What Is Ironic About The Speaker In Mending Wall?

by | Last updated on January 24, 2024

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Perhaps the greatest irony in the poem “Mending Wall ” is that

the speaker continues to help rebuild the wall even as he realizes he disagrees with its presence

. As the poem progresses, the speaker notes how all sorts of natural forces, like the ground and animals, conspire to take down the wall each winter.

What is ironic about the speaker’s statements concerning his Neighbours opinion of wall building in mending wall?

One irony of this poem, then, is that

the speaker does not like fences or walls and, yet, he participates in the upkeep of the wall between his property and his neighbor’s

; we would expect him to refuse to do this work. The speaker actually feels that walls are unnatural.

What is ironic about the speaker?

The speaker grows apples while their neighbor only has pines in their yard. Neither of them have grazing animals. With this aversion to barriers, it is ironic that

the speaker is the one who initiates the mending of the wall.

What is the speaker in Mending Wall doing?

In “Mending Wall”, the speaker

attempts to persuade his neighbor to rethink the purpose and construction of his wall/fence

.

Why the speaker does not mend the wall in mending wall?

The speaker does not like having the wall.

He finds it inconvenient and kind of pointless

, since neither of the neighbors have livestock that might cross from one person’s land to the other. It also needs repair each year, which is annoying.

What is the Mending Wall a metaphor for?

“Mending Wall” is a poem written by the poet Robert Frost. The poem describes two neighbors who repair a fence between their estates. It is, however, obvious that this situation is a metaphor for

the relationship between two people

. The wall is the manifestation of the emotional barricade that separates them.

What is the message of Mending Wall?

A widely accepted theme of “Mending Wall”

concerns the self-imposed barriers that prevent human interaction

. In the poem, the speaker’s neighbor keeps pointlessly rebuilding a wall. More than benefitting anyone, the fence is harmful to their land. But the neighbor is relentless in its maintenance.

Why does the speaker think the wall is unnecessary?

The speaker thinks that the wall is unnecessary

because the border between the two properties is already obvious

, and because there are no animals to be fenced in by the wall.

Is the Speaker of the Mending Wall?

As the enotes guide (linked below) discusses, it can be said that the author of the poem,

Robert Frost, is the speaker

because they have many similarities, but more likely Frost and the speaker are two separate entities as Frost seems to be poking fun at or criticizing the speaker for being unable to see problems in …

Is Frost the speaker in Mending Wall?

The speaker of “The Mending Wall” by Robert Frost is a

practical, rational, and freethinking man

. Although he is irritated at having to help repair the wall, he faces the task with a sense of humor.

How does the speaker feel about walls between neighbors?

The speaker does not like walls because he doesn’t feel that they are needed, but his neighbor prefers him. When the speaker says, “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall” (line 1), he is describing the fact that

walls seem to deteriorate over time

, and have to be maintained.

What does the wall symbolize in Mending Wall?

“The Mending Wall” by Robert Frost is a poem that contains many symbols, the chief of which is the mending wall itself. The physical barrier of the wall represents the psychological or symbolic barrier between two human beings. … The wall is

a representation of the barriers to friendship and communication

.

What does the speaker personify in Mending Wall and why?

The speaker just personifies this

force of normal erosion

, saying that it “doesn’t love a wall.” The one who really does not love the wall is the speaker. He gets annoyed by the process of repeatedly rebuilding the wall, which he considers to be unnecessary in the first place.

What kind of wall is being mended in Mending Wall?

In “Mending Wall,”

a stone wall that acts as a property line between two

farms is being mended by two farmers. Harsh elements and passing hunters have displaced many of the wall’s stones, and the two property owners come together each spring to mend the wall.

What is one example of a metaphor in the poem Mending Wall?

Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between objects different in nature. There is only one metaphor used in the poem. It is used in seventeenth line where it is stated as, “

And some are loaves and some so nearly balls.

” He compares the stone blocks to loaves and balls.

What is the extended metaphor in the Mending Wall?

Line 14: “The wall” is present throughout the poem as an extended metaphor for

the division that exists between the speaker and his neighbor

. Line 16: “To each” is a parallelism, as its repetition emphasizes the fact that the speaker and his neighbor are on opposite side of the wall.

David Martineau
Author
David Martineau
David is an interior designer and home improvement expert. With a degree in architecture, David has worked on various renovation projects and has written for several home and garden publications. David's expertise in decorating, renovation, and repair will help you create your dream home.