Consider both the comedic and tragic aspects (and the potential relation between the two) in Frost’s poem “Mending Wall.”

Frost’s “Mending Wall” depicts the relationship between two neighbors. The narrator and his neighbor meet to repair the fencing wall between them, but the narrator does not believe there should be a wall there at all. The comedic and tragic aspects of the poem go hand in hand as the narrator tries to convince his neighbor that there are no wandering cows on either property, and there is no need for a wall between the two properties. The wall crumbles with the passing of time. Nature itself agrees with the narrator, who sees the wall as an unnecessary, cold barrier between two neighbors, neither of whom need to be walled in or walled out. Boulders crumble on either side, and the two men struggle to put them back and balance them in place. ‘Good fences make good neighbors,’ insists the neighbor, not really listening to the man who lives next door. The concept of building a wall for no reason (think of racism, segregation and immigration laws) is comedic in nature because many absurd walls, both physical and metaphorical, are taken too far by those who believe in them. It is tragic for the same reason. The wall represents distance and animosity between people, the opposite of goodwill and friendship. “Good fences make good neighbors” works for those who build walls to keep people out of their lives. The expression, like Frost’s poem, is comedic and tragic at the same time.