What Does the Wall Signify in the Poem ‘Mending Wall’?

Answer

What does the wall signify in the poem “Mending Wall”? 

“Mending Wall,” published in 1914, is a famous poem by Robert Frost (1874-1963). The poem is about two neighbors who meet every spring to repair the stone wall between their lands. But the wall in the poem is not only a physical wall made of stones. It also stands as a symbol that shows how people create boundaries between each other in life.

The Wall as a Physical Barrier: At first, the wall is simply something that divides two farms. The speaker grows apple trees, and his neighbor grows pine trees. Every year, winter frost and hunters break the wall. Both men work together to rebuild it. This physical wall represents the human habit of setting boundaries—even when there is no real need. The speaker jokes that his apples will never cross the wall to eat his neighbor’s pines. Moreover, there are no cows to keep in or out. It shows that the wall is unnecessary.

The Wall as a Symbol of Separation: The speaker feels that—

“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.”

He means that both he and nature itself do not want the wall because it keeps people apart. For him, the wall stands for separation and mistrust.

The Neighbor’s View—Tradition and Safety: Throughout the poem, the neighbor’s only reply is:

“Good fences make good neighbours.”

For him, the wall means safety, order, and respect. He follows his father’s saying without questioning it. The speaker, however, finds him like an “old-stone savage” man stuck in old ways of thinking.

Thus, the wall in “Mending Wall” has two meanings. To the speaker, it represents separation and narrow thinking. But to the neighbor, it represents tradition, safety, order. Frost uses this wall to show the conflict between open-mindedness and blind belief in tradition.