Psychological Criticism of “Mending Wall”

Psychological Criticism of “Mending Wall” When authors write a poem they usually have hidden meanings/passage that they are trying to express. With Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall” there is definitely hidden meaning within the 45 lines of the poem. Robert Frost writes this poem in blank verse, since it does not follow any rhyming structure. He loosely follows iambic pentameter structure where for the most part the poem has ten syllables; however there are ten lines that have eleven syllables so that the reader pays closer attention to what the writer is expressing. “Mending Wall” portrays a farmer and his neighbor rebuilding a wall between their properties every spring. “As others have noticed, how- ever, the speaker, as much as the neighbor, suffers from a blindness about his relation to the wall,” stated O 'BRIEN. The wall is supposed to be the separation of the two neighbors, but in reality the walls brings them together every year. The wall stands for both the physical detachment of people in society as well as their physical need to remain private. So many people are afraid of what others will do to them if they allow them in whole heartedly. People tend to build up walls to protect themselves from being hurt/heartbroken. “That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it” (line 2). Frost does a little play on words within his own last name by referring to his own name to suggest that he is actually the something that is opposed to the wall between his property and his neighbor’s. However he contradicts himself when he goes and repairs the wall, although he seems to dislike the wall, the author scolds the hunters for its destruction “I have come after them and made repair Where they have left not one stone on a stone,” (Lines 6-7) This shows that Frost is in need of the wall to be a physical barrier to the outside world. As the reader you’re puzzled because it’s not definite onto whether he wants the walls to be destroyed or remain standing.
“I let my

Cited: O 'BRIEN, T. D. (1986, June). ARCHETYPAL ENCOUNTER IN "MENDING WALL". American Notes & Queries, 24(9/10), 147-151. Unit 3: Reading & Writing About Poetry." ENGL200: Composition and Literature. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011: 221-273. Web. URL: http://ezproxy.apus.edu/login?url=http://ebooks.apus.edu/ENGL200/Perkins_2011_unit3.pdf