Andrew Pan

11/17/14
Mrs. Traver

November by Robert Frost Analysis

The author, Robert Frost uses symbolism in "November" to show deeper thinking
and deeper meaning. If you only look at the surface its about the season November. When
you look at the last line you can now tell the leaves represent soldiers in a war. In this poem
"November" the symbolism is about leaves and they represent soldiers fighting in a war.
One example in the poem where symbolism can be found is" Get beaten down and pasted
in one wild day of rain." The surface meaning in the line means leaves being beaten down
and pasted. However it really means that soldiers in a war that are being shot, injured, hurt,
or even killed. Also the other part means that bullets were shot. Blood was spilled on the
battlefield.
Another example where there is symbolic meaning is A year of leaves was wasted." When
we look only on the general meaning that would be winter. We can infer this because all the
leaves fall off of the tree. That the leaves on the tree were wasted. The author really wants
us to know that the leaves are symbolic to soldiers fighting in a war and that the soldiers,
and the training and time were all wasted. The soldiers were the ones wasted.
A last example could be The waste of pleasure weeping. It means that the relatives of
the soldiers were crying because of the soldiers deaths. This is the line that truly tells you
that the leaves represent soldiers fighting in a war. The line tells that people or a person
was weeping but not in a pleasure full way. Those people could be relatives of soldiers and
they are crying. It's almost that they gave up on everything. Everything they cared for was
no more.
By using symbolism the reader can understand even more. When I read " November" I too
thought that it was about leaves, but now it really is about soldiers fighting in a war. In this
story the author wants to teach us that wars can achieve nothing. Symbolism can change
many things in stories or poem.