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The mending wall by robert frost historical meaning
The mending wall by robert frost historical meaning
The mending wall by robert frost historical meaning
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Mending Wall
The year was 1914; this was a time in American history when we as a nation were just beginning to emerge onto the world stage. The world had yet to endure the First World War and all that followed it within the 20th century. This was at a time when life seemed to move at a slower pace and a large number of families still lived in the country. This is the place you must imagine in order to understand where Robert Frost is coming from when you read his poem entitled Mending Wall. Eighty-six years has passed since this poem was first published, but its message is timeless because it makes the reader challenge his or her own beliefs in maintaining and breaking down social boundaries. In this essay, I plan to look at the following questions. What are the principal themes of Robert Frost's Mending Wall? How does the poem use symbolism to broaden the problems of repairing boundaries? Does the 1st person agree or disagree that good fences make good neighbors? To what extent is the poem ironic and how does irony modify its moral messages?
I think that the principal themes of the poems are a combination of different ideas. The ideas of setting boundaries between people are based on prejudice. This poem makes you face the evil of prejudice and ask the question, why do we build walls (real and unreal) around ourselves? He not only asked this important question, but he also gave the answer within the poem. In this poem you find the two men coming together each year to rebuild the wall. This is a way of finding common ground between the two men that could help to build a lasting friendship between the two neighbors.
In this poem, Robert Frost used symbolism in order to express problems of repairing the boundary wall of the universal problem of maintaining social boundaries. In the poem Frost wrote
To each the boulders that have fallen to each
And some are loaves and some are nearly balls.
We have to use a spell to make them balance (16-18)
"Boulders" could represent differences between not only the two neighbors but also differences between all mankind. The word "loaves" and "balls" can represent big and small problems or differences between people. Frost was trying to challenge the reader to ask whether or not we need to build walls around ourselves in order to protect our own interests.
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 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" 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.
It describes how the conservative farmer follows traditions blindly and the isolated life followed by him. It reflects how people overcome physical barriers and that later in life come to their social life too. Where a neighbor with a pine tree, believes that this separation is needed as it is essential for their privacy and personal life. The poem explores a paradox in human nature. The first few lines reflect demolition of the wall,?Something there is that doesn?t reflect love a wall?
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 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.
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 ...
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.
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.
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
Frost’s use of comparisons helps the reader to better interpret the meaning of this poem. The picture created, with his use of imagery allows the reader to view his work from various perspectives. His analogies are very pragmatic. The reader is able to relate to the speaker’s feelings. After reading this poem it gives the reader a sense of understanding why the speaker wished he could go back to his past so much.
First, there is the theme of separation. In Frost’s poem he shows us how walls separate peoples and creates distance. Secondly, he representation when explaining how nature doesn't even comprehend the thought of walls. Lastly, Frost explains his statement on the fact of nature dislikeing walls by saying “something there is that doesn't live a wall/that sends the frozen-ground-swell under it/and spills the upper boulders in the sun”. After these two text, the authors share a common abomination for walls and the separation they create. Even though walls create separation they can also prevail people and their thoughts and actions.
Robert Frost is known for his poems about nature, he writes about trees, flowers, and animals. This is a common misconception, Robert Frost is more than someone who writes a happy poem about nature. The elements of nature he uses are symbolic of something more, something darker, and something that needs close attention to be discovered. Flowers might not always represent beauty in Robert Frost’s poetry. Symbolism is present in every line of the nature’s poet’s poems. The everyday objects present in his poems provide the reader an alternative perspective of the world. Robert Frost uses all the elements of poetry to describe the darker side of nature. After analyzing the Poem Mending Wall and After Apple Picking it is clear that nature plays a dark and destructive role for Robert Frost. This dark side of Frost’s poetry could have been inspired from the hard life he lived.
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.
Robert Frost's Mending Wall represents two opposing ideas through its dialogue between two neighbors. The narrator represents a newer way of thinking while his neighbor embodies an older mindset. In the poem the two neighbors are repairing a wall or fence that separates their property line. Although neither of the two men has anything that could cross the fence, the young man has apple trees and the old farmer has pines. The wall has been broken down by the winter that "sends the frozen ground swell under it" and by "the work of hunters" (Frost 1177-1178). The two men work together to repair the wall, a task that seems unnecessary to the young narrator. The older neighbor cannot fathom the thought of not having a wall or boundary to separate his land from his youthful neighbor, a belief that has been passed down from his father. Mending Wall is not unlike many Frost poems; it contains dialogue between two people that is never resolved. The Norton Anthology of American Literature gives a solid definition of what set Robert Frost apart from other creators of dialogue, "The clarity of Frost's diction, the colloquial rhythms, the simplicity of his images above all the folksy speaker-these are intended to make the poems look natural and unplanned." (1175-1176). Robert Frost created a poem in Mending Wall that represented opposite ends of the poles of thinking, while providing his reader with a dialogue that spoke the way they did. By doing this Frost makes his narrator and the neighbor both characters that could represent any one of his readers, whether old or young.