Barriers In Mending Wall

The Berlin Wall, built during the cold war, was a barrier with the purpose of keeping the allies and the Soviet Union away from each other. The wall kept some Germans from seeing what was really important and helped hold the grudge the Soviets and the Allies had with each other. Although The Berlin Wall was way more severe than the barriers people set in everyday life, they both serve the same purpose, to keep people from seeing what they do not want to see. While both Lion in “Goin’ Fishin’” by Chris Crutcher and Frost’s speaker in “Mending Wall” by Robert Frost break unnecessary boundaries in order to help mend relationships, the speaker acknowledges the boundaries and wants to break them down, but Lion is unaware of these barriers and is …show more content…
When Neal’s mom calls Lion begging that “he needs you to forgive him,”’ Lion responds carelessly, “‘so what about Neal”’ (Crutcher 101). Since Lion has gone three years without Neal, Lion knows he does not need him. Also Lion does not know why Neal needs his forgiveness because Lion is too selfish and focused on his own feelings. Lion’s hatred and loss of communication with Neal has grown so much over the years that Lion’s forgiveness will take more than Neal showing up at his doorstep, begging for mercy. While there is evidence that Neal is a component in pushing Lion past the breaking point, Elaine is the main factor that makes Lion face his own egocentric opinions. Elaine propels Lion in the right direction when she declares, “‘you could have killed us. Easy. And anyone else on the road. You were drunk out of your mind”’ (104). Elaine puts Lion back in his place because she is tired of Lion playing the victim. Lion is just as guilty as Neal; the only difference is that Lion gets away with his moment of impetuous decisions, and Neal did not. Furthermore, Frost’s speaker wonders why he and his neighbor need a wall in the first place and his neighbor only responds with, “‘good fences make good neighbors”’ (Frost 27). Frost’s speaker knows the fence is not only separating him from his neighbor but is also taking him and his neighbor in the opposite direction. The speaker believes that what makes a good neighbor is communication, and that a good neighbor should not enclose themselves away from each other but instead support one another. The speaker is also curious about the purpose of the fence: “Before I built a wall I’d ask to know / what I was walling in or walling out.” (31-32). The speaker and his neighbor never talked about having a fence; the fence is just an unsaid rule that the both of them follow