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.