Robert Frost's The Death Of A Hired Man

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Justice or mercy? There is a fine line between the two, but what about when it comes to those we love? Are we meant to accept and protect them no matter what? Or should they be made to earn their spot in the family? "The Death of a Hired Man", by Robert Frost, is about a couple, Mary and Warren, and a sickly farm hand, Silas, who has returned home for his final resting. The couple disagree on whether or not to accept Silas back into their home one last time. Warren argues that family is something someone is made to earn, and dedication and loyalty are the ways to go about it. Mary, on the other hand, believes family is family no matter what. "Trifles", by Susan Glaspell, explores a different kind of kinship, in which Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters …show more content…

He believes "Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in" (Frost 1). It is not someplace you can walk in and out of at your leisure, instead you have to earn your place and its privileges. This is why Warren believes Silas is no good, and shouldn't be invited to stay, "I told him so last haying didn't I? If he left then, I said, that ended it. [...] Off he goes always when I need him most." (Frost 1). During haying time, farmers would have to offer competitive wages to farm hands, and if it so happened someone with more money than Warren came along, which it most likely did, then farm hands like Silas would leave their current farm for the one with higher pay. This was a betrayal in Warren's eyes, Silas abandoned him and Mary. After finding no reason to house him due to kinship Warren evaluates Silas' usefulness, asking Mary, "What good is he? Who else will harbor him at his age for the little he can do?". Here we see the pragmatic side of Warren, since he's no good around the farm it's a matter of whether or not Silas deserves to be taken care of and be seen as family, which, in the Warren's opinion, is a no. Mary however, is soon able to bring her husband around to her way of thinking: family is

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