In Robert Frost's "Mending Wall," the point of view of the poet is important as he observes the world around him and especially the reactions and ideas of his neighbor. The theme is served by this point of view. First, the point of view coupled with the length of the piece gives the poem the aura of an essay on a real occurrence. The poet seems to be telling a story about himself and his neighbor as they rebuild a wall together. At the same time, though, the first-person narrator introduces a number of philosophical statements derived from his own experience of nature, the world at large, and interactions with other people.
The opening statement, for instance, becomes one that is contrasted with the attitude of the neighbor. The speaker says "Something there is that doesn't live a wall" (1), meaning that the wall is attacked by different elements in nature which break the bricks of the wall by roots growing from below and weather beating down from above. Other human beings also damage the wall, such as the hunters who tear down the wall to get at a rabbit. The wall is meant to stand forever, but in spring the poet finds holes where none should be.
Because of this, the poet and his neighbor get together and repair the wall. The neighbor repeats the phrase "Good fences make good neighbors," and in the context of the poem, this becomes a somewhat ambiguous phrase, one to be considered and reconsidered. The phrase has been taken to mean that keeping property separate makes good neighbors so there are not arguments over what is on one side of the wall or the other. Repairing the wall together, though, makes these two men good neighbors, and each spring they get together and walk along the fence to see what damage has been done before they work together to repair it.
The poet uses the wall to develop a philosophical thought about the world, asking first why he wants to build a wall at all:
Before I built a wall I'd a...