The old saying “Good fences make good neighbors” simply means that having solid boundaries between my property and yours encourages us to respect one another. The idea is that if we can both see clearly what's mine and what's yours, then there'll be no disputes between us, and we will be able to live side by side without any trouble.

Whether this old saw is true or not, it's certainly believed in by the speaker's neighbor in “Mending Wall” by Robert Frost. The problem in this case, however, is that the relevant fence—or, in this case, a wall—appears to be completely unnecessary. At least that's what the speaker thinks. He thinks that the annual custom of mending the wall that separates his land from his neighbor's is a pointless waste of time, not least because so much of their respective land consists of wild nature that doesn't represent a threat to either one of them.

But the neighbor's not taking any chances. He seems to think that the only reason why the two men enjoy an amicable relationship as neighbors is that the wall between them has been properly maintained. He inherited this notion from his father, and it's become a very hard habit to break.

In the poem 'Mending Wall' by Robert Frost, the poet considers the value or otherwise, of boundaries. In contemplating whether good fences make good neighbors, he is including all barriers and boundaries in that - including walls. He is concerned that the saying may be becoming so popular - and spouted so often - that it is fast becoming trite. He wonders whether properties are always of sufficient threat to each other as to always demand some kind of barrier. Apples are no threat to cattle for example, or corn to forestry trees. However, others may feel different - it depends on what's on the property and what the neighbor believes. Some believe that it's pointless to wonder what your neighbor's like - just throw up a wall and be done with it - that way everyone's happy. There are no incursions and therefore no disputes. Frost wonders whether there's another way - particularly perhaps in relation to world issues like the Cold War.

In "Mending Wall," Frost writes a contemplative poem based on the activity of going out with his neighbor each spring to mend the stone wall that divides their property.  Frost himself doesn't really like the wall--he feels it is unnecessary, unfriendly, outdated, and a bit rude to have.  However, his neighbor, who seems to be steeped in tradition, says, "Good fences make good neighbors."  This is an old saying that seems to imply that you can be better neighbors if there are boundaries; that way, you don't end up fighting over what property is whose.  It helps create lines, which eliminates potential conflict.  So, for example, if there is a tree that is kind-of in-between two houses, who has to rake the leaves every fall?  Without a fence, neighbors might argue about this issue, or just silently seethe with rage as the leaves build up and the neighbor doesn't rake them.  With a fence, the tree definitely belongs to a certain person; they are responsible, and the potential problem is solved.

So, that is what the quote means.  Frost, however, disagrees.  He gives several reasons for this in his poem, but the main reason is that their properties don't really need them.  He has apple trees, the neighbor has "all pine," and, as Frost says,

"My apple trees will never get across and eat all the cones under his pines."

Trees don't need to be fenced in or out--they don't steal or interfere with anyone, like someone's dog would, if unchained or fenced.  He also mentions that sometimes fences are put up to keep the cows in, but, "here there are no cows."  They don't have animals to keep in or out, and no property disputes.  He also asserts that there is something ominous and unkind in a wall--he says that a wall implies you are keeping something dangerous away, or dangerous in, and that's not very pleasant.  In the end, he even compares his wall-loving neighbor to "an old stone-savage," symbolically indicating that keeping walls is a rather savage ritual that is only needed in more dangerous times.

I hope that those thoughts helped; good luck!

The phrase that you mention is usually taken to mean that people, by their natures, want to have some barriers between themselves and other people.  It means that people can get along better if there are such barriers between them.

The speaker and his neighbor seem to be disagreeing about whether it is necessary to have the wall there in the first place.  The speaker thinks that there is no need for walls -- he notes that nature tries to knock them down.  But the neighbor keeps insisting that "good fences make good neighbors."

What does "good fences make good neighbors" mean in "Mending Wall"?

The statement "good fences make good neighbors" has several meanings. Most often, it is taken as a statement or metaphor about boundaries: the idea that human relationships thrive when people have clear personal boundaries and do not overstep them.

However, the poem also suggests that the act of building—or repairing—fences makes good neighbors. It tells the story of two property owners who meet each spring to repair the stone wall between their respective portions of land. This is a ritual that bonds them together in an acquaintanceship, if not an actual friendship. They talk as they work and even jokingly try to cast "spells" on the stones to keep them in place. Although the work is hard, it seems to be an enjoyable experience. The two men seem to have different outlooks on life, but they are able to work together.

While the speaker questions the point of repairing the wall when neither of them has animals that can wander onto the other person's property, it is telling that the speaker is the one who contacts the neighbor that it is time for the repair. Obviously, he finds some value in it.

