Mending Wall by Robert Frost
"Mending Wall" is vintage Robert Frost. Vintage to the degree that Frost has often referred to the work as his second favorite poem. Within its lines are the simplicity of language and subject, realism and imagery, humor and cynicism that combine to reveal the meditative insight that marks the poetry of Robert Frost. An annual ritual of mending a stone wall that divides the adjoining property of two New England neighbors is the setting for a sharp contrast in perceptions. As in most Frost poems, as the ordinariness of the activity is specifically described one quickly perceives that the undertaking has much larger implications. It becomes the setting for Frost, through his speaker, to reflect on the ambivalent nature of walls both physical and psychological. One is then led to explore a deeper question of whether such walls are meant to exist and prevail in nature - whether in the physical or the better angels of our own.
The speaker's neighbor views the activity as an annual duty performed of necessity with dutiful and prideful regard to inherited custom. He labors as heir to a mindset that must define boundaries in order to avoid conflict. He goes about his task apparently not analyzing the genesis of the walls disrepair, without introspection or internal debate of the pragmatic need for the division. He is motivated by his father's admonition of traditional rural wisdom that continues unquestioned but has seemingly outlived its application. "He will not go behind his father's saying, / And he likes having thought of it so well / He says again, 'Good fences make good neighbors.' "
In contrast, the speaker goes about the same mending of the wall supposing those things both ...
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...y. But while there appears to be little appreciation and some scorn, (literally and symbolically), for the neighbor's seemingly unenlightened, "moving in darkness" with all who find security in their walls, there is a novel bond in their differences. Two farmers, two men in stark contrast whose natures and perceptions are so vastly different, if not opposed. One would question whether they ever exchanged any more than a passing wave throughout the year: year after year. Yet the wall that divides them brings them together at least on that one day annually to reacquaint and perhaps to further know and understand. The wall that defines their possessions grants the opportunity to overcome their walls of indifference and their difference. And therein lies a true irony. The neighbor's worn cliché is born out in a very unique sense; "Good fences make good neighbors."
The "Mending Wall" is the opening poem in Robert Frost's second book entitled, North of Boston. The poem portrays the casual part of life as seen by two farmers mending their wall. A great number of people might look at "Mending Wall" and see a simple poem about a simple aspect of life. If this is truly the case then why are so many drawn to the poem and what is found when more than a superficial look is spent on Robert Frost's work? The "Mending Wall" is an insightful look at social interactions as seen in the comparison of the repeated phrases and the traditional attitudes of the two farmers.
, ‘My apples will never get across and eat the cones under his pines, and I tell him. He only says, good fences make good neighbours.’ This shows that there is clearly no substantial reason for the wall to be built but one neighbour carries the view that ‘good neighbours make good fences’ and no
families, or ethnicities. Robert Frost wrote of fences in his poem ―Mending Wall‖ showing how
The speaker in Frost’s, “Mending Wall” expresses through thoughts primarily the necessity for a wall between himself and his neighbor. Every year the wall is damaged by weather and hunters as the speaker indicates, “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall (Frost, 51).” Additionally, the speaker asks his neighbor of what purpose is there is such ...
Mending Wall written by Robert Frost, describes the relationship between two neighbors and idea of maintaining barriers. Where one of them feels that there is no need of this wall, 'There where it is we do not need the wall: He is all pine and I am apple orchard.' On the other hand his neighbor remains unconvinced and follows inherited wisdom passed down to him by his father, 'Good fences make good neighbors.' They even kept the wall while mending it, this reflect that they never interact with each other, ?We keep the wall between us as we go?. Robert Frost has maintained this literal meaning of physical barriers but it does contain metaphor as representation of these physical barriers separating the neighbors and also their friendship.
The conflict in "Mending Wall" develops as the speaker reveals more and more of himself while portraying a native Yankee and responding to the regional spirit he embodies. The opposition between observer and observed--and the tension produced by the observer's awareness of the difference--is crucial to the poem. Ultimately, the very knowledge of this opposition becomes itself a kind of barrier behind which the persona, for all his dislike of walls, finds himself confined.
