The Insensitive, Selfish Husband of Home Burial
Even in the closest of relationships, the death of a baby can separate and form a wedge between a husband and wife. Husbands and wives tend to handle the process of mourning differently, not only because of the differences between male and female, but also because of personality and the social molding in one's upbringing. In the poem, "Home Burial," Robert Frost gives a glimpse of the conflicts caused by non-communication and misunderstanding between a husband and wife upon the death of their first and only child. Their conflict is rooted in part in the husband's selfishness, revealed by his insensitivity, narrow-mindedness, and pride.
The husband's selfishness is reflected in his unconscious insensitivity to his wife's feelings. The death of a child is extremely hard for anyone to deal with, but it seems to be an impossible task for the man's wife Amy. Even in just walking down the stairs from a window overlooking their family graveyard, her frequent "Looking back over her shoulder at some fear" (3) is a sign of Amy's inability to let go of her emotional hurt. The husband seems to be blind to her concern, for he has to ask her, "What is it you see / From up there always?for I want to know" (6?7). It is not until he goes to the window and looks out for awhile that he finally makes the connection that his wife is hurting from the sight of ". . . the child's mound?" (30). Amy tries to run away from confrontation with her grief, for she ". . . slid[es] downstairs; And turn[s] on [her husband] with . . . a daunting look, . . ." (32?33). The air between them might have begun to clear if her husband had not lost his temper and lashed out saying, "Can't a man speak o...
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...ring you back by force. I will!?" (116). His prideful male instinct of leadership cannot take her rebellion, and her assertive independence takes her right out the door.
The difficulty of men understanding women and women understanding men can probably be traced back to creation. When life adds such things as death on top of individual personality traits, the balance in a marriage often teeters. In his personal views and ideals, the husband in Frost's poem has begun to build a brick wall between Amy and himself. Since his understanding of Amy and her grief has not moved beyond the point of self, he might be close to placing the last brick in the wall.
Works Cited
Frost, Robert. "Home Burial." Introduction to Literature: Reading, Analyzing, and Writing.2nd ed. Ed. Dorothy U. Seyler and Richard A. Wilan. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice, 1990. 144?47.
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...s that have a much defined rhyme scheme. Therefore, the poem becomes a more serious and personal epilogue to seal the past behind him, perhaps, having therapeutic aspects for Frost himself in retelling the grief they (Frost and his wife) went through. The title of the poem ‘Home Burial’ itself could be read as a double-entendre; these being the death and the burial of a child and the symbolic death of a marriage. An alternative narrative line has been concluded by Benjamin West saying ‘The true subject of the poem – from a biographical perspective – is the death of Frost’s nephew, child of his sister-in-law Leona White Harvey, in 1895. It was her relationship with her husband that inspired the poem.’ (West:2011). This alternative opinion conveys that ‘Home Burial’ is not about Frost’s own life although many other critics conceive it is about the death of his son.
Roth, Chris. “Three Decades of Film Censorship…right before your eyes”. The Humanist. Vol. 60, No. 1. January/February 2000.
Robert Frost is considered by many to be one of the greatest poets of the twentieth century. Frost’s work has been regarded by many as unique. Frost’s poems mainly take place in nature, and it is through nature that he uses sense appealing-vocabulary to immerse the reader into the poem. In the poem, “Hardwood Groves”, Frost uses a Hardwood Tree that is losing its leaves as a symbol of life’s vicissitudes. “Frost recognizes that before things in life are raised up, they must fall down” (Bloom 22).
Working in teams provides an opportunity for individuals to come together and establish a rapport towards others within a group. Teamwork is classified as people with different strengths and skills who work together to achieve a common goal. When a team works well, specific objectives are fulfilled and satisfied. Teamwork plays a crucial role in implementing and fulfilling a common goal in a team project. Each member plays a role and takes on different responsibilities combined together. In different stages of teamwork, conflicts and arguments may occur for as members have different standpoints which need to be harmonized within the team. The key to having an effective teamwork is to explore each member's unique abilities to motivate them.
Teams have been around for many years. It is vital for members who are a part of any team to work together so that their labor is not in vain. A major advantage for working cohesively as teams is greater output and interpersonal skills. The drawback of not working in uniformity can lead to project delays and time constraints. Organizations create teams with the purpose of fulfilling certain obligations and acquiring business success. Roming (1996) states that togetherness and dependability means that members within the team assist each other and the team. Which in turn, yields a better-quality product.
My greatest accomplishment is my family. It may not seem like an accomplishment to most people, but in my eyes it is huge. I had the impression growing up that if my parents did not seem happy, how could I ever possibly make marriage work for me. By the late 1980’s when I was in high school, I swore I would never marry and never have kids. Eventually I did change my mind, reluctantly I might add. We as humans learn to live by example and my parents were not always the best examples. I come from a military family, my father was in the Navy for 23 years. Leaving my Mom to raise my younger brother and me. So every three years we felt like a single parent family when sea duty rolled around. I always felt like my Father choose to leave us when he went on a cruise for six month. Now I understand that it was a necessity in order for my parents to stay together. In a since, what I’m saying is the separation eventually made us a better family. The heart sometimes needs to miss someone in order to know how it feels about them. Sometime my Mother and I both wish my Father would go away for a little while. I would not object to him take my husband with him as long as they come back. The one person who was able to get me to consider settling down was a former Marine. That I’m still married to after ten years and three children.
“In three words, I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on” (Frost). These are the words of Robert Frost who was born on March 26, 1874. He was raised by his mother alone since his father died from tuberculosis when Frost was just at the age of eleven. He wrote extravagant poetry as he went through many road blocks during his journey in England. His poetry is read by millions of people all across the world inspired by his in-depth meaning of life through nature. His role in the arts of literature remains well-known not only in American writing, but in different countries as well, as it is analyzed for the difference in structure. Robert Frost is a well-known poet who made a tremendous impression in American literature by overcoming his many hardships, writing various famous works of poetry, and inspiring many modern-day poets.