The Mending Wall

A detailed Summary of The Mending Wall

Humans have an uncanny ability to place themselves at a comfortable distance from each other and call it a "mutual understanding," a "friendship," or even "true love," but it is all lies. The essence of man's mystery is somewhat of a paradox. He yearns to become more familiar with those around him, yet he is unwilling to allow this to happen.

The power of "Mending Wall," one of Frost's most often quoted poems, rests upon an opposition. Its two famous lines contradict each other. The poem upholds that:

Something there is that doesn't love a wall.

The contradiction is reasonable, for two different types of people utter the conflicting remarks and both are right. Man cannot live without walls, boundaries, limits and especially self-limitations; yet he resents all fetters and is happy at the destruction of any barrier. In "Mending Wall" the boundary line is useless:

There where it is we do not need the wall.

And, to stress the point, the speaker facetiously adds:

He is all pine and I am apple orchard.

Freedom of speech, as granted in the first amendment of the constitution, allows us to speak our minds without persecution. We were born with voices so we can talk. All of God's creations, from bumblebees to grizzly bears, possess a form of communication. Not exercising this privilege is like dying of dehydration while wading in a lake because you don't want to get your hands wet.

He challenges what television says about talking to their children more often. Rosenblatt, once again, grew emphatic about the necessity of situations where talk is absent. Oscillating between his theory and the present-tense play by play of the game, he expresses clearly to the reader that no matter who, or how old you are, there lies a need to be understood without saying a word.

The fences that Frost refers to are the figurative lines one draws to keep himself disconnected to others. Rosenblatt likewise finds miscommunication or a lack thereof as deleterious to our well being.

"A ball travels between two people, each seeking a moment of understanding from the other, across the yard and the years." Some say th

Some common words found in the essay are:
Game Catch, Mending Wall, Similarly Frost, Wall Frost's, , mending wall, Roger Rosenblatt's, mutual understanding, situations talk, fences neighbors,

Approximate Word count = 744
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels

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The Mending Wall

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