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Akshay Wuppuluri

Moosman

IB LA HL

29 September 2021

The Death of the Hired Man analysis

This poem is not really seen as a poem, at least in my eyes. When I see this poem, I

automatically see that there isn’t a rhyme scheme. However, this is written in Iambic

pentameter. This means that this poem is in blank verse. This poem is a story. This is a story

about a man, Warren, and his wife, Mary, and a working man, Silas, and what his impact is on

their life and how this working man is going about his life. This is a dialogue about Silas

between Mary and Warren. There are three main people whose real characters and traits are

revealed throughout the story and we find out who they really are. These characters are Silas,

Mary, and Warren.

Mary is a smaller character than Silas or Warren. However she is still important to the

story. She provides a different perspective and a different opinion when she talks about Silas.

She thinks of Silas differently and sees Silas almost like a son. She sees that Silas needs this job

and feels as though that Silas is part of her family. She is very optimistic and sees the things that

even Silas doesn’t see that he is dying and wants to die somewhere where he feels he belongs

or feels needed or feels needed. She sees the good in people that others may not see.

Warren is also a smaller character in the story. Warren is the husband of Mary and has a

different perspective than Mary. He sees Silas as not a good man. He sees a worker that only

works for money. He sees Silas as a man who jumps around jobs and goes from job to job just
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to get money and doesn’t have any moral sense. Warren knows that when Silas is working for

him, he does a great job and gets the job done in an efficient manner. However, Silas is seen as

disloyal.

Silas, the main character of this whole story, is a very puzzling and complex character.

Silas, as previously mentioned, is a man who works very hard. He is an old man. He is not seen

as a good old man however. He is described as disloyal and goes from job to job. He only works

for money and spends that money on Tobacco. However, it is seen that it is not just that. He is

moving from job to job looking for some familiarity and moves around hoping to feel like he

belongs. Silas is seen as lonely and sees everyone and every job as an opportunity to feel

needed. He goes around looking to feel important and when he feels important he leaves

because he wants to feel needed by everyone. When he goes to Warren and Mary he feels and

knows that he is needed. He only wanted to feel familiar and it starts to feel like family around

Mary and Warren. Marry then knows that Silas is dying and knows that Silas is only looking for a

family and only wants to feel needed by others. He feels that even though he is dying and can’t

do much anymore, he is welcome with Mary and Warren.