WHY A MENDING WALL?

Saturday, September 30, 2006
More Discussion About Walls
This is the first posting of Mending-wall। You guessed it। The title is taken from the poetry of Robert Frost। I was drawn to the verse, "Something there is that doesn't love a wall, That wants it down!" George Montiero wrote, "Were walls and fences instrumental in the retention and renewal of human relationships Is a question central to 'Mending Wall'" The answers the poem presents us with are somewhat less than clear- cut।" (See lengthly critiques of "Mending Wall" at http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/a_f/frost/wall.htm. I was also drawn to this poem upon seeing in July 2006 the mammoth barrier Israel is building in the name of border security. Lastly, at a cost of at least $2.2 billion -- a 700-mile wall was once proposed for the Southwest border of the U.S. and Mexico for the purposes of "gaining operational control of the border."

The poem Mending Wall relates to an ongong conversation neighbours are having over the need for a barrier to separate private space. The wall acts as a divider in separating their individual properities, as well as a impediment to friendship. For the neighbour who labors at filling in gaps in the wall, its provides a sense of security and private boundaries. This neighbor may believe that people can be friendly across fences, but there still is a need for the privacy. He believes, 'good fences make good neighbours'. Do fences make good neighbors? At a time when billions of dollars are spent on erecting walls, can we afford not to have more discussion?