Matt Student
Mr. Byatt
AP Prep English
6 April 2014
“The Death of the Hired Man”
Robert Frost, an extremely influential American Poet who wrote “The Death of the Hired
Man,” was form in San Francisco in 1874. For many years, Frost wrote collections of poems and
published them at his own expense in magazines like The Independent. Unfortunately for
Biography
Frost, his poems did not catch the interest of American publishers for many years. Eventually
through persistence and determination, Frost’s collection of poems called North of Boston was a
starting point for his career (“The Death of the Hired Man”). This collection contained many of
his famous poems including “Mending Wall,” “After Apple-Picking,” and “The Death of the
Hired Man.” In the poem, “The Death of the Hired Man,” Frost uses the elements of theme
and style to contribute to the significance of the poem.
Theme
The poem illustrated a scene of Mary and Warren Living on their farm while talking
about Silas, an aging worker, returning to the farm for work. Silas has worked for Warren
many years ago, but he fired him because he was unreliable. Mary and Warren debate
Summary
whether they should take him again because of his loyalty to the farm. Mary feels sympathy
toward Silas and wants to convince Warren that he should stay while Warren is only thinking of
his previous work productivity. Before they could come to some consensus, Warren finds out
that Silas died (Bloom).
In order to gain a better understanding of the significance of this poem, the theme
must be deeply analyzed. On the surface, not much actually happens in the poem. The
Theme
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long-lasting qualities of the poem stem not from the events that occur, but by the actual thought
processes of Warren and Mary during their discussion about Silas. There is a stark contrast
between Mary Warren’s views on how to tackle the difficult situation. According to Gary L.
Kerley, “The slow-moving, but dramatic intensity of their debate illustrates contrasting male and
female values, attitudes and understanding.” This contrast of values causes Mary to act much
more emotionally while Warren acts much more rationally. Mary cares about Silas’ livelihood
While Warren only cares about how Silas might be a productive works now that he is desperate
for work.
The debate between Mary and Warren is enhanced by the differences in their definitions
of the word “home.” This comes up because Mary tells Warren that Silas “has come home to
die.” In contrast, Warren defines home as “a place where, when you have to go,/they have to
take you in.” Mary counters his definition by says that home is “something you somehow
haven’t to deserve.” Thus Mary believes that they must “stress mercy, compassion, and an
acceptance of Man as frail” (Johnson). This definition about home truly is a debate about the
ethical responsibilities that an employer has for an employee. For example, an employee can
work tirelessly for his employer and even develop a special bond with them. Mary believes that
this bond should be honored and that the place where the person worked should be called home
so they can return to it. Warren, however, believes that the relationship between the employer
and the employee is completely objective and should not be confused with friendship.
Therefore, the workplace should not be treated a home because the employee means nothing
emotionally to the employer (Fagan).
The analysis of home was used by Front in a Paris Review interview in 1960 in an effort
to relate the message to political aspects of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal. Frost
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described the Republicans hold Warren’s more masculine view of home while Democrats
possess Mary’s more feminine view of home. Front them points out that “very few have noticed
the second thing, they’re always noticed the sarcasm, the hardness of the male one”
(Fagan).Frost was trying to make people realize that they should try to use the more
compassionate Democratic way of helping others who need a home and don’t have one.
This debate of the home of Silas bring about one of the major themes permeating this
poem. This theme is stated best by Deirdre Fagan from her analysis of “The Death of the Hired
Man”:
Punctuation
Home is not a place where one chooses to go, nor it is a place where the
Long Quote
Inhabitants willingly take one in, deserving or needing to be deserved. It is
Where, when one has to go there, “they have to take you in.” When de3ath is about,
One might arrive on any doorstep, often the doorstep that allows death with the least
Remorse, as one’s past and what one did or did not do with life will haunt
enough.
This passage illustrates the theme as being one where home is any place that a person wants it to
be and no one with a higher status that person should be able to tell them where their home is or
isn’t. In the end, by creating such a famous poem that so many around the world have read,
Front has attempted making humanity as a whole more compassionate and sympathetic toward
those who do not possess simple necessities in life that most people take for granted.
The style of “The Death of the Hired Man” is of utter importance in delivering the
Style
strong impact that so many have felt from reading the poem. Since most of the poem is not
action based, but instead focused on the dialogue between Mary and Warren, the stanzas are not
arranged regularly:
Punctuation
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Through most of the poem, the stanzas function like prose paragraphs, with a
stanza break occurring with each new speaker. When the speaker shifts in the
middle of a line, the opening line of the new stanza is appropriately indented to
Indicate that the opening line also completes the closing line of the previous
stanza. Front does this to maintain regularity. (“The Death of the Hired Man”)
In addition, the poem is written in blank verse which means that the meter of the lines is iambic
pentameter, a style choice most notable attributed to William Shakespeare. “Essentially, iambic
means that each metrical foot contains on unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable,
and pentameter means that there are five metrical feet in each line” (“The Death of the Hired
Man”). A total of ten syllables will be found in each line when using iambic pentameter. Frost
decided to use iambic pentameter for the dialogue between Mary and Warren because the
English language is naturally stressed as iambic. This poem, however, is not written entirely in
iambic pentameter especially in lines outside of the dialogue between Mary and Warren. These
are called variant lines and break from the established pattern in order to put emphasis on them
(“The Death of the Hired Man”). Without Frost’s use of style in this poem, the conversation
with Mary and Warren along with the theme buried inside it would have not been illustrated with
such a deep sense of importance.
In summary, Robert Frost uses an expert sense of styling along with an entrancing theme
to make the poem, “The Death of the Hired Man,” one of his most significant and provocative
pieces he created. Millions across the globe have read and analyzed this poem, trying to get the
most of this poetic experience without the opportunity of asking Robert Frost directly what his
intentions were when creating this masterpiece. One of the most analyzed aspects of the poem
has been the debate over the definition of home. Warren’s much more masculine side of keeping
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a worker’s personal life out of his professional life differed with Mary’s much more
compassionate view of offering a home to a person in need. Neither side prevailed due to Silas’
sudden death, but Frost was known to have supported Mary’s side publicly. However, it was
definitely a good thing that Frost did not infuse his own opinion into the work, but rather just left
open the debate. This open debate still splits the two major political parties today.
To conclude, Robert Frost used literary style in order to enhance the
importance of theme. In this poem, Frost used iambic pentameter for the
Conclusion
dialogue between Mary and Warren because the English language naturally calls for it. Frost
also used a stanza break every time a new character spoke and appropriately indented stanzas to
maintain metrical regularity. Frost’s deep focus on the styling of the poem along with the
message he was trying to convey shows not only how much he cared about this poem, but also
how he wanted this poem to be recognized as a classic. Front’s expert use of the English
language has helped to maintain his reputation of being a quintessential American poet during
the early 20th century.
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Works Cited
Bloom, Harold, ed. “The Death of the Hired Man.” Bloom’s Literature. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.
“The Death of the Hired Man.” Poetry for Students. Vol. 4. Ed. Mary Ruby. Detroit: Gale, 1999.
41-52. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.
Fagan, Deirdre. “The Heath of the Hired Man.” Bloom’s Literature. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.
Johnson, Robert K. “The Death of the Hired Man: Overview.” Reference Guide to American
Literature. 3rd ed. Ed. Jim Kamp. Detroit: St James, 1994. Literature Resource Center.
Web. 11 Mar. 2014.
Kerley, Gary L. “The Death of the Hired Man.” Bloom’s Literature. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.