Mending Wall 

    – Robert Frost 

Questions And Answers from the Textbook Orient Blackswan. 

First Year BA Optional English

(Semesters I & II)

Savitribai Phule Pune University

English for Beginners – Orient Blackswan

 

Comprehension

Q. Write answers in the form of short notes for the following questions.

 

a. When has the narrator made repairs alone?

ANS – The narrator has made repairs alone when hunters have damaged the wall. The narrator explains that to get the rabbits out of their burrows to please their dogs, they often dismantle the entire sections of the wall, leaving “not one stone on a stone.”

After this destruction the narrator comes after and makes repairs by himself and restores the stones to its place. He fixes the wall alone without the help of his neighbour.

This period is different from the spring when he and his neighbour work together. Because, it was not a planned or shared activity with his neighbour. It was an immediate action taken by the narrator right after the damage caused by the people (hunters).

The narrator doesn’t fully agree with the tradition of keeping walls, yet he mends it as he feels a sense of responsibility. He does so because he respects the notion of maintaining peace and order.

 

b) How does the narrator describe the activity of mending the wall?

ANS – The narrator describes the activity of mending the wall as just another kind of outdoor game.

He also describes the activity as an yearly ritual as it happens every spring (spring mending time).

The narrator informs his neighbour, they walk along the property line along the property line (the wall) and repairs the part of the wall that belongs to them.

While doing the work they keep the wall between them. Means they stay on their own side of the wall and do not cross over.

The task needs skill as the fallen boulders come in different shapes some are loaves and some nearly balls.

They need to be carefully balanced almost as if by ‘a spell’ (a spell means pretending to use magical words to make the stones stay at one place).

While doing this activity their fingers becomes rough. According to the poet the activity is just like an outdoor game and nothing more than that.

The narrater also says that there are some places where there is no requirement of any wall. Because he grew apples and his neighbour pines. And his apples will never cross over to harm his pines by any chance.

The mending of the wall is described as a mix of tradition, teamwork, an outdoor game, manual labour and a mild absurdity as something which is done out of habit rather than necessity.

 

c) How does the narrater describes his neighbour as he mends the wall?

ANS – The narrator describes his neighbour in a way that makes him seem traditional, stubborn and practical.

He describes him as a man who doesn’t question old ideas.

The neighbour strongly believes in the idea that good fences makes good neighbours. That means he believes in keeping boundaries to maintain harmonious relations between neighbours.

He seems quite serious in doing his work. He is depicted carrying stones firmly in each hand like a primitive man of the stone age (old-stone savage armed).

To the poet the neighbour seems like someone who is moving in darkness not of the woods and the shades of trees but of the mind.

Because he is not willing to embrace change. He is someone who is not going to against his father’s saying and he is proud of that. So he says it again ‘Good fences make good neighbours.’

He prefers to follow inherited wisdom & safe tradition over the uncertainty of new possibilities.

 

d. What does the speaker mean when he says, ‘I am apple orchard’?

ANS – When the speaker says, ‘I am apple orchard’ he means that his land/part of the property he owns is planted with apple trees.

However he’s doing more than just describing what grows on his land.

He is using a poetic shortcut for his identity. He blends himself with his property. It suggests that he defines himself by the land he owns.

It also sharpens the contrast with his neighbour whom he describes as ‘all Pine’. He reduced both of them to such natural symbols to make the difference clear.

He is also trying to suggest that ‘We are different but our differences don’t harm each other.’ The apple and pine symbolize diversity that doesn’t lead to conflict.

 

 

 

 

e. What is the neighbour’s attitude towards mending the wall?

ANS – The neighbour’s attitude towards mending the wall is serious and unquestioning. He sees it as a necessary task.

He does his work steadily and without any complaint. He does not bother to think about its necessity.

He considers the mending wall as an important task that must be completed every year.

He believes the traditional saying passed down from his father that “Good Fences makes good neighbours”.

He is proud of keeping this custom alive.

His attitude towards mending wall reflects a trust in inherited wisdom and an unwillingness to accept new and uncertain thoughts.

 

f. Describe the relationship between the narrator and his neighbour.

ANS – The relationship between the narrator and his neighbour is cordial but distant. They cooperate each other but their thoughts are different.

When they meet each other once in a year at the mending wall, they work together but keeps a wall between them physically and symbolically.

Their attitude towards the wall are different.

The narrator questions the necessity and existence of the wall whereas his neighbour sticks to the tradition of keeping boundaries in order to maintain peace and harmony.

This attitude of both reveals a deeper contrast between their ideas and beliefs.

Both of them do not appear unfriendly towards each other. They are not enemies but not friends either.

They aren’t enemies because they cooperate each other to mend the wall and show respect for each other’s property.

But they aren’t true friends either because there is no warmth, shared openness or deep friendly conversation between them. There is a certain gap that doesn’t allow the speaker to speak to him about the need of the wall.

They are not just separated bat land but also by thoughts. They are connected by tradition but separated by mind set.

