“Out, Out” by Robert Frost focuses on the brevity of life and the battle against death. Frost is juxtaposing the senselessness of work with the necessity of work. The boy in this poem is cutting wood in order to have heat in the house for him and his family to survive. He is just old enough to help take care of his family instead of his family taking care of him. The boy’s labor is only staving off the eventual oncoming death. In order to survive you must work, the boy is now assisting his family instead of his family entirely taking care of him. Although in "Out, Out" work is pointless, it only staves off approaching death of which cannot be stopped. What is the point of working if we are just going to die? The idea that everything we do in life is pointless because it all leads to death is the focal point of this poem, and in reality everyone has to deal with it in his or her lives.
From an outsider’s perspective, the narrator of the poem sets the scene and reports the incident with objectivity and restraint. As the narrative ensues, underlying tensions and emotions begin to surface as the persona forms. The tension and emotions leads to the poem’s conclusion of the seemingly senseless, abrupt ending of the child’s life, followed by his family’s subsequent return to their daily rituals.
The beginning nine lines of the poem is the scene setter of the poem starting with the “snarl” of the saw, and example of onomatopoeia, and the output of the “sweet-scented” wood as it was