Neighbors Need Walls example essay topic

"Mending Wall" is a poem that presents two opposing attitudes towards keeping barriers up between people. Each neighbor has a different opinion. One neighbor wants a visible line to separate their property lines and the other sees no reason for it. The poem implies a lack of security and trust one person may have towards another, even when it may not seem illogical or necessary. Each year the two neighbors meet annually at the adjoining wall. Both men walk the length of the wall to assess and repair the year's wear and tear.

Frost' writing style invites the reader to probe the need for communication or, more precisely, the way people put up walls to create barriers between themselves. The visual imagery of the wall helps the reader to shift from just seeing the wall as a basic, natural setting to an abstract consideration of human behavior. In the first stanza of the poem it establishes the sense of mystery, a true color of atmosphere, "something" that does not want the wall to be there. Whatever it is, it's a powerful force and it creates a " frozen ground swell" that disrupts the wall from underneath, forcing stones on top to tumble off. Damage appears each year so the neighbors walk along the wall to repair the gaps and fallen stones that have not been created by either of the two neighbors. Frost then gives the reader an uncertain question as to why should neighbors need walls anyway.

Why do good fences make good neighbors? If one or both neighbors had cattle or something that could do possible damage then a fence would be reasonable. However, it is pointed out in the poem that there are no cattle. So, there must be some sort of human distrust between one of the neighbors. What is the distrust? Frost doesn't let the reader know.

Perhaps it is an age difference that results in extreme points of view or tradition. Or maybe there is a religious bias about the other. One neighbor wants to separate and possibly his family. The wall prevents the evil of indifference from entering. The phantom of discomfort seems to be kept in check by this rock structure. Frost gives us the impression that he doesn't agree with separating people.

The poem might have something to do with racism. Maybe one neighbor is black and the other is Caucasian. Perhaps one of the neighbors can't deal with the difference in ethnicity therefore separates and creates a barrier. He gives a suggestion that good fences make good neighbors but that statement may be a friendly way of saying, "if I can create a visible way of keeping you away then we can get along because I can fend off your strangeness from me. Frost might be using the simplicity of a common object to allude to a prevalent human dilemma-fear of the unknown. The wall prevents investigation to confirm or negate our presumptions about others.

Conversely, the hard, cold rock represents the extreme measures taken to preserve our ridged thinking. Using the tool of visual imagery, Robert Frost challenges the reader to travel deeper within to visit our own personal boundaries. A wall is a physical demonstration of isolating that which we do not wish to trespasses into our domain. I believe Frost wants the reader to question the implications for our emotional limitations.

Who do we keep abbey and why? Even the civility of shared responsibility, the fixing of the wall, presents a pretense of cooperation and acceptance. Yet, the very act of repair denotes a willingness to keep distance the trend.