Preview

Robert Frost's Mending Wall

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
438 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Robert Frost's Mending Wall
To paraphrase this poem, it is about two neighbors who annually meet to fix the wall that divides them. One neighbor thinks that the wall is unnecessary, especially because they do not have anything that needs to be contained like animals. However, the other neighbor believes the wall should remain, and keeps repeating the phrase, “Good fences make good neighbors.”
“Mending Wall” is in the form of a narrative. It is in iambic pentameter and is a blank verse. Frost utilizes repetition of two specific lines to make a statement. “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,” and “Good fences make good neighbors.” “Good fences make good neighbors” means that if people know their limits and do not get overlay comfortable with one another, a moderate
…show more content…
Nature breaks the wall, making parts topple to the sides. Then he thinks about how humans are destructive, by referencing “hunters.” The next part discuss how both men work together to ament the wall (lines 12-24). Then he elucidates the different views both of them have concerning the wall. Lines 38-45 result in a frustrated tome because the speaker does not understand why the neighbor cannot move past the one line he keeps repeating. Thus, the speaker things of the other man as an “old-stone savage” who moves in the “darkness.” The darkness means he cannot see another view, he is just stuck with one opinion.
Robert Frost uses allusion to show how divisions can help maintain boundaries. Since the men mend the wall, with keeps their lives of living next to one another running smoothly. Both know their property, and their place. By mending the wall order remains. Whenever the wall deteriates, it creates chaos and a mess.
This poems purpose is to discuss the circumstances that good relationships can be formed in. Frost opens up the question that, are dividers like walls and fences the consequence of good relationships. His attitude about the topic is that, the fixing the wall is their time spent together that fosters their relationship. Both have their own reasons for keeping it. The theme of this poem is to teach that sometimes divides are the best way to combine. This is ironic, but true.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Cited: Clarke, Peter. “Mending Wall.” Rev. of Frost’s Mending Wall, ed. Robert Frost. Explicator Fall 1984: p48. Print.…

    • 1768 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In “Mending Wall”, Frost mentions how the wall affect people. He states that the narrator thinks negatively about his neighbor, and how it keeps them separated. “Good fences make good neighbors” (Frost). President Ronald Reagan states from his text, “Tear Down This Wall”, that the people on one side doesn't have their freedom, affects…

    • 239 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    From Robert Frost 's Mending Wall to Pink Floyd 's Another Brick in the Wall, humankind erects and maintains real and symbolic barriers to protect and defend opposing stances, beliefs and territories. Although each "wall" is different they serve the same purpose and both Frost and Floyd oppose them. Robert Frost 's Mending Wall is a very popular poem. This poem consists of two characters: the narrator and his neighbor. In this poem the two neighbors are mending a stone wall that separates their property. The wall mending has been a pastime of the neighbors for many years and occurs every spring. Over the winter the wall has fallen victim to both hunters and the frozen ground and, therefore, contains gaps that must be filled.<br><br>In the poem the narrator questions the sense of even mending the wall . He concludes that neither of the farms contain animals, only trees, which would be enough of a boundary. There is no physical need for the wall, so why go through the trouble of fixing it every year for no apparent reason. Although the narrator is right the ignorant neighbor insists that they mend the wall by saying "Good fences make good neighbors."(Frost) The neighbor repeats this saying although he doesn 't know why the wall is necessary nor does he know why it will make them better neighbors . Frost is criticizing the ignorance of the neighbor here. Mending Wall, although it doesn 't appear it on the surface, almost parallels to a popular Pink Floyd song, Another Brick in the Wall. The speakers of the song are students and the poem is directed towards teachers. In this song, as in Mending Wall, a barrier is discussed, but this time it is a phsycological barrier instead of a physical one. This barrier has been put up by society and is being built up by the teachers. The students are calling out against this building up of the wall. <br>As it is stated in the song: <br>"All in all you 're(teachers) just another brick in the wall."(Floyd) This barrier being put up…

    • 831 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    If a stone is missing form the fence, you can bet that the two men are out there putting it back together piece by piece. Frost's description of every detail in this poem is quite interesting, very pleasant to read, and extremely imaginable. He leaves the reader to decide for himself what deductions he is to make from the reading. On one hand, Frost makes literal implications about what the two men are doing. For instance, they are physically putting the stones back, one by one. Their dedication, commitment, and constant drive shines through when reading how persistence these men seem about keeping the wall intact. Quite the contrary however, is the inferences that something even deeper is going on. There is a sharing experience taking place here. Indeed, by laboring so hard, each man is experiencing physical repercussions, but they are also using this time as a "meet and greet"…

    • 795 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The boulders fall silently as nature begins to tear down man’s creation. In Robert Frosts poem “Mending Wall” the author offers lots of imagery to describe the walls human beings put up not only to physically separate themselves but also mentally. The two characters in this poem are described as two opposite beings not only in what is grown on their land but also expresses the difference in age between the two. Frost also expresses human emasculation when nature attacked the structures humans built that are thought to be strong and durable. Although really in reality human structures crumbles before the force of nature. In the poem through the comparison of the very different narrator and neighbor, Frost uses images of nature in dominant force that eventually destroys human endeavors, and shows the absurdity of rebuilding both literal and figurative walls that some universal force wants down.…

