bservation
In his blank verse, narrative poem entitled “Mending Wall,” Robert Frost tells the story of two neighbors who repair the wall between them every spring to ensure that they maintain constructive, neighborly terms. Although one neighbor dislikes the wall and thinks that creating the barrier seems purposeless, especially since his “apple trees will never get across and eat cones under his [neighbor’s] pine”, the other neighbor insists that they build up the walls because he believes that “Good fences make good neighbors” (Frost 872). In his poem, Frost uses symbolism. The dominant symbol that Frost uses throughout the poem is the wall. By describing how the neighbors felt motivated to build the physical wall to separate themselves from each other, Frost uses the wall to symbolize other, non-physical walls that people construct in life to separate themselves from each other. Also, Frost uses the apple tree and pine tree, the different tree types in the neighbors’ yards, to symbolize that both neighbors are different from each other. These differences motivate the neighbors to build the barrier between them.
Interpretation
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Although one neighbor wants to break down the wall that exists between him and his neighbor, the other neighbor refuses to accept this idea because he believes the separation helps them maintain a good relationship. However, in reality both men are separating themselves from each other because they fear each other’s differences. Instead of working together to build a positive relationship, they build a wall to separate themselves from each other and do not take the time to understand each other. Similarly, countless people today fail to reach beyond the walls in their mind to form a truly constructive and understanding relationship with
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.
Both authors explore the progressive attitudes and how these were received during the time period of both Fitzgerald and Robert. Frost presents this idea in the poem, ‘Mending Wall’. The poem is about two neighbours who every year go to the end of the garden to meet and build a wall together. However, one neighbour is confused as why there needs to be a wall as there is nothing that needs to be divided or prevented from escaping or entering. This neighbour begins to challenge the other neighbour, ‘why do they make good neighbours?’
The poem “A Fence” by Carl Sandburg talks about how metaphorical defenses or ”fences” can keep unfavorable elements from your life, such as “vagabonds and hungry men”, but also favorable elements such as “wondering children”. One example of metaphorical fences is being wary of people, it can keep the unsound type of people out of one’s life, but it may also cause building friendships a bit more difficult. The poem mentions how complex some fences can be and how it can hurt others that may try to go through them. Everybody has a fence, some are high, some are short. However, they can never keep three things out: “Death and the Rain and To-morrow.”
Many times in the world, differences have lead to hate. Think of Martin Luther King, for example, who stood for fighting against one of the largest differences. A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, is one of many examples of differences leading to hate. Gene and Finny, who somehow managed to become friends, have completely different views of each other. Finny wanted to be friends with Gene, but had trouble facing the reality that Gene felt differently. Gene became jealous over Finny’s difference to himself. Difference has led to hate, once more, and pain has again resulted, first mentally and emotionally, then finally physically.
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 ...
We live in a world of differences. Our world differs view with the people we encounter, the things we learn and the ways we perceive things . We are world of individuals where no person is exactly alike or no group of people is exactly alike. Society is made up of different cultures and religions. Most of us belong to some type of group, these groups give us comfort, we are always more comfortable with those who are similar to us. But when does this become detrimental? Our grouping and separation becomes detrimental when we are presented with someone with differences. The lack of integration within different cultures in today’s society is what keeps us grounded in our own ignorance. It is detrimental to the individual because it keeps us from
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.
In his poem 'Mending Wall', Robert Frost presents to us the thoughts of barriers linking people, communication, friendship and the sense of security people gain from barriers. His messages are conveyed using poetic techniques such as imagery, structure and humor, revealing a complex side of the poem as well as achieving an overall light-hearted effect. Robert Frost has cleverly intertwined both a literal and metaphoric meaning into the poem, using the mending of a tangible wall as a symbolic representation of the barriers that separate the neighbors in their friendship.
