Robert+Frost

Mending Wall

A stone wall separates the voices property from his neighbors. In the spring the two neighbors meet at the wall to make repairs. The voice can't find a reason to keep the wall, there is nothing to be contained. The voice doesn’t believe in having walls just for the sake of walls. The neighbor just replies, "Good fences make good neighbors.” This does not convince the voice and he presses his neighbor to look past his old fashioned beliefs. The voice feels that since nothing is trying to be contained or kept out, there’s no point in having a wall. The voice sees his neighbor as an old guy with out dated beliefs. He continues to press him, and all the neighbor sais is "Good fences make good neighbors.”

While reading this poem I felt that the theme of the poem was the need for space between two people. The neighbor repeats the phrase, "Good fences make good neighbors.” This tells me that the neighbor felt that even two people that get along, need there own space. These two neighbors obviously get along because they meticulously repair the wall each year. If they hated each other they would not be doing that. But the wall is always between them, ‘We keep the wall between us as we go’. So even as they are doing a project together they would always have the wall between them. This again proves the theme that when you have two individuals that get along, a buffer zone will always help the relationship. All the times that they meet they never even attempt to cross the wall, "One on a side." I feel that they both liked the buffer and maybe didn’t want to have a close relationship. The buffer zone was good because this took away all possibilities of not liking each other. When you’re so distant it’s hard to not like a person because you never really get to know what this person is really like. Those are the reasons why I feel the theme of the poem is that every relationship needs some space.

I could defiantly relate this poem to the world. Every body needs space from the people in there life. I know in my life that I go in my basement to do all my homework because that is my alone time, I get to do my work without anybody else. When you’re married you have a guy’s night out or a girl’s night out because if you’re with someone all the time you just get tired of them. If you’re with someone all the time the things that you’re able to deal with begin to be the things you can’t stand. When you go on vacation, by the end you can’t wait to get home because you’re tired of being in close quarters with the same people. When you have space between people it helps the relationship because when you’re away you can’t wait to seem them. But when you’re together you can’t wait to get away. There are countless examples of why space helps relationships.