Home Burial
“Home Burial”
1. Is the husband insensitive and indifferent to his wife’s grief? Has Frost invited us to sympathize with one character more than with the other?
Indeed, the husband behaves in a very indifferent and insensitive way towards his wife in dealing with their child’s loss. I believe that Frost has invited us to sympathize with both husband and wife but at different levels of understanding because both have different ways to deal with grief. In other words, what society expects as far as the ways in which woman are expected to react when it comes to losing a child, is totally different to the way man are expected to. For example, women tend to be more sensitive and emotional while men are seen as emotionally stronger and less willing to speak about their feelings and emotions. In this poem besides the wife having to deal with the grief of losing her child, she also seems to struggle with her role in the marriage. For example, during their broken conversation (unstable, uneasy) the husband reproaches his wife for not permitting him to fulfill his rights as a married man. The sexual tension along with all the issues facing their marriage boils dangerously as if in a pressure cooker. The wife feels as if she is ready to explode, and finally be freed from the agonizing pain caused by the child’s grave and the desolation towards her husband’s lack of empathy and comprehension. While, the wife battles the reality of her son’s death, at the same time she struggles to find her place in the land of the living once more. 2. How has the burial of the child within sight of the stairway window affected the relationship of the couple in this poem? Is the child’s grave a symptom or a cause of the conflict between them?
The grave of the child serves as a constant reminder of the couple’s loss. It has impeded their healing hindering their movement towards the world of the living. Likewise, it has divided the couple into two separate individuals rather than a
1. Is the husband insensitive and indifferent to his wife’s grief? Has Frost invited us to sympathize with one character more than with the other?
Indeed, the husband behaves in a very indifferent and insensitive way towards his wife in dealing with their child’s loss. I believe that Frost has invited us to sympathize with both husband and wife but at different levels of understanding because both have different ways to deal with grief. In other words, what society expects as far as the ways in which woman are expected to react when it comes to losing a child, is totally different to the way man are expected to. For example, women tend to be more sensitive and emotional while men are seen as emotionally stronger and less willing to speak about their feelings and emotions. In this poem besides the wife having to deal with the grief of losing her child, she also seems to struggle with her role in the marriage. For example, during their broken conversation (unstable, uneasy) the husband reproaches his wife for not permitting him to fulfill his rights as a married man. The sexual tension along with all the issues facing their marriage boils dangerously as if in a pressure cooker. The wife feels as if she is ready to explode, and finally be freed from the agonizing pain caused by the child’s grave and the desolation towards her husband’s lack of empathy and comprehension. While, the wife battles the reality of her son’s death, at the same time she struggles to find her place in the land of the living once more. 2. How has the burial of the child within sight of the stairway window affected the relationship of the couple in this poem? Is the child’s grave a symptom or a cause of the conflict between them?
The grave of the child serves as a constant reminder of the couple’s loss. It has impeded their healing hindering their movement towards the world of the living. Likewise, it has divided the couple into two separate individuals rather than a