In “Mending Wall” by Robert Frost, one neighbor wants to break down the wall that separates both of them. They each need something from each other whether it is food or resources. Each year, they come together to discuss ways to fix the wall that separates each other. This neighbor wants his other neighbor to join together as an "entire "community despite their belief and differences. His perspective is that coming together will solve issues and gain different ideas to make their society. Removing this barrier would create a better, just stainable
Frost establishes at the outset his speaker's discursive indirection. He combines the indefinite pronoun "something" with the loose expletive construction "there is" to evoke a ruminative vagueness even before raising the central subject of walls. A more straightforward character (like the Yankee farmer) might condense this opening line to three direct words: "Something dislikes walls." But Frost employs informal, indulgently convoluted language to provide a linguistic texture for the dramatic conflict that develops later in the poem. By using syntactical inversion ("something there is . . .") to introduce a rambling, undisciplined series of relative clauses and compound verb phrases ("that doesn't love . . . that sends . . . and spills . . . and makes . . ."), he evinces his persona's unorthodox, unrestrained imagination. Not only does this speaker believe in a strange force, a seemingly intelligent, natural or supernatural "something" that "sends the frozen-ground-swell" to ravage the wall, but his speech is also charged with a deep sensitivity to it. The three active verbs ("sends," "spills," "makes") that impel the second, third, and fourth lines forward are completed by direct objects that suggest his close observation of the destructive process.
When building walls, or choosing not to, personal experiences and knowledge should always be taken into consideration. In order to decipher when it’s appropriate to put up walls and when it is not, we must give ourselves time to not only think but to absorb what has occurred. Walls are put up for all different types of reasons. In some cases, they are necessary and in others, they tend to not make much sense. In Robert Frost’s poem “Mending Wall,” the wall built between the two properties makes complete sense to the neighbor, but to the narrator it is unreasonable and hard to decipher.
The poem “Mending Wall” begins by the narrator telling is that there is a wall that is constantly being taken down by nature, and the narrator and his neighbor have to keep re-building it. But as the poem progresses, the narrator becomes unsure with himself, and begins to say that there is a wall “There where it is we do not need the wall” (23). He starts to question why a wall is there, knowing that he can never get across it to his neighbor. As the poem keeps progressing, he learns that the wall is there because of his neighbors tradition from his father, and he ends up saying “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall that wants it down (35), and he is talking about himself. In the progression of this poem, we see the narrator’s character change from someone who is persistent to someone who has hatred for what he is doing. He becomes more aware, having an epiphany, learning that there is truly no need for a wall, and it is only there because his neighbor is following his father’s tradition that requires him to keep the wall up. Through this characterization, we see that by only one side having hatred for the other, it can cause a division between them, because one person disagrees with the other. Through this poem, we see many character changes amongst the narrator, but one character that stays the same
In his poem 'Mending Wall', Robert Frost presents to us the ideas of barriers between people, communication, friendship and the sense of security people gain from barriers. His messages are conveyed using poetic techniques such as imagery, structure and humour, revealing a complex side of the poem as well as achieving an overall light-hearted effect. Robert Frost has cleverly intertwined both a literal and metaphoric meaning into the poem, using the mending of a tangible wall as a symbolic representation of the barriers that separate the neighbours in their friendship.
"Mending Wall" is a poem written by the poet Robert Frost. The poem describes two neighbors who repair a fence between their estates. It is, however, obvious that this situation is a metaphor for the relationship between two people. The wall is the manifestation of the emotional barricade that separates them. In this situation the "I" voice wants to tear down this barricade while his "neighbor" wants to keep it.
In the poem "Mending Wall," Robert Frost utilizes the literary devices of imagery, meter, and symbolism to demonstrate the rational and irrational boundaries or metaphoric "walls" humans place on their relationships with others. The precise images, such as the depiction of the mending-time ritual and the dynamic description of his "old-stone savage armed" neighbor, serve to enhance our enjoyment as well as our understanding of the poem (40). The poem is written in blank verse (iambic pentameter); the form that most closely resembles everyday English. Frost deliberately employs this direct, conversational, and easy to understand style of meter which appears simple on the surface. Although symbolism is used throughout, the three most significant symbols are: the wall, his neighbor, and Frost himself as the speaker. Analyzing each of these devices as well as how they harmonize with one another is necessary in order to appreciate what Frost was revealing about human behavior.