Mending Wall Essay, Research Paper

DISCUSS THE EFFECTS OF THE WRITING IN MENDING WALL,

SHOWING HOW FAR AND IN WHAT WAYS THIS POEM SEEMS CHARACTERSITIC OF FROSTS

METHODS AND CONCERNS. CONSIDER: CHARACTAER

OF NARRATOR TONE IMAGERY SYMBOLSIM RELATION

TO OTHER POEMS Before

answering this question one must first classify what the Frosts main methods

and concerns are. Throughout Frost?s poem one sees a pattern developing. He

seems a nature lover very much disturbed by the apparent ingratitude and

disrespect that humans take for nature; this is particularly evident in poems

such as ?Two Look at Two,? and of course ?Mending Wall.? Frost shows genuine

disbelief and unease at the fact that humans have such an urge to separate

themselves from one another. This indicates to me that he is a person of strong

morals but also common sense for that fact that he can see where we as humans

are going wrong. The

character of the narrator shows genuine disconcern for nature and he does not

appreciate what nature is really there for. He think its purpose is to be built

upon to show mans ability to construct and create new objects. However he does

not realise that nature is not there for that, but it is a precious thing that

we should be grateful for rather than destroy it. What is most worrying in the

narrator is selfish attitude and the fact that he thinks what he is doing is

right, ? I could say ?Elves? to him.? This line shows that the narrator is

egocentric thinking that everything should revolve around him and that the

feelings of others don?t matter. This goes in parallel to Frost?s concerns that

man is very self-centred. ??????????? The tone in the poem consists of

much tension between the narrator?s ideology and the neighbours. The neighbour

sees barriers as a good thing,? Good fences make good neighbours,? saying how

separation aids human life. Whereas the narrator shows dissatisfaction at such

separation, ?My apple trees?his pines,? at this point the narrator is unhappy

at the rivalry that is being created and wishes all types of nature are able to

mix together rather than have to be on different sides. Overall in the tone

there is much tension and conflict with Frost seemingly unhappy at the barriers

being created whereas the neighbour (what I think to be representing man as a

whole) in favour of there being demarcation among each other. There is

much imagery in this poem that Frost uses to aid his thesis. ?That sends the

frozen-ground-swell under it,? here Frost uses imagery to represent the efforts

that nature is going to in order to break the wall down. Nature is trying to

get into every nook and cranny in order to oppose the presence of the wall.

Frost creates imagery of separation,?one on a side,? here he uses words to

create seemingly unnecessary competition and rivalry between humans further

reinforcing his displeasure at our natural urge to compete and separate. A good

use of imagery to epitomize natural separation, ?He is all pine and I am apple

orchard,? this shows that on one side you have one type of nature and on the

other you have another. It shows how nature is not allowed to mix and has to be

segregated; this is ironic as he uses natural imagery to represent a barrier

yet nothing is more unnatural than nature not being permitted to mix. ??????????? In terms of symbolism Frost uses the

line ?Good Fences make good neighbours,? to symbolise what I feel he thinks all

is wrong in the world. He is trying to get across that this is completely the

wrong ideology to have on life and that there should be no separation, there

should be no barriers. In order to get along with each other we need to be able

to communicate, if there are barriers then surely this can not be accomplished

therefore that line is quite an ironic statement. Towards

the end of the poem uses a cave man like description to symbolise the prim

evilness of man, ?like an old-stone savage.? He uses this description to

symbolise how mans urge to build things is still very ancient and primitive,

but also an underlying message that we have a lot to learn about how to treat

one another and how to get in some kind of harmony with nature. Rather than

acting like parasites, where everywhere we go we take over use all resources

destroy and then move on. In

relation to other poems we can compare ?Mending Wall? to ?Look at Two,? where

similarly Frost is trying to say how humans take things for granted, where they

think they are doing the right thing when in fact all that they are doing is

worsening the situation and obliterating any existing relationship that may

exist between nature and themselves. In

conclusion I feel that in this poem Frost is giving much protest to everything

that is wrong about humans. He is protesting by saying that barriers are

extremely negative and in order to get along we much work together as a race

united with nature, rather than separate ourselves in such futile ways. Frost

does this through a continual use of vivid imagery and symbolism.