The Colour of Literature: Frost: Design

Design, by Robert Frost, illustrates the argument from design. More specifically, design of darkness. Frost argues for the existence of design based on perceived evidence of order and direction in nature. In the poem, Frost exemplifies such order and direction by describing the interaction of a spider, a heal-all, and a moth. He argues that it must be a design of darkness what allows the spider to capture the moth, and consequently bring darkness and death. After all, “what had that flower to do with being white, the wayside blue and innocent heal-all? What brought the kindred spider to that height, then steered the white moth thither in the night?”

In other words, what made everything fall into place at the right moment in order to allow the spider to capture the moth? Frost believes that design of darkness is what assorts the characters in play, in this case the spider, the heal-all, and the moth, “like ingredients of a witches’ broth”. Design makes the three characters fall into place at the right moment and manner to follow the order and direction of nature, which Frost identifies as darkness and death in this poem.

Frost plays with several images in the poem to illustrate the argument from design. All of them, however, rely on the contrast between lightness and darkness. The spider, the heal-all, and the moth are all white, a color that tends to be bright and associated with life. Darkness, on the other hand, tends to be associated with death. Even though Frost refers to the spider, the heal-all, and the moth, as “assorted characters of death and blight”, he does not intend to characterize them as evil. On the other hand, he wants to characterize them as puppets of the design of darkness. For this reason, he makes the three of them white, emphasizing their innocence and blamelessness. Again, this point can be further supported by the fact that he refers to them as “ingredients in a witches’ broth”. Although the broth may be fatal and bring death, it is the combination of the ingredients, and not the ingredients themselves, what brings darkness and death. In other words, the ingredients are tools. Similarly, the three characters in the poem are described as mere tools. It is the order and direction of nature, that of bringing darkness and death, what ultimately causes the death of the moth.

This contrast can also be thought of in a narrower sense. Spiders are usually thought of as intimidating, malicious animals. Frost, however, does not want the reader to think of them this way. He does not want the reader to think that the spider kills the moth because it is malicious. On the other hand, Frost wants the reader to think that the spider is merely a puppet designed to bring darkness, and that it kills the moth because of the order and direction of nature. Thus, Frost makes the spider white and fat. The color is important because, by making the spider white and fat,

Frost forces the reader to associate the spider with something healthy and innocent, something that would not have killed the moth if it had not been designed to do so. Similarly, the heal-all and the moth are white, bright and radiant. The heal-all embodies the circumstances under which the moth was killed. After all, it is because the spider climbed the heal-all that it was able to reach the moth. By making the heal-all, and therefore the environment white, Frost makes it clear that there was nothing in the environment against the moth. The heal-all was nothing but an instrument in the design of darkness. Finally, by making the moth white, he characterizes it as the victim of the poem. It is important to note, however, that because the three characters are white, they can be equally characterized as victims in the poem. They can be considered victims of the design of darkness.