TACTics Journal

A Publication for and by TOC for Education Practitioners

October 17, 2003

In this week’s issue:

Reader’s Feedback

(1) More on the Mending Wall, Jonathon Holder

Editors’ Notes

(2) Kay Buckner-Seal, Cheryl A. Edwards

READER’S FEEDBACK

(1) More on the Mending Wall

From Jonathon Holder, United Kingdom

I’m writing down some of the conclusions I have drawn from my further

investigation into the cloud that Mike Round has identified in the poem

“Mending Wall.” I had not previously thought about the possibility of using

T.O.C. in analysing poetry, and so I would firstly like to thank Mike for

drawing this avenue of opportunity to my attention.

The most obvious cloud in the poem is:

D: remove the wall

D’: keep the wall

B-D: save the energy

C-D’: be good neighbours as tradition demands

There are, however, other interpretations of this particular problem (D-D’).

The neighbour walks in darkness like an old-stone savage armed.” The

neighbour is a stranger to him. The darkness prevents the neighbour from

being seen clearly. This darkness is not literal darkness: it is darkness

within the mind of the narrator of the poem. It is the darkness of the

narrator’s lack of knowledge, understanding and trust for this neighbour.

The man is separated from him by a wall, and this means that he is not a

threat. So could this mean that the need for leaving the wall up, and even

expending energy on maintaining it, is to protect himself from the unknown,

the shadowy neighbour? In this case, the need for allowing the wall to

crumble would be to stop the separation of him and his neighbour, to create

trust and understanding and to shed light on the unknown. The need for

maintaining the wall would be to feel safe from this neighbour, to remain

distant, as the unknown may be dangerous.

The cloud would then look like this:

D: remove the wall

D’: keep the wall

B-D: embrace the neighbours existence, rather than wall him out

C-D’: stay safe

The poet is not suggesting a fully formed cloud; he is instead describing a

problem. He has omitted one thing that is essential in any cloud: nowhere in

the poem does frost suggest a goal. In saying that he would like the wall

down, but would rather the neighbour “said it for himself,” he expresses a

desire for an injection to break D’, not a goal. So what is the goal in this

cloud? The reason he must embrace his neighbour’s existence could be that

he does not want to be isolated from the fellow people that surround him.

The reason that he wants to stay safe is to continue living without fear. So

what can the common goal that requires both needs be? To discover this it

might be helpful to apply the same cloud to a different problem with a

clearer goal:

In Israel/Palestine, both sides want peace. The Israelis are currently

building a wall around part of the Gaza Strip. They are building the wall in

order to ensure the safety of Israeli citizens from terrorism. Many believe

that the building of the wall is wrong because it will further distance the

Israelis and Palestinians from each other. In this case the common goal is

clear. And so the cloud here looks like this:

D: remove the wall

D’: keep the wall

B-D: embrace the neighbour’s existence, rather than wall them out

C-D’: stay safe

A: peace

In his mind the narrator of the poem is at war with his neighbour. This

unknown entity is automatically an enemy until proven otherwise, an “oldstone

savage armed.” This cloud that Frost suggests, is therefore one of

the most powerful clouds ever written. It applies to nearly any war. In

order to have peace you must embrace your enemy, but you must also remain

safe. In order to embrace your enemy you must break down barriers

between you, whether they be physical barriers, mental barriers, sanctions,

religious/cultural misunderstanding, or any other form of barriers.

However, in order to remain safe you must build up barriers between you and

your enemy, including physical and diplomatic walls. The cloud is also

especially honest as nearly all wars are called by blind hatred,

misunderstanding or a lack of knowledge, all three of which are referred to

in this poem.

This cloud does not apply exclusively to war. Perhaps the most interesting

application of this cloud that Frost suggests is that it is subtly hinted, when

he is describing the shady neighbour, the old-stone savage, that the person

he is walling out is in fact himself. He is walling out his primal instinct, his

human nature. He has apple orchards in favour of a pine forest, and wishes

to remain separate from his own wild side for his own protection, even whilst

wishing that his instinct would decide that there was no need for a wall. In

order to be at peace with himself, Frost must accept his primal nature. In

order to accept his primal nature, Frost must break down the mental walls

between his instinct and his conscience. In order to be at peace with

himself, Frost must know that he is a civilised modern human being. In order

to know that he is a civilised human being, Frost must wall out his primal

instincts. So the cloud looks like this:

D: allow his instincts to affect his conscience

D’: wall his instincts out

B-D: accept his primal instincts

C-D’: feel like a civilized, modern person

A: be at peace with himself peace

EDITORS’ NOTES

(2) Kay Buckner-Seal, Cheryl A. Edwards

Mike Round (and for that matter, good old Robert Frost) are probably

scratching their heads and saying, “Whoa—who’d have thought…” The various

life connections that are possible from the study of literature are amazing.

Jonathon Holder, thanks for sharing your brilliant response. And, Mike

Round thanks for igniting a spark—hey, we’ve been able to cover 4 issues of

TACTics just because you decided to share your mystification of poetry

with us!

Which brings us to you, our TOCFE family—feel free to share with us! Send

your responses, applications of the thinking processes, lessons,

announcements, and etc. by mail to: Cheryl A. Edwards, 2253 S. Hill Island

Rd., Cedarville, Michigan 49719, USA. Or send hyperlink to

cedwards@cedarville.net or bucknek@earthlink.net.

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