Poem Analysis of Mending Wall by Robert Frost

“Mending Wall” is a poem written by Robert Frost, an American poet around a quarter turn of the 20th century. This work of literature expresses the themes of the individual vs. community in the form of a neighbor called when the wall that splits the land and their worlds apart is found during ‘spring mending-time’ all crooked and filled with gaps. Frost plays himself as a sly, observant, and thoughtful farmer whose thoughts are personified about the wall that separates them and his neighbor through careful diction. The wall itself represents more than concrete, but a metaphysical barrier that Frost explains is symbolic of a relationship that unifies and separates them yet are comprised of both the individual vs. society. This paper will use quotes from the text to attempt to explore the messages Frost’s characterization of the neighbor and himself that shows the values of freedom against control.

Frost as the narrator of this poem shows early on that the mending wall that divides the lands between him and his neighbor both separate and unify them at the same time. While they both exist separately, they are undeniably affected and influenced by each other in a sort of ‘yin-yang’. Every year the wall that separates them is filled with gaps after a winter, yet “no one has seen them made or heard them made, but at spring mending-time we find them there” (line 10). Frost references to himself and his neighbor, feeling as though “he is all pine, and I am apple orchard” (line 24) and that they are different. In the literal meaning, Frost could be talking about his produce or on the contrary that their disparates are not as uncommon, believing that “there where it is we do not need the wall” (line 23). The wall protects from unwanted outsiders, but Frost believes there should not be a wall between them, that their lands do not cross over each other. This could be interpreted as believing that despite their differences on how they may view this mending wall situation or even the world, this does not cause any overlap or chafing between them and that the wall does not serve its purpose any longer. Then the neighbor states the adage “good fences make good neighbors” (line 27), referencing the mending wall and solidifying the character he expresses, essentially an antagonist to the motives of Frost. The neighbor feels as though the extent of their relationship should be focused on rebuilding the barriers that separate them and would rather begrudgingly judge Frost from a distance rather than speaking with him and removing all doubt. It is believed, more so by the neighbor, that “to each the boulders that have fallen to each” (line 16) and would rather be separate entirely, only coming in unification with one another to extend their isolation and have his control over what Frost can see.

It can be claimed that the idea of freedom brings about a sense of security and individuality to it when it practiced correctly. At a time in America, the white picket fences that are so vividly described in the American dream barely reached over the knee height of an average man; now, it seems as though that the real freedom comes from large, encasings of wood and concrete that are separating instead of cooperating. The idea of freedom has therefore been misconstrued and mutilated into a mixed feeling surrounded by fear of the unknown or the undesired and has come to represent control more than anything. The neighbor personifies this concept with his brashness and his little speech, but in the spirit of good nature Frost tries to reason with him. In an understanding and peaceful manner, Frost beseeches his neighbor, asking of fences and “why do they make good neighbors? Isn’t it where there are cows? But here there are no cows” (lines 30-31). The freedom loving individual embraces their relationships with those around them and establishes an honest sense of trust, one in which can be the land used by both farmers to graze cows. The neighbor would feel differently, seeing the cows encroaching on his personal business and property, disavowing the idea of sharing. Frost continues, “before I build a wall, I’d ask to know what I was walling in or walling out, and to whom I was like to give offence. Something there is that doesn’t love a wall, that wants it down” (lines 32-46). This is an important turn in the poem, the peak of the conflict between these two coming to an ultimate high. Frost questions the need for a wall, what he would be containing or barring from the world, and even gives a gripe against his neighbor, possibly suggesting that he is the one that does not love the wall and wants it down entirely. He believes in the freedom to work and exist together, while his neighbor would rather control his livelihood, the confrontation between the individual and his community.