Mending Wall

A detailed Summary of Mending Wall

Thematic Development in "Mending Wall"

Throughout "Mending Wall" the existence of barriers partitions the elements between the cerebral and corporeal worlds of two isolated neighbors. The existence of obstruction, portrayed by the large enclosure separating the neighbors in this poem, is very common on the earth in which we live. The narrator and his neighbor differ in opinion regarding the rationale of maintaining such a wall, but nevertheless both convene each spring to restore the natural abrasions. In his poem "Mending Wall," Robert Frost employs the use of symbolism, diction, and imagery to convey the thought that humans possess an impulse to become independent from one another, for they often object to change within their lives, fearing what they do not know and what has never been.

Through the context of the poem, symbolism is made apparent through the establishment of the wall and the natural surroundings that encompass it. The wall is an unsolicited agent through the eyes of nature, but it maintains its establishment as the barrier which two neighbors manage in order to isolate themselves from not only society but their inner selves as well. However, nature attempts to uproot the collection of stone by sending

the "frozen-ground-swell under it" (l. 2), but the effort to resist the charisma of the wall is to no avail. With each passing spring the neighbors reunite to renovate the battered barricade, denoting the importance of the mutual obligation for preserving the unnatural obtrusion. The rash assertion, "'Good fences make good neighbors'" (l. 27) is a token of the neighbor's affection, or lack thereof, towards human nature. The narrator attempts to unearth the cynical views of his neighbor, comparing the temperaments of each to pine and apple trees; nature promotes uniqueness and unity, but the establishment of the wall refutes the natural tendencies of pine and apple trees to segregate, creating an unnatural atmosphere. Regrettably man has failed to progress in terms of human bonding, for the primitive behaviors are depicted through the actions of the "old-stone savage" (l. 40), inflexible in belief and stubborn in action. Hence, the wall is allowed to successfully serve its purpose as a figure of separation, disrupting the mending intensions of nature.

In addition to his use of symbolic values and his choice of diction, Frost creates vivid descriptions of the scenery and environment with his use of imagery. Immediately, Frost f

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Robert Frost, Immediately Frost, Mending Wall, pine apple, mending wall, diction imagery, pine apple trees, diction frost, symbolism diction imagery, intensions nature, wall natural, apple trees, establishment wall, barrier neighbors, symbolism diction,

Approximate Word count = 836
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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Mending Wall

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