"Mending Wall" Essay

An essay on some of the themes of the short story "Mending Wall"

“Mending Wall” and the Homogeneity of People

"Mending Wall” is a poem about a man who only sees the disparities between he and his neighbor. Some readers believe this poem is about how walls can separate people. Other readers believe it is about a man who has the inability to empathize with people. Using quotations from “Mending Wall”, I will show the poem’s theme which is that humans are much more alike than different. I will use specific moments from the poem to demonstrate how the narrator constantly looks down upon his neighbor even though they are quite similar.  

“Mending Wall” shows how the narrator repairs his wall every year to isolate himself from others. The wall is a symbol to show the narrator blocking himself off from the outside world. The narrator describes the wall on the third and fourth lines by calling it a “boulder.” He says, “And spills the upper boulders in the sun; and makes gaps even two can abreast.” A boulder is a huge, menacing object that stretches up to the sky and is impossible to move. The definition of “spill” can mean to spread profusely or beyond bounds. The narrator uses the visual image of a wall in this terminology to show it as a powerful psychological and physical barrier. On line 2, the narrator says, “That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it.” The definition of “frozen” can mean incapable of being changed, moved, or undone. The definition of “swell” is to expand beyond a normal limit. For the narrator, the wall that surrounds him has taken over control of his life. “Mending Wall” shows how people can let themselves become confined inside the walls that surround them.

“Mending Wall” conveys that some people build walls because they are greedy and refuse to share their resources. “Mending Wall” reveals a socialist message by showing how wealthy people use walls to keep their resources away from the poor. This poem also uses the narrator allegorically to show how developed countries take resources from the environment and don’t share them with undeveloped countries. On line 24, the narrator tells us that he produces something meaningful while his neighbor does not. He says, “he is all pine and I am apple orchard.” The narrator uses the word pine as a metaphor to describe his neighbor. He also uses apple orchard as a metaphor to describe himself. Pine trees are not able to be eaten by humans, and by calling the neighbor pine, the narrator is saying this neighbor doesn’t produce anything useful. The neighbor calls himself apple orchard to describe himself as valuable because apples are something that can be eaten by humans. Apples are also a symbol for temptation, so the narrator may be saying that his neighbor is tempted to steal his resources. But if the narrator realized that he and his neighbor are similar just by being human, he might not mind giving his neighbor some of his apples. The poem is saying that we should share resources with each other because we are all responsible for the welfare of our fellow humans.

The neighbor in this poem uses the wall in a similar fashion to our narrator. But the narrator doesn’t realize this and wonders why his neighbor has the urge to build a wall. The narrator says on lines 25 and 26, “My apple trees will never get across And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.” The narrator uses the words “apple” and “pine” because apples are a valuable commodity and pines are not. The neighbor only has pine trees on his property so in reality he doesn’t need a wall to protect any resources. The only reason he would need a wall is to stay secluded from others. The narrator realizes that his neighbor owns nothing of value and questions why he even needs a wall around him. The narrator does not realize that he and his neighbor both use the wall to isolate themselves. If the narrator would have the ability to empathize with his neighbor he would see that they use the wall for the same purpose. But the narrator can’t conceive that he and his neighbor are similar. This poem is trying to show the reader that if people would put themselves in other’s shoes, their decisions would be easier to understand.

The narrator in “Mending Wall” is a modernist who is opposed to the building of walls. Modernists believe that the industrial revolution has not improved life for humans. The narrator describes the natural resources he and his neighbor have to build their wall every year. On lines 17 and 18, the narrator says, “And some are loaves and some so nearly balls We have to use a spell to make them balance.” The narrator uses the words “loaves” and “balls” because a loaf refers to bread and a ball refers to a rock. Nature gave the neighbors two resources that won’t stack together to build an adequate wall. The right way to build a wall is to build it using bricks because they stack nicely up against each other. The narrator knows this because he says he has to use a “spell” to build the wall. When he says “spell” he is referring to magic which is something that has been proven to be fake. Even though he knows the wall is a failure, he still comes together with his neighbor every year to build it because they both need the wall to protect themselves from others.

