Communication In Robert Frost's Death Of A Hired Man

The problem the husband now face was one he created all his own. When trying to break down another person’s wall and getting them to really open up, the first person must handle it delicately and not give them reason to reinforce their walls. This is the husband’s misstep for, “he acts instinctually; he fails to understand that she cannot do the same, because he is not think of these things; he only lives by them” (Oster 196). He allows for his own ideas of grieving, or lack thereof, to enter into the equation and be added to the miscommunication that is already occurring, by stating:

I do think, though, you overdo it a little.

What was it brought you up to think it the thing

To take your mother-loss of a first child

So inconsolably… (62-5)

Home Burial is just one example of Frost’s theme of communication, mainly focusing on the negative aspects. On the opposite hand, though, Frost wrote a poem titled Death of a Hired Man that directly contrasted Frosts other statement about communication. This poem focused on the positive aspects of a successful marriage that benefitted from an open line of communication. In this setting, both the husband and wife are able to discuss their concerns and thought about a previous worker. This worker had broken his contract with them unexpectedly and the husband felt thoroughly wronged by this hired man. Then when his wife mentioned that the hired man appeared again, dying, and wanting to make up for what he had done, the husband quickly turned sour. Their differences in opinion could have ended up disastrous if they had fortified their emotional walls against each other, however, instead they were open and honest about what they thought. Though, the ending of this poem isn’t necessarily a joyous one, the reader can see an example of a successful, communicative marriage, which thrives in the face of problems rather crumbling. In this instance, Frost has given two poems that exemplifies what it means to be communicative with another person. However, he never quite reveals how or why it occurs the way it does. In truth, Frost may be just as lost about its origins and details as the reader is. The first poem in North of Boston, Mending Wall, could be considered a lead in to this unanswered question about communication. Constantly throughout the poem Frost has his characters repeat the phrase, “Good fences make good neighbors” (27). At first glance, this may seem to be a wise phrase about the necessity of boundaries, but to Frost it should most likely have a deeper thought process attached to it. From this phrase and this poem it would seem that Frost is asking, when do