The Wall Between My Mind And My Words

In his poem “Mending Wall,” Robert Frost presents the reader ideas of barriers between people, communication, friendship, and the sense of protection acquired from these boundaries. The poem conveys its meaning through the usage of imagery, structure, and tone. As well, he converges both the literal and metaphorical meaning of the wall into the poem in order to embody the different barriers present in life.

Frost’s usage of imagery in the poem’s first lines suggests the degradation of the wall. The verse structure of the poem, being iambic pentameter, emphasizes on the words “gaps,” and “wall.” These single syllable words are located in a stress-stress foot, which inevitably breaks the poetic rhythm of the poem. Hence, Frost creates a close connection between these as the words illustrate a vivid impression of the wall’s degradation. As well, Frosts depicts that “something” as a human-like being through the use of personification. On the other hand, Frost employs nature imagery to portray the destruction of this wall. The narrator seems to believe that nature is that “something” that dislikes the wall and attempts to destroy it. He explains that nature (the something), “doesn’t love a wall, / That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it” (Frost 1-2). Literally, the poem, describes nature making holes, but metaphorically, the wall’s degradation might signify that nature wishes men to “walk together” in order to have no barriers that separate them from one another.

Throughout the poem, the speaker maintains a non-chalant tone. One of the main techniques used to achieve this is by including colloquial conversation. For example the conversation “Stay where you are until our backs are turned!”and the metaphor “spring is mischief in me,” portrays a light hearted atmosphere amongst neighbors mending the wall together. Also, the juxtaposition of the fence to an outdoor game contributes to his non-chalant tone. On the other hand, the speaker uses light and comical diction to describe the neighborhood in a humoristic manner. Even though he employs imagery to describe his neighbor’s attitude, his depiction of the reparation of the fence is rather comical. For example, he uses the simile “like an old-stone savage” to juxtapose him to a Stone Age man. Hence, the speaker’s non-chalant tone contributes the poem’s ironic and metaphorical representation of boundaries in life.

Structurally, the poem illustrates the absence of these barriers. It is written in blank verse and contains a narrative-like style. Repetition is used as a technique to emphasize the main ideas. The line “something there is that doesn't love a wall” (1) repeats in line thirty-five with a new meaning. It refers to the attitudes of the narrator towards the wall - the narrator does not 'love the wall' and wants it down - whereas the 'something' mentioned in the first line of the poem refers to nature. Another example of repetition is the statement “good fences make good neighbors.” This reflects back to and emphasizes the idea and opinion society adopts: there will always be a barrier standing between people, acting as a boundary that separates their social relations from their personal privacy. Therefore, the absence of separations in his poem expand the metaphorical meaning of the poem, and his critique towards social disjointing.

The Mission: Get A Five

Kevin Young’s poem “The Mission” juxtaposes life and death through the usage of structure, time imagery, and metaphor. From the beginning of the poem, its structure stands out to the reader. Young employs enjambment and caesura constantly to evoke life’s idleness. On the other hand, the usage of time imagery and juxtaposition under the same purpose, lead Young’s poem to be a conceit between nature and time.

The poem’s structure, being in couplets with constant pauses and enjambment, reveals some of the poem’s meaning. For example, “out of habit, evening /coming on, again - / the home’s clock, broke like a bone, always /read three.” In this case, the caesura breaks the couplet between the juxtaposition between day and night, and the time imagery used by the reader. This correlation between juxtaposition and imagery is mainly due to the poem’s structure. Young’s usage of enjambment represents life’s inconsistency. Also, the contrasting effects of caesura and enjambment reveal the contrast between life and death. The pause in this case, symbolizes death. On the other hand, the ending of the poem in caesura creates and effect of aposiopesis, as the phrases syntax “I could not see to see–” evokes life’s eternal repetition. Also, the alliteration of the “s” sound reflects the speaker’s disdainful tone towards the conceit of nature and time.

On the other hand, the poem employs time and nature imagery to juxtapose life and death. The depiction of the “children play[ing] tag / out front, while the bodies / snuck in the back” not only demonstrates death’s insignificance, but the inability of the living to overcome death. The mission mentioned in the title might signify the acceptance of death and living eternally, “soul after soul.” Immediately after mentioning it, the speaker describes the sun as the resemblance of the mission. This juxtaposition of time and nature proves that life comes and goes with the sun, and that it’s a repeating process of night and day. Hence, taking into account that the poem is structured into couplets, the reader might infer that it represents the day and night, and the eternal time ellipsis it creates.

This metaphor of time is seen as Young mentions the “mornings or dead / of night.” Here, the author describes the day and night as life and death. Then, the presence of enjambment extends the metaphor into making the reader infer that the night expands to the next day, therefore, the soul lives “soul after soul.” As a result, the juxtaposition of time and nature imagery creates a metaphor of life and death through the poem’s particular structure. Finally, as he mentions that “your eyes / adjust, become / like the night,” Young reveals that human beings never accept death, but instead, their perception “adjusts” to it, which in this case means that they die. Therefore, by juxtaposing dissimilar aspects like time and nature, Young creates a conceit of life and death, enhancing the meaning transmitted in his poem: the banality of living live and death.