For the narrator the mending wall activity is more about joining in a shared act than a tradition even if he questions its purpose.

And the wall itself is the symbol of their connection. They meet because it exists.

 

g. Why does the narrator believe his neighbour ‘moves in darkness’?

ANS – The narrator says his neighbour “moves in darkness” because he believes that his neighbour is stuck in old tradition and unwilling to accept change.

And when he says “darkness” he doesn’t mean darkness of woods or shade of trees but a figurative “darkness” of mind.

According to the poet the “darkness” means a blindly following unreasonable beliefs, lack of openness to new ideas, narrow mindedness and ignoring evidence and logic.

To the narrator the neighbour is “in darkness” because he won’t go against his father’s saying “good fences makes good neighbours”.

The neighbour works seriously without curiosity or self reflection. This darkness is symbolic it represents a kind of mental unawareness.

This shows that the neighbor is working within the shadow of old beliefs and not the light of independent and free thought.

He chooses not to think beyond what tradition has taught him. His beliefs are not based on reasoning but on comfort and safety of tradition, and authority of his father’s words.

The narrator sees him as willfully blind to new ideas.

 

h. What is the poet’s attitude towards the hunters?

ANS – The poet’s attitude towards the hunter is a little critical and disapproving.

He views them as persons who caused unnecessary and careless damage to the wall.

The poet points out that the hunters deliberately destroys the wall to get the rabbits out of their hidings so as to please their dogs. And they have left “not one stone on a stone.”

The damage caused by the hunters is different from that of the natural factors.

Their act is deliberate and careless. This has caused needless extra work for the yearly repairs.

That is why the poet considers this act as thoughtless and inconsiderate.

Their act made him believe that hunters have no sympathy & respect for the efforts it takes to build and maintain the wall.

Their attitude is selfish. The poet thinks them as selfish, who values excitement of hunting and pleasure of dogs over the efforts of someone who repairs the wall.

 

i. Why does the poet repeat the line, ‘Something there is that doesn’t love a wall’?

ANS – The poet repeats the line “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall” to stress a central idea of the poem, that of questioning the necessity of the wall.

The poet feels that there is some natural force that resists the unwanted barrier.

There are two meanings of the line, “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.”

One is literal meaning that refers to the nature itself i.e. the frost and the sun.

At the beginning of the poem, the poet has mentioned about the natural forces such as frozen ground and the sun that loosen the soil beneath the wall and cause damage to the wall to break the barrier between two properties.

Nature seems to dislike walls and constantly works to break them down.

The other is figurative meaning which is quite philosophical, which describes the poet’s own feelings and natural human instinct.

When the poet repeats the line, he is pointing towards the more philosophical meaning of the line which indicates that there is some kind of human instinct that questions the necessity of the wall and pushes people to resist unnecessary barriers.

Through these lines he tries to point out that human naturally desire for connection, openness and freedom from unnecessary divides. This human desire resists the existence of any barriers among themselves.

By repeating the line Robert Frost shows that this idea isn’t just about the physical wall, it’s bigger than that.

The repetition makes the thought more powerful, reminding the reader that the force to break the barriers comes from both natural world and human instinct.

 

j. Does the poet agree with the whole notion of fences/walls between neighbours? What significance should we attach to his role as the initiator of the whole wall-mending process?

ANS – No, the poet doesn’t agree with the whole notion of fences/walls between neighbours.

However the speaker himself starts the wall-mending, even though he doesn’t.

His role as an initiator is significant because it reveals the central irony and theme of the poem.

The irony is that the speaker initiates the process he fundamentally questions. He’s the one who contacts his neighbour each spring, yet he’s also the one who challenges the necessity of the wall.

The theme of the poem is the tension between connection and separation in human relationships.

In this case the role of the speaker becomes very important because it suggests few things about human nature.

His character is shown complicated as a part of him follows tradition even when he questions it.

He wants connection. So he thinks mending the wall together might be a good idea to interact with his neighbours.

Also by doing work he gets the chance to ask or challenge his neighbour thinking about the necessity of the wall.

Basically Frost is showing us the complicated nature of humans through this role as an initiator.

 

k. Show how appropriate and relevant the title of the poem is to its theme.

ANS – The title “Mending Wall” is highly appropriate and relevant to the theme of Robert Frost’s poem.

The title possesses a double meaning of “Mending” physical mending and relationship mending.

Literally it refers to the yearly activity of the speaker and his neighbor repairing the stone wall that divides their properties.

However, the title also symbolizes deeper themes of human relationships, boundaries, and traditions.

Symbolically “Mending” suggests both fixing and healing. The poem explores whether the neighbors are fixing their relationship (coming together annually) or perpetuating their separation (maintaining barriers).

The title “Mending Wall” is both appropriate and ironic. The title captures the central irony that they’re “mending” (repairing) something that might not need to exist.

The title perfectly reflects the poem’s central theme about barriers in human relationships.

The Ongoing Process “Mending” implies something that needs constant repair – just like human relationships and social barriers require ongoing maintenance.

 

 

The End