

Robert Frost's poem "Mending Wall" delivers many different figurative meanings to the audience. It illustrates the inconsistencies in relationships between people and shows how tradition can influence people to think certain ways. The poem questions the necessity of both physical and figurative barriers between people. The literal meaning of the poem portrays a barrier to be essential to a farmer's safety while the figurative meaning questions the existence of barriers between friends. The title of the poem can be understood in two different ways, with "mending" being used as either an adjective or a verb. Therefore, the title could be illustrating the action of the speaker and his neighbor repairing the wall, or a place which gives privacy to the two friends.  In the poem "Mending Wall," Robert Frost uses symbolism to illustrate the many complexities present in life due to the barriers between people. 

The only two characters in the poem are the speaker and his neighbor. Like all past years, the two meet on the border between their properties to rebuild the stone wall that separates them after it has fallen during the winter. While this is a normal occurrence for the two farmers, the speaker immediately begins to question what they are doing. He wonders why there must be a wall between the two properties if neither of them raise any livestock. The speaker tells his neighbor, "There where it is we do not need the wall: / He is all pine and I am apple orchard" (23-24). The speaker's feeling is valid because aside from marking property lines, the wall between their orchards is not necessary. After going on to tell his neighbor "My apple trees will never get across / And eat the cones under his pines ... " (25-26), the neighbor only responds with the phrase, "Good fences make good neighbours" (27). This section of the poem is the first indication that the speaker and his neighbor have opposing views on the wall. The neighbor does not think twice about having to repair the wall every year. To him, it is something that must be done and that is the only thing that matters. The speaker says that his neighbor, "will not go behind his father's saying" (43). At this point it is clear that the neighbor is the symbol of tradition. It can be determined that the he is the counterpart to the speaker who is the symbol of creativity and rebellion: "Before I built a wall I'd ask to know / What I was walling in or walling out" (32-33). These lines show how the speaker questions his actions no matter how small they seem even if they are very straightforward. The two characters in the poem are necessary to understand the different viewpoints a barrier can have on people.

The difficulties in the relationship of the two neighbors is represented by the wall. The wall symbolizes a barrier in their friendship that has both literal and figurative meaning. The wall is ironic because even though it separates the speaker from his neighbor, it also brings them together every year. The speaker's comment, "And on a day we meet to walk the line / And set the wall between us once again" (13-14) indicates that the wall is an important aspect of their friendship that forces them to remain on good terms even if they have no other reason to otherwise. This can either strengthen or weaken the connection between the two. The wall gives the neighbors a reason to come together while still allowing them to have their privacy. It is a physical representation of the barrier between them, as well as a psychological one. The speaker sees a problem with the wall's existence. Frost has him repeat the phrase, "Something there is that doesn't love a wall" (1) to illustrate how the speaker does not want it to be there. However, it is impossible to act on his feelings towards it because his neighbor does not share his view. When the speaker attempts to question his neighbor's viewpoint, the neighbor will only reply with the same phrase as before: "Good fences make good neighbours" (45). The neighbor believes the wall is necessary for their friendship to stay intact. The wall provides a necessary balance between the connection and separation of the neighbors.

The poem is a reflection of humanity's flaws due to selfishness and greed. The speaker of the poem symbolizes those who question their own cultural ways, while the neighbor represents society itself. The two neighbors want the wall to be a certain way, however, it cannot be in a state that satisfies both of them. This symbolizes how barriers between people can prevent either of them from being fulfilled. The wall is a constant reminder of the situation the two neighbors are in: "And set the wall between us once again.  / We keep the wall between us as we go" (14-15). The wall is a part of their lives that they cannot get away from. It acts as a boundary between what society believes to be right, and what actually may be. This dispute between the neighbors symbolizes the conflict between tradition and modernity. New generations want to destroy old ways and replace them. The neighbor is stuck in the past while the speaker wants to push life into the future. The poem is a symbol of the constant battle that the world is faced with. 

In "Mending Wall," Frost has taken an ordinary incident of constructing or mending a wall between two neighbor's orchards and has turned it into representation of the division between human beings. The poem is a sad reflection of how society forces people to believe certain things. The wall is a clear depiction of multiple truths about the world and the flaws of humanity. It has no defined state which illustrates the uneasy tension that people are faced with. The wall also symbolizes the different barriers that are present in relationships of all types. These symbols are not only negative however, the wall illustrates how privacy and clear boundaries are important to have in a friendship. With a poem that provides so many unique meanings, it possible to miss or ignore some, however, none of these would be possible if not for Frost's extensive use of symbolism to express his views. Ultimately, this poem is a powerful representation of how people interact in the world and how life is shaped by the barriers that are present. 

