The Wall

Mending Wall seems to be a straightforward poem about the Relationship between two neighbors repairing a useless Wall; but despite t its unsophisticated appearance, the poem contains many interesting Metaphors.

The main action is two neighbors fixing a rock Wall. The rock Wall is a Human construction and the two are piling rocks that have been spilled by the frozen-ground-swell under it. It is a simple Metaphor, and yet the main theme of the poem is the speaker pondering the sentiment: something there is that doesnt love a Wall. For Frost something cannot be represented by a single word. Through the poet figure Frost al ludes to many things that can be represented by the word something. Similarly, the Wall represents more than just an arbitrary boundary created by Humans. It is clear the Wall is not necessary between their two properties, the two are separated by a hill and have no cows to coral, and yet the speaker does more to initiate the maintenance of the Wall than his neighbor. When the hunters turn the stones to expose the rabbit he comes after them and repair , and in the spring it is he that lets his neighbor know it is time to mend the Wall. The futility of the Wall only helps to reinforce the futility of repairing it year after year.

It is not just the speaker who is playing this game with himself. The neighbor also has a game that allows him to avoid confronting his own feelings. The only line that the neighbor speaks is good fences make good neighbors. He says this twice as if it were a mantra or affirmation to help him avoid thinking about the necessity of the Wa ll. The speaker wants his neighbor to think beyond a simple saying, but to no avail. The neighbor is set in his ways; he has built a Wall in his own mind that he mends by repeating his fathers saying.

When the poet figure confronts a trait in his neighbor that is similar to his own denial he sees it as black and negative. Despite the arbitrariness of the Wall there is an underlying hubris in the speaker that prevents him from backing down in his confrontation with both nature and his nature. When he sees the same hubris in his neighbor he sees someone who moves in darkness. To move in darkness is to move in blindness. In this case the neighbor is blind to the uselessness of both fighting to maintain the Wall and of its existence. The subconscious of the speaker is perhaps aware of this blind devotion to a ridiculous ritual and to break the silence; to speak openly of their sightless chore is to admit that he also has been blind to the futility of trying to overc ome nature. One cannot overcome that of which one is apart. It is doubtful that Frosts only intent with this poem was to make a statement about the duality of Humans and nature, but because the poem recounts a Human experience that readers can relate to the complexities reveal more than deliberate statements of truth. That this poem is often read as a banal statement of the inanity of boundaries and cherished for the moralistic nugget it provides only further adds to its mystique. As such the poem can also be seen as a Metaphor for the Walls in the minds of the readers who fail to realize the richness of this poem.

Mary Anne Winslow is a member of Essay Writing Servicecounselling department team and a dissertation writing consultant. Contact her to get free counselling on custom essay writing .

Author:: Mary Anne Winslow
Keywords:: Wall, Mending, Relationship, Human, Metaphor
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