Robert Frost “Departmental” (pgs. 788-789)
The speaker’s attitude toward the social order being described shows this order more in depth. This order is represented through the image of an “ant on the table cloth”. This ant, as it goes through the sequence of events, shows the order in which many can associate to human society. There are rules to be followed, and each one has its individual importance and responsibility. The ant comes across the “body of one of their dead” and continues on with its duties. It has it’s own things to accomplish, and to each individual their own. The use of diction further emphasizes this aspect of social order. With the rhyming qualities and very quick, to the point speech, the speaker shows the way in which order is maintained. There’s no use for frivolous language, because there are no uses for frivolous actions. The speech is very forward, and in return, the audience can associate this speech to the subject matter.
Diction plays an important role in maintaining the point of the poem, while also showing the importance it serves to the poem itself. By keeping a serious, straightforward diction, there can be a parallel to the point of the poem. The author writes the poem in small phrases that each contains a point. There is no filling or fluff, but these would be quite unnecessary anyway. The author is describing that each individual serves its own important and plays its own role in the bigger picture. Like the ant in the poem, it continues on with its duties, despite the death to Jerry McCormic. It’s someone else’s responsibility to deal with this issue, and the single ant allows for this to occur. It is “thoroughly departmental”, both in speech and in content. The chosen diction represents the simplicity in which things should be taken care of. A single job for a single body, each with it’s own importance.
October 19, 2011 at 12:09 pm
I apologize, but the word “it’s” three words from the end should not have an apostrophe.