"The Mending Wall"

544 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Mending wall by robert frost essay

The "Mending Wall", by Robert Frost is about two farmers whose properties coincide with one another. Every Spring they meet at the boundary of their land to restore the stone wall that divides their two properties. Solely by what they sow you can tell how truly different these two graphic symbols are from one another. Despite the perpetual acts of nature to destroy the barriers created on land by man, it is in fact the fixing of these barriers that makes them so alike and yet so very different.
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...

Show More
Related

  • Rocky Mountains, Lander's Peak: Painting Analysis

    804 Words  | 2 Pages

    If someone who had no prior knowledge about art, or the elements and principles of design, were given five seconds to look at these two paintings, they’d probably say they had almost nothing in common, other than the fact that they both feature mountains, and it’d be true for those people. But, if you are someone that does know a lot of information

    Read More

  • Mending Wall And The Great Gatsby

    642 Words  | 2 Pages

    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?’

    Read More

  • Imagery in "Everyday Use"

    780 Words  | 2 Pages

    Walker begins the story by describing the yard in which the mother is waiting for her daughter to come home. She shows the yard to the reader as being clean and wavy, which, according to the mother, is "more comfortable than most people know" (875). She feels that it is an extension of the living room. She compares the hard clay to the living room floor being swept smooth. This leaves a cool place to sit under the elm tree and "wait for the breezes that never come inside the house" (875). The reader at this point has already experienced the feeling of the soft grass, hard yet smooth clay, the cool breeze, and the smell of the elm tree.

    Read More

  • The Englishman And Santiago In The Alchemist

    443 Words  | 1 Pages

    A strong example is the way they learn. Santiago learns through observation and actions, while the Englishman can only learn by reading books. They have even tried the other’s method, but failed to learn anything. This is an important difference because they would have to find different methods to learn the same thing, which would take different amounts of time. Another contrast between the two is their beliefs. Santiago is obviously a believer in God, while the Englishman appears to hold to no particular religion. In other words, this means he is more than likely an Atheist. This contrast is more of a conflict between them, as most religious differences are. The Englishman and Santiago’s most significant differences are arguably the ways in which they learn and their religious

    Read More

  • Symbolism of Houses in A Doll's House and A Rose For Emily

    891 Words  | 2 Pages

    Though the two stories are very different in how they deal with the issues of society, the symbols of houses present a very similar meaning to both stories. Both relate to a flawed society, however one acts as a barrier and another as an agent for change.

    Read More

  • A Comparison Of Hills Like White Elephants And Raymond Carver's Cathedral

    1495 Words  | 3 Pages

    While reading short stories, two stood out: Ernest Hemingway’s Hills Like White Elephants and Raymond Carver’s Cathedral. The themes in both stories are powerful and convey strong messages that really pose existential thoughts. Not only is each story’s theme attention grabbing, but so is the common and reoccurring use of symbolism throughout the stories. They did not just use the Element of Fiction symbolism, but even used one common symbol. Ernest Hemingway’s story Hills Like White Elephants and Raymond Carver’s story Cathedral each contain existential and similar themes such as talking versus communicating and looking versus seeing, as well as demonstrating creative and comparable symbolism throughout.

    Read More

  • The Hidden Meaning of Robert Frost's Mending Wall

    435 Words  | 1 Pages

    "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".

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast: Two Short Stories

    1712 Words  | 4 Pages

    Short stories are a form of literature works that authors use to communicate various themes and issues to the reader. As such, it is common for different short stories authored by different people to have a central meaning or theme that differs from each other. In addition, the way the author portrays his/her central theme or meaning would differ from the way other authors would craft their short stories to best portray their central meaning. While some would use characterization as a means of portraying the theme of their story, other authors employ the use of symbols to better communicate their theme. However, some slight similarities can always be drawn between short stories. ‘Hills like White

    Read More

  • Analysis of Mending Wall by Robert Frost

    398 Words  | 1 Pages

    It describes how the conservative farmer follows traditions blindly and the isolated life followed by him. It reflects how people make physical barriers and that later in life come to their social life too. Where neighbor with 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? this reflects that nature itself does not like separation. The "something" referring to the intangible sense of social interaction. Furthermore "that sends the frozen-ground-swell under it" refers to Frost or to the author. Although the narrator does not want the wall, ironically, the mending of the wall brings the neighbors together and literally builds their friendship. An additional irony of the poem is that the only time these two neighbors sees each other is when they both mend the wall. The narrator sees the stubbornness in his neighbor, and uses the simile 'like an old-stone savage' to compare him to a stone-age man who 'moves in darkness', that is, set in his ways, and who is unlikely to change his views.

    Read More

  • Wall Of The Berlin Wall

    939 Words  | 2 Pages

    At this point in time, seniors at Mira Costa feel trapped, as if they can't get out of Mira Costa and Manhattan Beach soon enough. Imagine being physically trapped in their city, surrounded by nothing but a big concrete wall holding them hostage. The Berlin Wall kept half a city hidden behind, what was known as, the iron curtain. The wall was “...a symbol of oppressive and divisive government, not only to the East Germans it contained, but to the rest of the world as well.”("Transitional Justice.") The people of Germany were separated from their jobs, their loved ones, and were forced to live under communist rule.

    Read More

  • A Comparison of The Waste Land and Pablo Picasso's Guernica

    794 Words  | 2 Pages

    Aside from the conditions, which lead to the creation of these works, they share a number of other common threads. Symbolism aside these works are very similar on the surface. Both are a collection of seemingly disjointed images, which when put together by the reader or observer serve up a strong social message. That messages being that the wars and conflicts of the times have twisted the world. This is reinforced by the contorted and misshapen images in both works.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of 'The Mending Wall' By Robert Frost

    1164 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Walls Placed on Relationships in Mending Wall by Robert Frost

    846 Words  | 2 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • The Dark Side of Robert Frost’s Nature

    2355 Words  | 5 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Death Of A Salesman Symbolism Analysis

    1207 Words  | 3 Pages

    In “Death of a Salesman” all of the symbols center on Willy’s inability to provide for his family. Although they all have different implications of this theme the symbols are used to support the theme throughout the story. In “Fences” the symbols are mostly about relationships between the characters. In “Death of a Salesman” the garden at the end is used as a symbol of something tangible Willy can leave for his family. In “Fences” the garden has a very different symbolic meaning. It focuses more on the possibility of new life and growth than on the items produced by the

    Read More

More about "The Mending Wall"

Open Document