The analogy between the bedroom and the graveyard has inspired much interpretation. Is he clumsy or deliberately and cruelly reminding her of her place in relation to his purposes? Is there a suggestion here about sexual frigidity or a reminder of how this represents his family portrait? Amy had heard her husband say while he was digging the child’s grave, “ ‘Three foggy mornings and one rainy day/Will rot the best birch fence a man can build.’ ” She assumes he merely speaks of “everyday concerns.” But the tone with which he said it could transform it into a muted and powerful, if not terrifying, metaphor for both his dead child and his marriage—a barrier against the future and against the moral authority of his wife. Amy’s grief is not a mystery but a weapon, a possession, and a barrier she builds while reducing her husband to being crude and subhuman. In retaliation he seems to grant her superiority while simultaneously pointing to her inhumanity: “ ‘Tell me about it if it’s something human./Let me into your grief ” Frost’s quest is to understand in the chaotic and threatening worlds in and outside the home what it means to be human.