Discussion Topic
Silas's Reason for Returning in Frost's "Death of the Hired Man"
Summary:
In Robert Frost's "Death of the Hired Man," Silas returns to Warren and Mary's farm because he seeks a sense of belonging and a place to die with dignity. He wants to prove his worth by completing unfinished tasks and reconnecting with people who knew him, despite his past mistakes.
What reason does Silas give for returning in The Death of the Hired Man?
In Robert Frost's narrative poem "The Death of the Hired Man," Mary tells someone—whom the reader presumes is her farmer husband, Warren—that Silas has returned to the farm hoping to work for them. The relationship between Silas, Warren, and Mary is not clear, and Silas does not actually appear physically in the poem. It is Mary who states that Silas has come back to what she calls his home, "to die." Warren is unmoved. He doesn't like Silas and questions why he can't go to his rich brother's house. Mary, however, is very concerned about Silas, who, she states, is a "poor old man" looking for some "humble way to save his self respect."
In the end, Warren seems to relent and goes into where Silas is sleeping. The poem finishes with Mary questioning why Warren has come back so soon: "'Dead' was all he answered."
Silas gave...
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a number of reasons for wishing to return to Warren and Mary’s home. Mary asked Silas to go home with her, and after serving him tea, she tried to talk to him. Silas did not say much but asked for a chance to continue working for them. He informed Mary that he noticed the ditch was full of mud and that he is back to clear the meadow.
“Anything? Mary, confess. He said he’d come to ditch the meadow for me.”
He further stated that the upper pasture needed to be cleared, because if left unattended it would grow into a shrub.
“He meant to clear the upper pasture, too.”
He also promised that he had come back to stay. He made this promise because he abandoned his work at the Warren home whenever a different employer with better pay offered him a job. This was the same reason Warren did not want him back.
Why did Silas choose to return to the farm in Frost's "Death of the Hired Man" and what message is Frost conveying?
In "Death of the Hired Man" by Robert Frost, Silas is a pathetic character. He has led a vagabond existence. Never having a permanent home or sense of belonging has taken its toll in him. That he chose to return to the farm to die, rather than going to his wealthy banker brother, is evidence of his lingering pride. He understands that Mary and Warren feel some sense of loyalty and affection for him and apparently also feel a sense of responsibility. Conversely, his brother probably views him as a dismal failure who never amounted to anything in life and never was able to hold down a job long enough to set down roots. To die on the farm where Mary and Warren do not constantly remind him of his failures and laud them over him, as his brother probably would, is preferable to going to his brother’s home. His brother’s home does not feel like home; the farm does. Mary tells Warren,
'Home is the place where, when you have to go there,
They have to take you in.'
With Mary and Warren, Silas feels certain of a welcome and some kind words. We see that Mary has even made up the bed for him, which she probably does not do for most of the hired help or itinerant workers. Mary also tells Warren to "Be kind’"to Silas. They treat Silas like a human being. Warren responds,
‘When was I ever anything but kind to him?'
Owing to his pride and desire to maintain his self-respect and save face, Silas claims to want to work, even though it is clear that he does not have the strength. He could not tell Mary that he lacks the strength because that would have made him a charity case and he has too much pride for that. He would have felt even more the charity case if he had had to confront his brother’s scorn. We understand Silas' sense of pride when Warren says of him,
He thinks he ought to earn a little pay,
Enough at least to buy tobacco with,
So he won’t have to beg and be beholden.
Silas does not want to be beholden to anyone, probably most of all to his haughty banker brother. Mary even asks Warren,
Surely you wouldn’t grudge the poor old man
Some humble way to save his self-respect.
Other hired hands on the farm have moved on with their lives and all the while, Silas is still a lonely, sad, impoverished hired hand. For instance, Harold Wilson finished school and is teaching in his college. Yet poor Silas has
nothing to look backward to with pride,
And nothing to look forward to with hope.