Question:
Write the central idea of A Roadside Stand (by Robert Frost).
Write the central idea of A Roadside Stand (by Robert Frost).
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Contrast the poor villagers' hope of a sale with the indifference of the passing city motorists.
Updated On: Sep 24, 2026
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Solution and Explanation
Final Answer:
The poem shows the gap between the rich and the poor. The poor farmers set up a roadside stand hoping that passing motorists will buy their produce and end their poverty, but the city people drive past without caring, and the promises of help never reach the villagers. The poet sympathises with the farmers, criticises the selfish, indifferent attitude of urban society and the hollow promises of the authorities, and pleads for real, humane help for the rural poor.
The poem shows the gap between the rich and the poor. The poor farmers set up a roadside stand hoping that passing motorists will buy their produce and end their poverty, but the city people drive past without caring, and the promises of help never reach the villagers. The poet sympathises with the farmers, criticises the selfish, indifferent attitude of urban society and the hollow promises of the authorities, and pleads for real, humane help for the rural poor.
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It is clear that language is used for more than one purpose. The man who hits his thumb nails with a hammer and utters a string of curses is using language to relieve his feeling and needs no audience but himself. But when a philosopher uses language to clarify his ideas on a subject, he is using it as an instrument of thought. When two women gossip over the fence or two men exchange greetings as they pass in the street, language is being used to strengthen the bonds between the members of society. Language, it seems, is a multipurpose instrument. One function, however, seems to be basic — language enables us to influence people's behaviour and thereby makes human co-operation possible. Some animals co-operate especially the social animals like bees and ants, but human co-operation is more thorough, more detailed, more effective than that found anywhere in the animal kingdom. The human co-operation would be unthinkable without language.
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It is clear that language is used for more than one purpose. The man who hits his thumb nails with a hammer and utters a string of curses is using language to relieve his feeling and needs no audience but himself. But when a philosopher uses language to clarify his ideas on a subject, he is using it as an instrument of thought. When two women gossip over the fence or two men exchange greetings as they pass in the street, language is being used to strengthen the bonds between the members of society. Language, it seems, is a multipurpose instrument. One function, however, seems to be basic — language enables us to influence people's behaviour and thereby makes human co-operation possible. Some animals co-operate especially the social animals like bees and ants, but human co-operation is more thorough, more detailed, more effective than that found anywhere in the animal kingdom. The human co-operation would be unthinkable without language.
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It is clear that language is used for more than one purpose. The man who hits his thumb nails with a hammer and utters a string of curses is using language to relieve his feeling and needs no audience but himself. But when a philosopher uses language to clarify his ideas on a subject, he is using it as an instrument of thought. When two women gossip over the fence or two men exchange greetings as they pass in the street, language is being used to strengthen the bonds between the members of society. Language, it seems, is a multipurpose instrument. One function, however, seems to be basic — language enables us to influence people's behaviour and thereby makes human co-operation possible. Some animals co-operate especially the social animals like bees and ants, but human co-operation is more thorough, more detailed, more effective than that found anywhere in the animal kingdom. The human co-operation would be unthinkable without language.
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