    • 805 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Mending Wall

    • 1283 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The theme I am going to focus on are opposition to nature and tradition. In the poem mending wall, the two characters, Frost and his neighbor, has contradicting beliefs in the necessity of building division. The neighbor thinks the wall is beneficial, whereas Frost thinks there is no necessity of the wall (line 23). Frost is a nature lover and nature is often mentioned in his poem. In this poem, he portrays the wall as in opposition to nature to strengthen his opinion and perception on the necessity of the wall.…

    • 1283 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There Doesn T Love A Wall

    • 299 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the poem, the narrator (allegedly Frost) meets with its neighbor to repair, as each spring, the wall on the dividing line of the properties. “Something there is that doesn't love a wall,” tells us the narrator in the first line of the poem and then tries to persuade his neighbor of the futility of that ritual that gets them together: the wall would be useful if one of the neighbors had cows, for example, but that is not the case. In addition, he tries to convince the other neighbor that there is no need of such a wall but the neighbor, on two separate occasions, only responds "good wall, good neighbor" and continues repairing the wall.…

    • 299 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    "Mending Wall" is about two neighbors 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 neighbors' friendship, separating them. For the neighbor with the "pine trees" (line 24), 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 neighbors, 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 neighbors" (line 27-45). The neighbor's property is a representation of his privacy and the wall acts as a barrier against intrusion.…

    • 1183 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mending Wall – Frost’s use of the wall as an extended metaphor represents the division between the neighbours, but ironically, is the thing that draws them together, “We keep the wall between us as we go.” The wall separates them, but the use of the word ‘us’ illustrates their connection. Therefore, the wall illustrates the boundaries of human interaction that people create on life’s journey, as well as learning to accept people’s different perspectives.…

    • 515 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Robert Frost Mending Wall

    • 608 Words
    • 3 Pages

    While the neighbor blindly follows tradition and justifies the wall-building with clichéd phrases, the speaker is portrayed as dynamic regarding his stance on the concept of wall-building. Frost depicts the speaker’s neighbor as a static, conforming character. The neighbor routinely joins the speaker in mending the wall, and twice throughout the poem announces, “‘Good fences make good neighbors’” (Frost 27, 45). However, the tone of this line…

    • 608 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Thesis For Mending Wall

    • 921 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The speaker questions the reason for the wall and mentions how his side of the wall is all apple trees and the narrators side is all pine trees. Therefore, he questions why do we need a dividing wall if we already know our property line? The narrator simply replies “’Good fences make good neighbors’” (27). The narrator presents his view on walls with this proverb. He believes that if you have a wall dividing two people’s property, good neighbors will respect those lines and not cross or disobey them. It is clear that the two are in disbelief at this point in the poem, changing the tone to become more clashing and stubborn. As the speaker depicts the narrator, “I see him there/ bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top/ in each hand, like an old-stone savage armed.” (38-40) you can see the visual imagery of a man carrying stone to the wall. Also, the speaker using the term ‘old-stone savage armed,’ which leaves you to picture an older man, who are often stubborn people. This stubbornness is reassured in the next couple lines, “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’” (44-46). The poem ends off with the speaker and the narrator having a difference in viewpoints about the wall. On one side you have a person who values the idea of the wall because his father taught him that the features a wall represents are positive. Such as, protection from trespassing and a line to divide your property telling fellow neighbors this is mine and not yours. Whereas on the other side you have a person who does not value the wall for what it is. They believe that the wall creates limited communication and there is no need for it because the neighbors know where their property begins and…

    • 921 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall,” two men, the narrator and his neighbor, perform an annual repair on a wall separating their property. The narrator description of his neighbor depicts him as a savage blinding following a tradition of maintain a wall to separate his property from the surroundings. The description of the repairing of the wall shows that the two men work concurrently but without cooperating. The depiction of nature as the cause of the gradual destruction of the wall shows that separation is unnatural. Frost uses the description of the neighbor, the mending of the wall, and the source of the wall’s ruin in order to communicate to the reader that a good neighbor embraces collaboration in addition to coordination.…

    • 1018 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The narrator has developed feelings for the neighbor over a long period of time since they rebuild the wall each year when it falls apart. The narrator states, “I let my neighbor know beyond the hill; and on a day we meet to walk the line and set the wall between us once again.” The narrator imagines what life without the wall would be like; the narrator tells the neighbor that he or she would respect the neighbor’s boundaries literally and in a sense figuratively when the narrator states, “My apple trees will never get across and eat the cones under his pine.” The narrator also believes the wall between them to be unnecessary when the narrator thinks, “If I could put the notion in his head: Why do they make good neighbors? Isn’t it where there are cows?…

    • 517 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mending Wall

    • 729 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The speaker and the neighbor annually meet and repair the wall but they never have physical contact with each other; “We keep the wall between us as we go” (line 15). The wall represents the physical and mental barrier between the speaker and the neighbor in the poem. Although the speaker questions the reasoning for the wall, he does not act on his thoughts. The speaker continues to follow the tradition while trying to make his neighbor realize that the existence of the wall does not benefit either of them. The neighbor only responds to the questions asked by saying, “Good fences make good neighbors” (27).…

    • 729 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Mending Wall” portrays a farmer and his neighbor rebuilding a wall between their properties every spring. “As others have noticed, how- ever, the speaker, as much as the neighbor, suffers from a blindness about his relation to the wall,” stated O 'BRIEN. The wall is supposed to be the separation of the two neighbors, but in reality the walls brings them together every year. The wall stands for both the physical detachment of people in society as well as their physical need to remain private. So many people are afraid of what others will do to them if they allow them in whole heartedly. People tend to build up walls to protect themselves from being hurt/heartbroken.…

    • 762 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays