In ancient times, Kings used great walls to defend themselves from invaders. But now, who is it we are trying to defend ourselves from? Walls are great for homes, or for defending a castle and all those who live inside of it, but unfortunately, they serve a new purpose now. Outside of the home, walls can be seen cutting people off from each other or can play a great role in someone's personal depression. Walls are made to separate people, and today they are used to keep people in and bring fear to those whom wish to leave, or those who want the help the ones trapped inside. Walls separate people, making who would normally be a good friend a complete stranger. Take for example, the wall from Robert Frost's short story, The Mending Wall. The narrator is completely alienated from his neighbor, who he would consider a friend, but with the wall set so firmly between them, and their annual rebuilding, there is little hope they will become friends. Or perhaps the Berlin Wall would serve a better example. The Berlin Wall cut the entire city almost in half, and because of this, some people, including brothers & sisters, were separated for 20 plus years. The only thing stopping them from seeing each other, and the only thing preventing the narrator from having a healthy relationship with his neighbor, was a …show more content…
single wall. Walls are great for keeping people in, and although you may be wanting to protect them, you may be oppressing them. The Soviets during the Cold War used the Berlin Wall to separate eastern and western Berlin, even separating the western parts of the world and eastern parts completely. With its destruction, the east and west are finally allies again. In Robert Frost's story, it seems as if the neighbor would rather have a wall beside his house instead of another house. He always states that a good wall makes a good neighbor, while his neighbor, the narrator, suffers from his bad relationship with his wall loving neighbor. Walls are made to keep people apart, and it's quite clear that they work flawlessly. It may seem some what childish to say such a thing, but walls are made to install fear into any invader or those who attempt to leave the confines of the walls perimeter. Take for example, the mighty Berlin Wall. This monstrosity was equipped with guard towers, spotlights, and barbed wire, sending a clear message to anyone within the wall. There is no escaping. Nor is there any hope of you returning to the West. It was not until President Reagan came and gave his glorious speech, when people took up arms against the communist regime, and began to tear down that wall. The narrator from Frost's famous story was also in fear of the wall. He did not fear that he would be shot, or harmed trying to cross it, he feared the damage it was doing to his relationship with his neighbor. He was so fearful about hurting their already damaged relationship, that every year, despite his intense hatred for it, he helped to rebuild it, and return it to its original form. Walls can be used to harm people, both mentally and physically, whether they get in between you and your family, or you run into one while riding a dirt bike. Some might say that the wall was one of the greatest inventions.
Without the Great Wall of China, the Chinese empire would have fallen due to Mongolian attacks, which is true, but there is a great difference between the Great Wall and the Berlin Wall or the mending wall. While the Great Wall was used to defend China, the Berlin Wall was used to oppress the people of east Berlin, and while the Great Wall was a symbol of hope for China, the Berlin Wall was a symbol of communist oppression to the world. The mending wall was not used for protection, nor physical oppression. It was used to mentally oppress the narrator and to damage his rocky relationship with his
neighbor.
The Great Wall of China, one of the world’s eight wonders, is one of the most famous feats of human architecture in the history of the world. This ancient marvel is not only a great spectacle, but is also significant in the shaping and molding of the China everyone knows today. The Great Wall of China allowed China to possess some of the longest lived governmental structures in the world by providing a means of protection against hostile nomadic groups and other warlike peoples. This allowed the lifespans of the dynasties-- lines of hereditary rulers who rule over a country for a long period of time-- inside the wall to be prolonged. This massive structure is therefore a key part of China’s history, influencing nearly every dynasty that ruled the region, since the rise of the first emperor.
A description of the wall is necessary in order to provide a base for comparison with the rest of the story. Because we only get the narrator s point of view, descriptions of the wall become more important as a way of judging her deteriorating mental state. When first mentioned, she sees the wall as a sprawling, flamboyant pattern committing every artistic sin, (Gilman 693) once again emphasizing her present intellectual capacity. Additionally, the w...
What drew my to the Great Wall is that the Great Wall isn’t only a physical thing but it is also something that has stood for a culture. From a physical barrier to something that established safe caravan routes, the Great Wall has stood for it all. It represents China, in the current and in the past. This draws me to The Great Wall of China. The three dynasties that constructed the wall were the Qin, the Han, and the Ming.
On Sunday, August 13th, in 1962 the Eastern German government began construction of the Berlin Wall (“Berlin Wall”). The Berlin Wall was built to divide the post World War II communist ran East Germany with the democratic West Germany. On that day families in Berlin were awaken to military machinery, barbed wire coils, and armed guards. The families that had crossed the newly made border the night before to visit friends and/or family were greeted to a wall and closed transit systems (“Berlin Wall”). For them this meant they were no longer going to be able to go home and be with their family however long this division of the country would last. As the day went on some government officials in East Germany feared that the citizens would start an uprising. However, contrary to their fears the streets of East Berlin stayed eerily quiet. Almost thirty years after that day the wall still separated friends and family only miles away. The wall was a physical division between the two superpowers of the time: the East controlled by the communist regime in the Soviet ...
