Unearthing The True Meaning Of Robert Frost s Mending Wall

Unearthing the true meaning of Robert Frost’s Mending Wall requires adherence to the ending adage: â€Å"Never judge a book by its cover.† This mindset prevents the apparent simplicity of the poem from misleading the reader. Considering the speaker’s lack of perception and ironic self-contradiction, the possible underestimation of his neighbor’s reasoning, and the ambiguous attitude Frost himself conveys suggest the audience should conscientiously avoid accepting the poem at face value. Despite the alluring temptation to accept the persona’s apparent hatred of walls, Mending Wall intricately presents two contradicting opinions regarding man’s necessity for barriers. The paradoxical nature of the poem lies in the fact that both view prove true. The neighbor realizes man simply cannot coexist peacefully without the limitations of boundaries regulating interaction. The speaker voices mankind’s inherent detestation of the restraints impose d by walls and the satisfaction derived from their destruction. Frost leaves the argument deliberately unsettled to acknowledge the coexistence of these views. As a result, the juxtaposition creates the ironic disparity between the poem’s apparently straightforward meaning and the subtler understanding that neither view prevails in reality. (Barry, 110). In Mending Wall, rock barricade divides the narrator’s apple orchard from his neighbor’s pinladen property. The majority of the blank verse poem represents the speaker’s internal monologue