Mending Wall

In his poem “Mending Wall”, Robert Frost demonstrates a contrasting view on walls of two neighboring farmers. The speaker “doesn’t love a wall” (Frost) and believes having it is very unnecessary. On the contrary, his neighbor thinks “Good fences make good neighbours” (Frost). Both of the views are presented by the speaker who clearly demonstrates a biased judgment. Frost uses his characters, setting and symbolism to express his view on having walls between people.

The literary elements that Frost uses both help to express the meaning of the poem, especially in the literal sense. The rural setting makes the poem more understandable and applicable because fences are mostly viewed in rural areas. The two characters that hold completely opposite views shows both sides of the story which makes the argument present more convincing. The speaker is presented as a logical and open-minded. He argues that having walls between the farms is ridiculous because they would not invade each other’s properties with their trees. The other farmer is viewed as an old-fashioned “savage”-like person (Frost). “He only says, “Good fences make good neighbours”’ (Frost) and does not give any reason for his statement. This contrast proves that Frost does not approve what the other farmer states.

Frost uses symbolism as well to convey his view in “Mending Wall”. Since the wall keeps an individual away from whatever he is “walling out” keeping whatever he is “walling in” (Frost) safe. The existence of a wall can represent close-mindedness of an individual. The farmer who wants to have a wall is described as conservative and illogical because the wall prevents him from accepting things from the outside. The gaps on the walls that occur gradually and naturally represents how becoming open-minded is natural. But the mending of the wall indicates how a closed minded person refuses to conform to the change.

Frost uses some literary techniques to demonstrate his view in his poem. The use of character, setting and symbolism all contribute to the argument that Frost presents in this poem.