Social Segregation in 'Wall Mending' by Robert Frost

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Social Segregation in “Wall Mending” by Robert Frost
Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall” is a mockery of the rules, traditions, and customs that create social barriers between people. In its literal meaning, a wall creates a physical barrier between people. However, the speaker thinks that there is something in humans that does like the idea of having such barriers between people. The speaker states this fact in the first line when he says that “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.” This personification of something unknown creates a mystery, suggesting that there are secret forces that do not like walls. Lines 2-4 say that this something makes the ground to swell and remove boulders from the wall, creating a huge gap through which two people can pass. The speaker says that this may be the work of hunters who sometimes break through the wall to catch hiding rabbits for their dogs (5-9). However, the gaps the speaker talks about are a mystery because no one has ever seen or heard them being made; they just appear during spring time (11-13). The speaker then has to notify his neighbor who lives beyond the hill to come and mend the gaps. The speaker further says that they remain on the opposite sides of the wall as they mend it. This suggests that the speaker and his neighbor do not like socializing together, and the wall they mend is meant to keep them apart. Lines 16-17 suggest that the speaker and his neighbor like keeping their problems private, and are not willing to help each other. He states that “To each the boulders that have fallen to each/ And some are loaves and some so nearly balls.” The use of repetition (to each) emphasizes the characters’ sense of individualism- they like minding their own business. The reference to superstition in lines 18-20 suggests that the characters have got no logical reason to like what they are doing. Since superstition is not based on scientific fact, the reference to a spell and the ritual of keeping in position until their backs are turned shows that they do not even understand the meaning of the wall they are repairing. This is further emphasized when the speaker says that mending the wall is kind of an outdoor game they play, thus making it look like a joke. In addition, the speaker says that he does not understand the significance of having a wall between them because there are no cows to destroy the other’s crops; he grows apple orchards while his neighbor grows pines. To further show their ignorance regarding the need of a wall, the neighbor just replies that “Good fences make good neighbors” (27). The speaker says that he is most mischievous during spring time, and so he challenges the speaker to explain how fences make good neighbors if there are no cows to be kept at bay. He reckons that it is better for one to know what he intends to keep out before building a wall (32-33). However, he notes that his neighbor’s ignorance is the darkness that keeps him from understanding. The speaker says that his neighbor “will not go behind his father’s saying” (43), suggesting his obsession with tradition. He is just following the wisdom of his ancestors and cannot question them.
The poem attains meaning by using irony, symbolism, imagery and form. To begin with, the poem’s title is symbolic because it refers to the act of repairing and restoring something that has been damaged. The poem is not about building something new, but preserving that which has been in existence. The use imagery helps to emphasize the differences between the characters, such as the description of their time mending the wall. The speaker says that “we keep the wall between us as we go” (15). In this regard, the speaker is talking about society’s obsession w...