Jack
Jack - meaning Summary
A Working Man's Life
The poem sketches the life arc of Jack, a rough, proud railroad worker who labors for decades, raises a large family, loses his wife, and sees his children drift away. It emphasizes steady physical toil, social isolation in old age, and a persistent, uncomplicated temperament. Jack’s death is portrayed as a continuation of his lived character: ordinary, resilient, and at peace, suggesting dignity in an unromantic, working-class existence.
Read Complete AnalysesJACK was a swarthy, swaggering son-of-a-gun. He worked thirty years on the railroad, ten hours a day, and his hands were tougher than sole leather. He married a tough woman and they had eight children and the woman died and the children grew up and went away and wrote the old man every two years. He died in the poorhouse sitting on a bench in the sun telling reminiscences to other old men whose women were dead and children scattered. There was joy on his face when he died as there was joy on his face when he lived— he was a swarthy, swaggering son-of-a-gun.
Feel free to be first to leave comment.