For Sale: One-Way Trip To Alienation

They kept singing:

I couldn't stand to hear the
Crying of my mother
And I remember when
I swore that, that would be the
Last they'd see of me
And I never went home again

I tried to keep thinking about that interview of Toni Morrison, but those continued. Resigned, the only thing I could do was to listen to the song until it ended. Unfortunately, it never ended, it went forever. There was a point I didn’t recognize whether the voices kept singing, or it was only my mind. Anyways, the interview…

He said:
You're no son, you're no son of mine
You're no son, you're no son of mine
You walked out, you left us behind
And you're no son, you're no son of mine

Alienation, loneliness, solitude, the importance of family. Many things came to my mind. In fact, Morrison mentions many of these aspects in her interview. For example, she says: “everybody was for sale and for rent” (3:20 – 3:25). Her allusion to slavery, and the lack of free will amongst the American “ordinary people” during colonization relates to the sentiments of alienation, loneliness, and solitude present in Song of Solomon. Racism, in this case, surges as the main cause of these. It alienates many of the characters from their native communities, society, and eventually, makes them loose the essence of humanity. Morrison’s depicts Milkman’s alienation through his desperate quest of emotional freedom. This childish attitude, derivative from his alienation, eventually wanes as he comes to a moment of anagnorisis after being caught by the cops. As a result, the growth of his shorter leg demonstrates his progess towards freedom.

The song kept going:

Things were never easy for me
Peace of mind was hard to find
And I needed a place where I could hide
Somewhere I could call mine

In the interview, Morrison confers that alienation leads to solitude. Hence, the highlights “the dangers of American individuality” (22:30) leads people to feel alienated, and hence, lonely. Guitar, for example, evolves into a vengeful murderer in vengeance of his father death. He commits murderers that keep reminding him of his own tragedy, hence, alienating himself, and his victims, from their own surroundings. In reference to this, Morrison also describes the importance of “familiar bonds” (21:57) in Song of Solomon as well as many of her other novels. In Guitar’s case, the death of his father led him to commit such vengeful acts. Also, the parental figure (the ghost) of Macon Dead I leads Pilate and Macon Jr. to rethink many of their actions. In contrast to Hamlet, where the Ghost of his father torments him to avenge his death and kill Claudius, the ghost of Macon Dead I dwells to guide Pilate and Macon Jr. through the right path, and prevent them from falling in the greedy hands of alienation.

Oh his words how they hurt me
I'll never forget it
And as the time, it went by
I lived to regret it
You're no son, you're no son of mine
But where should I go
And what should I do

Hence, as the characters in Song of Solomon try to fly towards their freedom, they tend to feel alienated. The ghost of Macon Dead I prevents Macon Jr. from following the “tail of the peacock,” the evils of greed and wealth that Morrison emphasizes. The sack of gold represents that obsession of wealth that Macon Jr., Milkman, and even Guitar have. The desire of wealth leads mankind to overcome the principles of a family, a community, and their life. Gold kills, gold putrefies mankind. They spend their entire life looking for gold without a purpose. Hence, living a life without a meaning, and eventually, alienating themselves from humanity. The song finally ended:

You're no son, you're no son of mine
But I came here for help
Oh I was looking for you

Names, Time, And Have A Nice Flight

This is my brain:

… Song of Solomon… Hmmm another woman’s book, Toni Morrison… I hope this one differs from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice...

[Flips the book to the back cover] African American author, pretty interesting, the first African American I read since Eighth Grade, the Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes, etc. Oh, Ann Petry, but that doesn’t count, I only read an excerpt from her novel The Street in a practice timed writing… Twice!

[Begins reading] … 3, 4, 5, 6… The song:

Oh Sugarman done fly away

Sugarman done gone

Sugarman cut across the sky

Sugarman gone home…

Sugarman? Well, I can’t relate that to anything thus far, instead, the theme of flying seems to be pretty recurring in Morrison’s first pages. If she is starting the novel saying that a man “promised to fly,” it’s evident that it might be something to keep in mind.

… The liberty transmitted through Pilate’s “contralto” juxtaposes the silence of the rest of the crowd. It could signify her reluctance of being passive, the conformity of the people with their lives, their futility… Morrison makes her stand out. She differs in every possible sense from the other expectators. In my point of view, the two extremes are, coincidentally, Pilate and Ruth. Their clothing, their attitude, completely opposite. Even though her clothing make her look like an interloper, Pilate demonstrates pure nerve and brevity by being the only one able to express towards Smith’s banal attempt to fly. Maybe the song might come up again, later…

… 7, 8, 9… “the little boy discovered, at four, the same thing Mr. Smith had learned earlier – that only birds and airplanes could fly – he lost all interest in himself” (Morrison 9). We can’t fly. If we can’t fly, like Mr. Smith, our goals might be just dreams. Hence, we can either live this futile life, or aim to fly, to escape into a better future. The question is, do we ever escape? Milkman loses faith in his chance to fly, metaphorically speaking, as he realizes that we have to be compliant with life’s banality. Morrison, extrapolates the meaning of flying and injects it into every character (and their weird names), making of them a figure that attempts to fly many times, until finally, they fly away.

10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17… Pretty weird names. I would never name my son Macon, or my daughter, First Corinthians. But who blames them. Nowadays I’ve seen people call their children Usnavi, Madeinusa, Disneylandia… Very original names.

… 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30… Pilate’s song ends with the first chapter. In Time, that could’ve been between five to ten minutes, more or less. But talking about time, that was years. She employs a lot of time shifting. This time issue, and the relation with the lineage of Macon Dead I, II, and III reminds me of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Cien años de soledad, with his Jose Arcadios, Aurelianos, etc. Here, we are able to have a depiction of their lives (Macon I, II, and III) while Pilate sings. Meanwhile, we live the whole history of Macondo while Aureliano stands in the “peloton de fusilamiento.”