“Mending Wall” believes there is no need for private property in human society. This poem alludes to the fact that at this time period, people were starting to settle down and build walls to keep others out. The narrator says on line 31, “But here there are no cows.” The narrator seems to be bothered by the fact that his neighbor has the urge to build a wall to try to control his environment. The narrator uses cows as a metaphor for agriculture. The narrator believes that if there were no such thing as private property, the two men wouldn’t need to meet every year to build a wall. Cows are a representation for man staying in one place to live his life. Before the agricultural revolution, in nomadic society, land was shared by people because everyone was constantly traveling to capitalize on the resources. A theme of this story is that technically, no one can own land, it is here for everyone to share and live off of. But once a person decides to stay in one place, property ownership becomes very important to them. “Mending Wall is saying that land on this planet should be shared equally among humans because we are all brothers and sisters.

When the neighbor is building the wall, the narrator describes him in very harsh terms. On line 40 he calls him “an old-stone savage armed.” A secondary definition of a “savage” is a person lacking complex or advanced culture. The narrator uses the word “savage” to describe his neighbor as a primitive who hasn’t adapted to modern life. Stones were the first technology that man learned to use, and by saying that word the narrator is describing his neighbor as a human still stuck in the Paleolithic era of technology. He also describes his neighbor as “armed.” Being armed means being equipped with or carrying a weapon. But this poem also shows how the narrator and his neighbor’s relationship is mended every year because of the wall. The wall in it of itself is a paradox because it splits apart people but also brings them together. The narrator says on lines 13-14, “And on a day we meet to walk the line and set the wall between us as we go.” The two men become closer every year by building the wall because it creates a bond between them. The poem is saying that people who are different but work together towards a common goal realize they have more in common with each other than they would have thought.

This poem shows that looking at other people’s faults can help you correct your own faults because we all deal with very similar issues. When the neighbor isolates himself using his wall, the neighbor becomes suspicious of his intentions. On lines 1 and 35 the narrator says, “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall” In this sentence, the narrator hints that the reason the wall gets ruined every year is because the neighbor is the one that ruins it. The narrator wonders if his neighbor is hiding something by being reclusive. He says, “He moves in darkness as it seems to me, not of woods only and the shades of trees.” The narrator is saying that his neighbor walks around like an evil spirit. Being called a “shade” can mean being described as a ghost or spirit. The narrator sees a lot of himself in his neighbor. They both try to stay away from other people and by calling his neighbor a ghost and a shade he might unconsciously be talking about himself.

“Mending Wall” shows that as humans we are much the same and to make this world a better place we need to start to realize that. The narrator unfortunately didn’t come to this realization in this poem and he suffers in isolation because of it. Trying to find the similarities you have with others instead of the differences can be a difficult challenge. Do you tend to look down upon others if they’re different than you?

Reviews

[Maria]

Wow, this was well analyzed, and never heard of the poem before. But you know what, I will be honest. In my own life, due to different circumstances in which I was raped, and or sexually abused by latin men, starting from my dad, uncle and a few cousins and a couple of strangers, they all had one thing in common, and that was that they are all from El Salvador. The smallest country in Central America. So, after all this, and unwanted attention, I grew to look down upon all Latino men, in general, no matter if they were not from El Salvador. I developed PTSD of course,because of this and other stuff, yet for me, American men, born and raised in the US were made up to be much better than those in Latin America. As I continued to grow up, it got to where, I was told that all men were equally awful, no matter where they were from. The few american buddies, I have been able to have, here and there, have been pretty decent, to where I feel safe with them, yet I do know that not all men are the same, and regardless of cultural background and such, each man makes a choice as an adult to be a monster or not.
So, yeah, I have had a very hard time, when am out in public places, and see small, dark browned, men, that are identifiable as being from Central America. They tend to jeer and cry out vulgarities to women. And I tend to get ready to attack, and stick my middle finger up to them. And I at times have punched a few, if possible or just cussed them out. Worse on the bus, when it be packed and full, ohhh how I hated being in a packed bus.
I have gotten better now, but yeah at times, depending on where I am and the circumstances, I can become very defensive towards men.