A conversation about death. (Frost and Thomas) second draft

“Death? Why this fuss about death? Use your imagination, try to visualize a world without death! ... Death is the essential condition of life, not an evil.” Robert Frost’s Design supports Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s statement about death. Both see death as a fundamental part of life, not as the end to existence. Thomas’s Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night portrays death as the termination of life and something to be avoided as long as possible, though it is inevitable. These opposing views speak to the arguable purpose of death. Death in the inescapable end that awaits all of us, but according to Thomas it’s only function is to conclude life, while Frost represents death as the only means by which life can exist.

Both poems use imagery of light against a black background to signify death and life. Frost speaks of a “Dimpled spider, fat and white” against the blackness of the night. The moth becomes stuck in the web of the spider, where it struggles to break free. Both the moth and the spider are white, but in this scene the spider is bringing the moth to its death. The spider is only doing what it needs to, what it was designed to do. Without the death of the moth, the spider would not be able to live and so the chain continues throughout the ecosystem. Even though the moth is gone, its presence is seen in the life of the spider. Thomas uses similar imagery of light against darkness, such as with “Blind eyes could blaze like meteors…”. This glowing image of a meteor represents life, which is fleeting into the darkness. Unlike the moth in Frosts’ poem, the meteor once it is gone can no longer be seen and it’s existence is over and forgotten.

The diction in both of the poems also suggests each author’s differing ideas about the purpose of death. Thomas uses active, lively words such as “danced” and “gay” to represent life. “Night” and “end” are more passive and dark words are used to symbolize death. Thomas also uses words that evoke an emotional response to pair emotions with life and death. “Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” Rage induces feelings of anger and fury, which is associated with death. “Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay” correlates the word “dance” with life, which brings to mind feelings of freedom and joy. These contrasting emotions highlight the disparity between life and death.

Frost uses diction to blur the distinction between life and death. “A snow-drop spider, a flower like a froth.” The flower represents the web in which the moth becomes stuck. Flowers are usually associated with delight and innocence, but Frost says the flower is like a froth (from a witches brew), which is usually connected with evilness. This obscures the purpose of the web, whether is it malevolent because it kills the moth or constructive because it allows the spider to live and eat and this obscures the purpose of death as meant by Frost.

One aspect that both poems question about death is the timing. Thomas wrote Don’t Go Gentle Into That Good Night when his father was dying and he instructs his father in this poem to “Rage, rage against the dying of the night”. He knows his father’s death is near, but Thomas is trying to prolong the inevitable. “Though wise men at their end know dark is right, Because their words had forked no lightning they Do not go gentle into that good night.” This stanza is contradictory because it suggests that “wise men” know when their death is “right”, but it also says that they should not just let death overcome them, but that they should hold out as long as possible.

Similarly, Frost questions the timing of the death of the moth. “What had that flower to do with being white They wayside blue and innocent heal-all?” Heal-alls are usually a very organic, pretty blue, but Frost’s is a delicate white. Had this anomaly not existed, would the moth had gotten caught in the web? “What brought the kindred spider to that height Then steered the white moth thither in the night?” The death of the moth at this moment that is described in the poem is contingent on the incongruities and events that occurred previously.

Death is inescapable; whether or not we avoid discussing mortality, we all know that it will eventually come. The 2 different perspectives of Thomas and Frost in their respective literary pieces give rise to the question: Is death the end? Frost would say that life and death parts of a cycle rather than a beginning and end. For Thomas, death signifies the end. Despite these differences, they both agree that the timing of one’s passing is something that can be examined with query. Why is the timing of such importance? It is because fate, something that is uncontrollable, determines when we will pass. Fate dominates all of our lives, even when we do not think about it and that is a much daunting subject than death.