Monday, April 25, 2005
Death of the Boy
32 Little - less - nothing! - and that ended it.
33 No more to build on there. And they, since they
34 Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs.
33 No more to build on there. And they, since they
34 Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs.
In the end, the boy eventually dies from the cut to his hand. It is likely that his death resulted from blood-loss induced shock. Strangely, the doctor made little effort in helping the boy. This is probably because, once the doctor arrived, nothing could be done. These final lines show how little the boy's life was actually valued. Line 34 says that there was, "no more to build on." Here the boy seems to be merely a commodity. If nothing can be gained from his life, if he cannot make any more money, then his life becomes worthless. Even the people close to him quickly returned to what they were doing before the boy was injured. This poem makes a statement that each human's life is not valued as highly as it should be. However, the conclusion of this poem is somewhat understandable in the context of the situation. This poem was based in frontier days. In those times, parent had many children so as to make to work lighter or to bring in more money. Having children for monetary gain is sad, but it did happen in the past. The bold statement that Frost makes in the poem should not be taken lightly. Everyone's life is important and should be valued.
- posted by Haynes Finney @ 2:10 PM
