The Mending Wall by Robert Frost

Oral Presentation – Mending Walls The persona’s further description creates an imagery that illustrates how hard it is to maintain and balance the barrier. It reads, “We have to use a spell to make them (the boulders) balance, stay where you are until our backs are turned.” The spell, again cannot be true in the real world, shows that they need to use imaginary power to maintain balances, since the nature of the “boulder”, “balls” and “loaves”, or in the metaphorical terms, the barriers between the two friends, cannot maintain itself on that position, but moves away and dismantles the barrier. This illustrates that the distance between friends are hard to maintain, and the persona actually do not want to maintain it. The imagery of “pine” and “apple orchard” is one of the major imageries that explains the theme. It reads: “There where it is we do not need the wall: He is all pine and I am apple orchard. My apple trees will never get across and eat the cones under his pines.” It is obvious that Robert Frost does not literally mean that apple tree can move and eat cones, but this imagery serves as a metaphor that the persona and his friend are different, perhaps in personality, culture or living style. Pine and apple have very distinct colour and shapes, and I think what the poet is trying to communicate is that even the two friends are different, there is not need to build up a barrier between their friendship because they will not offend or interrupt each other’s life, just like “my apple trees will never get across and eat the cones under his pines”. From this view it could be interpreted that Robert Frost himself actually questions the need of the wall since they would not invade each other’s lives. The last major imagery that helps illustrate the theme is the imagery of his neighbour in the woods. It reads, “Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top in each hand, like an old stone savaged armed.” The stone the neighbour is holding coincides with the boulders