Walls are built up all over the world. They have many purposes and uses. The most common use of a wall is to divide a region. One of these famous walls is the Berlin Wall, which was constructed in 1961. This Wall was erected to keep East Berlin out of West Berlin, and even America had its own wall well before this one. There were a few major differences though. America’s wall, in contrast, was not a physical one that kept capitalism from communism. America’s wall was of a psychological variety, and it spread across most of the nation. America’s wall was more of a curtain in the fact that one could easily pull it aside to see what behind it, but if one didn’t want to they didn’t. This curtain was what separated whites and blacks in America, and one famous writer, James Baldwin, felt there was a need to bring it down. He felt that one should bring it down while controlling his or her emotions caused by the division. One of the best places to see the bringing down of the curtain and the effects that it had on the nation is where the curtain was its strongest, in Birmingham, Alabama.
Walls are one of man’s oldest defenses; physical barriers that are erected to keep people out, or, in some cases, to keep them in. Walls are physical fortifications that create tension and distain among people on both sides. This is what the Berlin Wall, or der Mauer in German, was; a physical barrier created in Berlin, Germany during the Cold War. It was created by the East Germans in an attempt to stop East German citizens from immigrating to Western Germany. However, the Berlin wall was a crude attempt to separate the political and social variances in Germany during the Cold War, because, while it created a physical barrier, it still was unable separate people in an ethic manor.
In conclusion Berlin Wall was an important milestone in the growth of the Cold War. It was the expansion that represented the thinking of a determined Communist system. Western Capitalism, which was more powerful, eventually defeated the system. The massive wall that did so much harm to a country was finally destroyed, and the people of Germany could now live the way they all wanted to live. They could live the life of freedom. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall East Germany has went through a lot of changes, and it still is not easy for all of the people in East Germany. But no matter how hard it is for the people of East Germany now, it is better than being alone and separated from their families, friends and rest of Europe.
"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.
We are now gathering the idea that the wall was there to control movement and to discourage raiding parties. It is without doubt though that should someone wish to cross the wall undetected, it is easily possible. The psychological effect that the wall would have on the Britons and Picts though was possibly the most important effect of the wall. Despite the wall being breached quite easily, the sheer size and power indicated to those to the south the Pax Romana and the protection that they received and to those to the north, the power of the Romans. Therefore, the main function of the wall was most probably to "Shock and Awe" the inhabitants and designed to maintain order.
Mending Wall, written by Robert Frost, describes the relationship between two neighbors and the 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 reflects 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.
Despite all the tragedy that surrounds The Great Wall of China, it continues to be considered a triumph for China. The Great Wall supplied protection for the developing empire. It also allowed for the development of Chinese trade with other countries. It has helped China?s economy from the days of the Silk Road through the present as it supplies tourism for China. It revolutionized not only military communication of the time but also wall building techniques. It stands as a symbol of strength and endurance for China. The Great Wall is a tribute to all of the Chinese who worked on it. The Great Wall of China shows the magnitude of what mankind can achieve in the face of tragedy.
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.
The time they were building the Great Wall, was during the Warring States period. Therefore many people had to attack China for power. The Chinese soldiers had to use watchtowers to look out for enemies. Soldiers had to stay up for several nights watching for intruders. When people invaded, the soldiers had to fight to protect the people.
There was a large degree symbolism that followed the creation process of the wall that is evidenced throughout the long stretching history of China. From that history one may observe that there is a lack of association in art, poetry, and books with the great wall of china. The people of China in truth saw the construction as a waste of money and time. There is a phrase that I rather like which stated only weak dynasties build walls, which shows how the everyday people of the Chinese dynasties saw it as truly ineffective in its entirety. Though considered a World Wonder of the Medieval age, the wall is often neglected and has been torn down in parts to build roads further creating a gap between the past and contemporary age of China.
When the Berlin Wall was constructed, East Germany went into a state of panic, fell into poverty, and adopted a communist government. The citizens of the GDR were filled with terror and anxiety when the border separating them from friends, family, and lovers was constructed. Many attempted to escape but every passing day, the wall became more and more menacing. Trapped, the people of East Germany were forced to cope with the shortage of goods, accept the fact that anybody could be a spy for the STASI, and follow the rule of an oppressive government. Although conditions were grim, the people of the East united together in order to survive. The wall is but a thing of the past, but it will always be remembered by every individual in Germany and the rest of the world.