The persona begins to think about how he cannot take both paths and be the same “traveler”
The speaker says, "He is all pine and I am apple orchard." (line 24. pg. 952). The speaker is more imaginative, playful and sociable then his neighbor. He says, "Oh, just another kind of outdoor game." in response to mending the wall with the neighbor and "We use a spell to make them balance" (line 18 and line 21. pg. 952). He also jokingly states to his neighbor, “My apple trees will never get across and eat the cones under his pines” (line 25-24 pg. 952). Although the speaker eventually does not visualize the purpose of the wall separating the two properties, to satisfy his need for con...
The person in the poem wants to be left alone, like an island, or a rock. In the second stanza, he says "I've built a wall, a fortress deep and mighty." He has built a mental block to all outsiders, and he compares this to an inpenetrable wall. Inpenetrable walls keep unwanted things out: bad feelings, love, etc. Then, in the third line of this stanza, he says "I have no need of friendship - friendship causes pain, It's laughter and loving I disdain." He said that he doesn't want friendship because it just causes pain, and that the laughter and loving he hates or despises. He wants to be left alone, like...
The theme of the poem is about two neighbours who disagree over the need of a wall to separate their properties. Not only does the wall act as a divider in separating estates, it also acts as a barrier in the neighbours' friendship, separating them. For the neighbour with the pine trees, the wall is of great significance, as it provides a sense of security and privacy. He believes that although two people can still be friendly neighbours, some form of barrier is needed to separate them and 'wall in' the personal space and privacy of the individual. This is shown through his repeated saying, 'good fences make good neighbours' (line 27). The neighbour's property is a representation of his privacy and the wall acts as a barrier against intrusion.
"Neighbor" is here a metaphor for two people who are emotionally close to each other. "Good fences make good neighbors", is a line the author emphasizes by using it two times. The "neighbor" says the line while the main character does not agree with it. He can not see that there is something between them they need to be "walling in or walling out".
When a wall is encountered literally and physically, there are many different ways in which a person can react to the situation. One group of people would generally just find a way over or around the obstacle. While some other people might pursue a way directly through the wall. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but they both exist as outcomes to the same dilemma. The basic wall has been around with humans for as long as the discovery of masonry has been around. Robert Frost’s poem Mending Wall is one such example of how a wall can have conflicting properties of human interaction. The neighbor in the poem says that “fences make good neighbors” and that the two neighbors involved with the wall rebuild it each spring and they enjoy fixing the wall with each other. The poem just helps illustrate that walls are an important factor in human activities. Walls are not limited to any specific culture or region and still they continue to be built over time.
The poem renders an apparent question: Why do people build unnecessary obstructions between one another? Each the poet and his neighbor stays on his side of the wall, taking up the stones that had fallen on his own side, which suggests that there is no trespassing at all. The mysterious force that appears to be attempting to destroy the wall is a symbolic representation of the craving for harmony among all of mankind. This craving is almost depressing, because the dissatisfaction is never quenched. Its will is, however, strong and persistent, and it "makes gaps even two can pass abreast," which is a plead for the men to put aside their differences and walk side by side. Frost sympathetically watches as his neighbor "moves in darkness." The poet does not mean that he dwells under the shadow of his pine trees, but under the shadow of his hostile ignorance, and the poet perceives no hope for his brutality. The neighbor, however, thinks himself highly for his wit, disregards the wisdom of his father, and states indifferently, "Good fences ...
Frost begins the poem by relating the damage that has been inflicted upon the wall. The stunning image of the force "that sends the frozen-ground-swell under it and spills the upper boulders in the sun, and makes gaps even two can pass abreast" shows us that something natural, beautiful, and perhaps divine is taking place (2-4). From the very beginning he suggests that living without the wall is something positive. As the poem continues, we are introduced to two farmers engaged in the annual task of making repairs to the stone wall which separates their properties. In lines 14-17, Frost gives us the description of the neighbors meeting to walk the line, each picking up and r...
“Mending Wall” is a poem that presents two opposing attitudes towards keeping barriers up between people. Each neighbor has a different opinion. One neighbor wants a visible line to separate their property lines and the other sees no reason for it. The poem implies a lack of security and trust one person may have towards another, even when it may not seem illogical or necessary.