Setting
The setting of this work is very easy to deduce from the content of this work. There are four main phrases/words in this poem that help to identify the setting. First, the simple call of 'supper' dates this poem. While a common word in the deep south, this word would no longer be used in Vermont. Also, in modern times such a scene would rarely occur; it is very uncommon in today's society for a family to eat together, much less the woman call the men in from a long day's work in the fields to enjoy a meal. So, it can be noted that this poem is set in the past, most likely in frontier times. Second, the saw that the boy helps operate in the poem is old fashioned. The saw was one that took multiple men to operate. This fact again dates the poem to frontier days. Third, the most telling detail of the age of the poem is the use of ether. Ether was used in early medicine to put people asleep during an operation. It was very dangerous but affective in its purpose. Again, the use of ether by the doctor gives the poem its old age. It is interesting to know the setting of this poem because it becomes readily apparent how a boy could die from a simple saw cut. Finally, knowing where the place of the poem, Vermont, also explains how the boy could die so easily. It would take a doctor a long time just to reach the boy, much less administer care. In conclusion, knowing the setting of this poem makes reading the poem much more interesting.


- posted by Haynes Finney @ 2:55 PM