The poems "Out, Out- "by Robert Frost and "Traveling through the Dark" by William Stafford, both shares the theme of civilization destroying nature. In both poems, life and nature is conveyed as fragile and vulnerable, and that technology and civilization has disrupted the nature of life. The two poems share the same theme of destruction upon nature from man, but illustrate differently. The setting is different, conveying differently of the purpose: man destroying nature, and also the drama of death is received differently in each poem.
Civilization and nature are to contrasting elements. In both poems, both authors use these two elements to convey the disruption civilization has put upon nature. In the poem "Out, Out-"the boy is the victim of civilization. His life is cut short by the fallacy of civilization. The fallacy in this case would be the chainsaw. The saw was too much for a young boy to handle, in the end taking his life. Civilization has put this heavy burden of living as a man onto the young boy, who represents nature. "Doing man's work, though a child at heart" (24) the spoil that civilization has done onto nature. Still true at heart still young, but forced to change into a full man because of civilization and its circumstances. Similar to the boy, the unborn fawn in the poem "Traveling trough the Dark" is destroyed by man and its civilization. The unborn fawn is never able to breathe life because of man and their faults with technology. "Alive, still, never to be born, beside the mountain I hesitated" (11) conveys the hesitation and responsibility civilization has on nature. This man will have to either push the dead doe off the road and into the river, or leave it here and give the fawn a slim chance at life. In this poem the corrupt technology would be the car. Like the chainsaw, the car has cut life very short for this fawn. With a quick mistake the like the chainsaw slipping out of the innocent hands of the boy to end his life, this car mistakenly slipped and swerved into the Doe ending any life for the fawn inside.
