Mending Wall
...existed between the races. The first line of the poem “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall”, gives a glance into the problem that exists between the two neighbors. There is a wall between the two that should not be. The next lines tell us that “something” is making gaps in the wall each year. Nature keeps attempting to dissolve the barriers that are created by humanity. Nature has made “…gaps even two can pass abreast”. If they would choose to, the neighbors would be able to pass through the wall together. Instead of isolating themselves on either side, they could open themselves up to communication and friendship. The speaker is not completely sure why the gaps are there. The “hunter” creates gaps in the wall so that the “rabbit” can get through. This might mean that the neighbor or some other influence is putting the gaps so the neighbors can communicate. Confusion surrounding the gaps exists since “no one has seen them made or heard them made”. Therefore, the question is where did they come from, who put them there, and why? On a large scale, this infers a struggle between mankind trying to break the “wall” that divides people because of race, color, nationality, social status and even gender. In line twelve, the speaker lets his neighbor know that the wall is falling, and they agree to fix it together. This is ironic since they are joining together to rebuild a barrier between them. The same wall that brings them together every year is keeping them apart. It seems as if they do not even know why the wall was built the wall in the first place. The wearing away of parts of the wall, and then, the rebuilding of the wall by the neighbors has become a routine. The speaker does like the fact that rebuilding the wall brings him together with his neighbor even just for a small amount of time. It seems as if he takes this time to try to change the neighbor’s way of thinking. The next three lines tell how the neighbors work out how they will rebuild the wall. They each fix the “boulders that have fallen to each” using a spell to keep them in place. A spell is something that goes against nature. In this case, it is being used against a force that is trying to break through the wall. In lines twenty-four and twenty-five, the speaker compares the neighbor to the pine trees and himself to an apple orchard. Apple trees differ from pine trees. The pine tree is coniferous, tending to be more isolated. The apple thrives off of other trees for nourishment. The speaker likes to be sociable and interact with others. One nourishes the soil, and the other harms it. This tells us about the neighbor’s personality, he tends to cut himself off from other people as if they are going to hurt him. One might be willing to let the wall come down, but the other will not. The speaker says, “My apple trees will never get across and eat the cones,” but his neighbor simply says, “Good fences make good neighbors”. The neighbor may be implying that the less time you spend around a person and the less you know about them and how they spend their time, the better you will get along. This may be what he has always been taught, and he is too set in his ways to change his thinking. He could merely be repeating something he has heard before, like a saying. He might not even und...