Choices in Robert Frost
Robert Frost's Poem, Mending Wall, presents two main notions concerning choice. Frost suggests that the path chosen renders any reasoning inconsequential. Frost also insinuates that if a path is trodden often, lacking proper thought, it may become tradition, which in turn limits choice. For the purposes of this essay, choice is taken to mean a conscious decision to pursue a course of action from multiple options.The concept that choices, once chosen, make any prior reasoning or intent irrelevant, flows strongly throughout the poem. That is, once a path is taken, that is all that matters. How one came to this decision and why are of no consequence. Frost illustrates this in his poem, Mending Wall, through the juxtaposition of the two farmers and the reasoning behind their actions. The first farmer (who is thought to be Frost himself) ponders the need for the wall that divides him and his neighbour. On a deeper level, this can be interpreted as him contemplating the need for the hostility that stands between him and another person. The latter half of the poem is almost solely his thought, and is effectively portrayed, emphasizing the deli
" The reader is made aware of the fact that this simple dictum has no relevance in the present circumstance through the first farmer's internal monologue. Frost's poem, Mending Wall, presents the notion that if a choice is made often and treated lightly, it may become tradition, which inturn leads to the execution of choices with only conformity as reasoning. However, his pride stills his hand, as he would "rather that he (the other person) said it for himself," causing him to choose to maintain the wall of hostility that separates them. Both men choose to maintain the hostility that divides them, one blinded by pride, the other, by ignorance. This is attacked by the author as being ignorant through the use of a metaphor: "He moves in darkness as it seems to me, Not of woods only and the shade of trees. Furthermore, this is the only rhyming couplet in the poem, which does not have any obvious rhyming scheme, indicating its significance. " This is as so because "he will not go behind his father's saying", a simple dictum: "good fences make good neighbours". " On a deeper level, the second farmer is symbolic of those who blindly conform to tradition or common practice without thought or reason. His conclusion is that there is no need for the division that separates them. On a deeper level, this can be interpreted as tradition and conformity, and therefore, he chooses to keep the division between the two men. This is illustrated through the portrayal of the second farmer (the farmer with the Pines), and the way in which the first farmer describes him, influencing the way the audience perceive him.
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Acceptance Essays
