snarling, and buzzing saw peacefully before the sister arrived. She witnesses the painful event, as her brother scums in front of her eyes. It tore her down, seeing her brother begging the doctor not to amputate his arm. The tragic events make the sister seem helpless and regretful for calling the brother for dinner; if she had not arrived, her brother would have lived.
The sister stood helplessly, watching her brother groan in pain after the saw had cut his hand. The poet describes a sunset evening in beautiful imagery language to lure the reader into the poem. “Call it a day, I wish they might have said,” the poet uses these words to set the poem (Frost, 1916 line 10). The sister arrived and found the brother working in the garden, cutting wood using the saw. She was about to watch the heartbreaking event that had befallen her brother. She stood next to the brother to inform him it was time for dinner. Suddenly, the events that happened made the sister realize that death could claim anyone irrespective of age. She must have felt regretful about coming to call her brother for dinner. “Leaped out at the boy’s hand,” the writer personifies the saw to show the fatality that befell the brother’s sister (Frost, 1916 line 16). The saw accidentally touched the boy’s arm, immediately amputating it. The sister watched the brother laugh, but later the brother realized his condition was serious. The sister had nothing to give to help the severely injured brother.
The sister might have regretted coming to call his brother to have dinner. Her visit was the moment that pulled the brother’s attention from the work he was doing. As the doctor arrived, the sister was staring at her brother in agony. She hears the request from her brother that she should not let the doctor amputate the arm. “Don’t let him cut my hand off,” he shouted to the sister while holding his hand (Frost, 1916 line 25). The sister knew the arm was gone, and she had nothing to do to reverse the situation. The sister’s coming was the root of all the tragic events that happened, and thus the sister’s regret. She watches the doctor anesthetizing the brother with ether to relieve pain. The boy’s pulse becomes weak, and the sister witnesses his brother dying of excessive bleeding. No one believed what had just happened, including the sister. She was astonished at how life can be fragile and things change within a short time. It shows the sister’s regret because not calling the brother would have avoided all the terrible events.
The sister’s coming drifted her brother’s attention, and thus the sad events occurred. She remained helpless, watching her brother scum to the saw’s cut. The sister had lost the brother within a sudden change of events on a beautiful evening that everyone had hoped to finally “Call it a day (Frost, 1916 line 10).” She might have thought of the events that could have been avoided had she not arrived. The reality that death befell the boy before he could “Call it a day” makes the reader think that the sister could have avoided the calamity (Frost, 1916 line 10). It causes the reader to think the sister must have been in regret for coming to call his brother for supper. The poet portrays that life is an unplanned story, and much can change within a brief period.
Reference
Frost, R. (1916). Out, Out.