Analysis of Robert Frost's "Mending Wall"

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the poem "Mending Wall," by Robert Frost, focusing on the theme of separation that is portrayed by a wall between the property of two neighbors. The writer describes the story that the poem tells and explains the poetic techniques such as imagery and symbolism that Frost uses to emphasize his theme. The writer shows how spring and the wall symbolize different things for the narrator of the poem and his neighbor, and how Frost uses these symbols to show that a simple wall can be seen as a social as well as a physical obstruction between people.

From the Paper:

"The poem is about two neighbors who have a need to constantly repair a wall separating their lands. The theme of the poem is the wall which they must keep mending; it not only separates their land, but it is a barrier to their communication, friendship, and openness. The narrator of the poem is questioning the reason for the wall's existence and believes that in order to be good neighbors, the wall must come down. Frost writes, "He is all pine and I am apple orchard/My apple trees will never get across/and eat the cones under his pines, I tell him" (25-26). The poem's narrator is aware of the fact that he will not extend his property onto his neighbor's and explains this to his neighbor with the pine trees. Despite telling the neighbor, the neighbor with the pine trees only replies with, "'Good fences make good neighbors'" (27)."

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