Discussion Topic

Key elements and notable quotes in "Out, Out—"

Summary:

Key elements in "Out, Out—" include the rural setting, the accidental death of a young boy, and the theme of life's fragility. Notable quotes include "Little—less—nothing!—and that ended it. No more to build on there," which underscores the abruptness of death, and "The boy saw all," highlighting the boy's awareness of his dire situation.

Expert Answers

An illustration of the letter 'A' in a speech bubbles

What are some notable quotes from "Out, Out—"?

This is a narrative poem about the pitfalls of technology and its false promises. A boy gets a buzz saw in order to lighten his work load:

To please the boy by giving him the half hour
That a boy counts so much when saved from work.
The boy is happy to have the machine do the work for him so that he can have more time to play.
However, the imagery of the poem shows the buzz saw as dangerous and hostile. It snarls like a wolf and rattles like a snake:
And the saw snarled and rattled, snarled and rattled
Like a dangerous animal, the machine turns on the boy and slices his hand off:
The boy’s first outcry was a rueful laugh,
As he swung toward them holding up the hand
Half in appeal, but half as if to keep
The life from spilling.
Suddenly, the saw that was supposed to make life beautiful ruins everything. The boy would have better off, the poem implies, using old-fashioned, slower technology, rather than trying to find short cuts to save time. This is also a poem about death. The boy dies in the hospital:
They listened at his heart.
Little—less—nothing!—and that ended it.
No more to build on there.
The final lines of the poem show a chilling indifference to death in this mechanized world:
And they, since they
Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs.
There is a sense earlier that too much is asked from this boy, that he is expected to grow up too soon using the buzzsaw:
Doing a man’s work, though a child at heart
All in all, this is a grim and disturbing poem about a young boy who suffers a sad fate about which nobody deeply cares.
Approved by eNotes Editorial
An illustration of the letter 'A' in a speech bubbles

Who are the characters in "Out, Out—"?

The poem describes a boy who is sawing wood. This boy initially seems distracted, and he lifts his eyes from the saw to look at the "five mountain ranges" in the distance. The boy escapes this first lapse of concentration unscathed, but he does not escape the next. When his sister calls him in to supper, the boy loses his concentration once more and the saw leaps out of his hand.

Immediately after the saw has cut through the boy's hand, he turns "toward them holding up the hand." The "them" mentioned here and elsewhere in the poem are likely the boy's workmates. At the end of the poem, the boy dies, and these people, referred to as "them," seem unmoved and indifferent to the boy's death. Indeed, Frost writes that "they, since they / Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs." From this reaction it seems safe to assume that these people referred to as "them" are not the boy's family or friends. They seem to have no emotional connection to the boy.

After the boy, the next most important person in the poem is the boy's sister. It is to his sister that the boy appeals after the saw has cut through his hand. He begs his sister to not let the doctor cut his hand off, exclaiming, "Don't let him, sister!"

When the doctor arrives, he is unable to do anything to help the boy. The doctor "puts him in the dark of ether," but the boy dies shortly after. Perhaps the implication is that the doctor is ultimately responsible for the boy's death.

Get Ahead with eNotes

Start your 48-hour free trial to access everything you need to rise to the top of the class. Enjoy expert answers and study guides ad-free and take your learning to the next level.

Get 48 Hours Free Access
Approved by eNotes Editorial