# Silas — North of Boston character guide

> Silas in North of Boston by Robert Frost.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Poor Silas, Si, himself, him

**First appearance:** 0004-the-death-of-the-hired-man

## Snapshot

A broken-down hired man who walks thirteen miles back to the farm he once worked, carrying a plan he may not live to explain.

## Who they are

Silas arrives at Warren and Mary's farmhouse worn past saving, yet insists he has come to ditch the meadow and offers a plan for the work. He has a wealthy brother nearby, a bank director, whom he has never once asked for help — a silence Mary reads as pride and Warren as something closer to worthlessness. His stubborn refusal of pity, and the question of why he chose this door over his brother's, is what the poem turns on.

## Relationships

### [Warren](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/north_of_boston_se/characters/warren)

_professional_

Silas and Warren have a professional relationship, likely as employer and hired hand, with tension over work and obligation.

### [Harold Wilson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/north_of_boston_se/characters/harold_wilson)

_rivalry_

Harold Wilson and Silas are rivals, likely competing for work or status in the community, with underlying hostility.

### [Anne](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/north_of_boston_se/characters/anne)

_family_

Anne and Silas are likely family members, possibly siblings or parent-child, with a caring but strained dynamic.

### [Mary](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/north_of_boston_se/characters/mary)

_social_

Mary and Silas have a social acquaintance, likely as neighbors or through Warren, with Mary showing concern for Silas.

### [Mary](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/north_of_boston_se/characters/mary)

_social_

Mary and Silas have a social acquaintance, likely as neighbors or through Warren, with Mary showing concern for Silas.

### [Warren](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/north_of_boston_se/characters/warren)

_professional_

Silas and Warren have a professional relationship, likely as employer and hired hand, with tension over work and obligation.

### [Anne](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/north_of_boston_se/characters/anne)

_family_

Anne and Silas are likely family members, possibly siblings or parent-child, with a caring but strained dynamic.

## In the story

### [North of Boston](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/north_of_boston_se/chapters/north-of-boston)

An old, unreliable hired hand who returns to the Warren farm and later dies there.

### [The Death of the Hired Man](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/north_of_boston_se/chapters/the-death-of-the-hired-man)

Silas is the old hired man who returns to the farm, exhausted and near death, seeking a place to belong.

### [A Servant to Servants](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/north_of_boston_se/chapters/a-servant-to-servants)

Not directly present but referenced as part of the family's past; the uncle who was kept in a cage.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/north_of_boston_se/characters/silas
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/north_of_boston_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/north_of_boston_se/characters