Essay 1 Draft

What is the Point?

Is there a greater “design” that dictates and explains the events occurring in the universe? Or is every action and subsequent reaction uncircumstantial – the results of merely chance events? Design can be defined as “purpose, planning, or intention that exists or is thought to exist behind an action, fact or material object” (Dictionary). In Robert Frost’s sonnet, Design, these questions are asked of the reader as the poem is brought to a close. After describing the killing of a moth by a spider Frost comments, “If design govern in a thing so small” (Line 14). This essay seeks to convince its readers that Frost is not really asking us if there is a greater design but in actuality he is providing evidence that design exists in our world. Frost demonstrates proof of this design through the dissection of an anomaly in nature and the symbolic importance of witches’ broth.

Design begins with the vivid description of a “dimpled,” “fat,” “white” spider. The words chosen here are intended to evoke the images of a baby and of innocence – images uncommonly associated with spiders. In the next line Frost describes that the spider is located on a “white heal-all.” A heal-all is a flower, normally blue in color, fabled to possess the ability to cure any disease (citation). Atop the heal-all is a white moth, rigid in death. This scene is an anomaly in nature, the unusually white flower failing to heal the moth and the innocent white spider preying on the dead white creature. In the second half of the octave, Frost uses adjectives with a happy connotation to contrast dark reality. The “snow-drop” spider, the light and airy “froth” of a flower, and the wings “like a paper kite.” The reality is of a spider weaving an unseen net of destruction, a flower aberrantly changed, and a moth rigidly dead.

The elaborate image of white death painted in the first eight lines of the poem functions as the scene Frost dissects in the following sestet to prove the existence of design. The whiteness of this event may be a tactic employed by the poet to highlight the circumstances and illuminate for the reader the importance of a seemingly unimportant occurrence. Why was the flower white instead of blue? What was the spider doing on that particular flower? How did it come to pass that the moth flew over that exact flower at that precise time in order to be caught in the spider’s web? The circumstances of the three living things in this scene had to align perfectly for the killing of the moth to occur. If a breeze had blown the moth East or the spider had ascended a different flower this event would never have happened.

Why did the destinies of the flower, spider, and moth perfectly align? To be clear, these three things aligned in time, space, and color. In line six Frost refers to the spider, flower, and moth as “ingredients of a witches’ broth.” The broth is symbolic here as it represents something that was purposefully created and developed. The ingredients, when combined and then treated with the right conditions (appropriate heat, time, etc) will produce a soup. The soup when accompanied by bread may be part of a larger meal. Frost is showing us that everything is connected. The spider, the flower, the moth, the death of the moth, the meal for the spider, are all part of a larger system – a design that is interconnected and dependent on all constitutes.

The poet further emphasizes the existence of a greater design by describing the soup as a “witches’ broth” (line 6). Witches are commonly defined as “women thought to have evil magical powers” (dictionary). The concept of a supernatural being creating the broth correlates to the idea of extraordinary control of the universe and those of us in it. The witch is significant in that she may be interpreted as having evil powers and ill intentions. This is appropriate in the context of Frost’s poem because the event he highlights for us is that of dark death despite the brightness of the scene.

The witch is also valuable to the poem as it brings in a human element. Although the scene depicted in the octave strictly describes nature, the witch, if defined as “a follower or practitioner of modern witchcraft or an ugly or unpleasant old woman,” refers to humanity. Specifically it refers to human manipulation of the natural world. Humans have altered the natural state of things to fit into designs created by us. But this event, the strange color of the flower and the death of the moth, is untouchable by humans. We may observe it but we cannot explain it, we cannot create it, and we cannot prevent it. There are forces beyond our grasp at play here. Forces that influence our own lives as well.

When unexpectedly something drastically wonderful or dreadfully terrible occurs in your life do you ever find yourself wondering why? Was it merely due to chance or was there a greater design at play? Maybe this event in not happenstance; maybe it is part of a larger interconnected web of events that shapes your life, the lives of those around you, the lives of future generations, and even the very existence of life on this planet. As Frost has hopefully proved to us, design governs in the scene of the spider, flower, and moth depicted in Design. He leaves us to contemplate the question, if design regulates in such a small event as a moth being consumed by a spider then does design act in the natural world, in human life, and the universe at large? If a greater design, a greater purpose does not exist in and govern our world, then what is the point?