The repeated statement "good fences make good neighbors" can be seen as expressing the idea that working together on a project can pull people together into community. Much as the speaker critiques his neighbor's traditional statement, Frost tellingly gives the adage the final word in the poem.

In Robert Frost's Mending Wall, what is the speaker’s attitude to the adage, “Good fences make good neighbors?"

Robert Frost's poem "Mending Wall" is a meditation on the barriers, both physical and mental, that divide people. The poem is told from the perspective of an individual who, together with his next-door neighbor, ritually rebuilds the barrier separating their properties. Who or what repeatedly tears down the wall is uncertain. Early in the poem, Frost's narrator notes that hunters habitually tear down the wall. The hunters, however, are only part of the problem. A mysterious presence or force seems to oppose the structure dividing properties. To the narrator's neighbor, however, the wall serves a useful purpose:

My apple trees will never get across
And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
He only says, ‘Good fences make good neighbors.'

Among the more interesting passages in "Mending Walls" is the narrator's comments on the nature of the manmade structure. In this passage, Frost's protagonist concedes that the wall's purpose is a little unclear, although his neighbor's position is less ambiguous:

Before I built a wall I’d ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offense.
Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,
That wants it down.  I could say ‘Elves’ to him,
But it’s not elves exactly, and I’d rather
He said it for himself.

In the poem's final lines, the narrator again quotes his neighbor's proverb that "good fences make good neighbors."

Frost's poem represents an effort at understanding the contradictory notion that physical barriers separating people fosters a more amicable environment. Anyone who has ever owned property and decried the encroachment of neighboring communities or homes, or who has lamented the intrusions of neighboring children chasing baseballs across one's garden has contemplated the advantages of physical barriers separating properties. Countries around the world construct lengthy barriers along their borders for the purpose of keeping out people and ideas that run counter to their preferences. The Berlin Wall was an inhumane effort by the Soviet Union and its East German allies to not only prevent the loss of manpower, but to help keep out Western ideas and influences. As awful as was that wall, some in the West figured it helped minimize tensions between East and West by keeping East German citizens at home and not fleeing to freedom. In other words, the Berlin Wall was considered by some as "making good neighbors."

Frost's narrator seems resigned to the wall separating his property from his neighbors. He does not understand why the wall is necessary, and may even be complicit in its destruction. His neighbor, however, remains convinced that keeping one's property distinct from another's is a sound policy.

In Robert Frost's Mending Wall, what is the speaker’s attitude to the adage, “Good fences make good neighbors?"

The speaker here does not give the old adage much value --he surmises that the saying became popular where a good fence would keep livestock out of growing crop fields and thus keep the neighbors from quarreling.  But in this particular location, where the neighbors have met to repair the fence, the neighbors only were separating two orchards, and the narrator points out that the adage makes no sense here. In a larger sense, Frost is suggesting that allsuch old adages should be reexamined, and that his early New England upbringing should also be scrutinized in light of modern thinking.

In Robert Frost's Mending Wall, what is the speaker’s attitude to the adage, “Good fences make good neighbors?"

The speaker questions the validity of even having a wall, and sees no real need for it; in fact, he goes further in asserting that "Something there is doesn't love a wall." He sees it as an annual fix-it ritual; he would be content to let the hunters and the winter break it down. However, his neighbor in expressing that "good fences make good neighbors" might be implying that both should carefully delineate their respective fields so there's no conflict between them.  He may also be suggesting that there's some sociability working together to repair the winter damage -- in springtime rural New England, neighbors may have gone all winter without seeing each other, and this spring ritual might have been one of their few chances to meet.

Think about Frost's poem "Mending Wall". What does "Good fences make good neighbors" mean?

The narrator in "Mending Wall" is tellling about the annual work involved in rebuilding the rock wall that separates his apple orchard from the pines on his neighbor's property. As they labor, he questions why they must do this every spring. He understands the need for fences to keep cows in their pasture; however, he points out to his neighbor on the other side of the stone wall that "But here there are no cows" It seems to the narrator that there really isn't a good reason to maintain the separation.

The neighbor is uninterested in changing old patterns and understandings, is unwilling to open up to new possibilities and associations. He wants to continue on the basis of the relationship of separation that he has known all his life, handed down from his father.

He moves in darkness as it seems to me~
Not of woods only and the shade of trees.
He will not go behind his father's saying

The neighbor maintains the lesson learned from his parent, that it is important to keep one's own property enclosed and protected and that it is equally important to keep others' property out. This is accomplished by maintaining the structures that insure the separation. "Good fences make good neighbors."

In "Mending Wall," by Robert Frost, how do fences makes good neighbors?

Poet Robert Frost uses the wall as a metaphor to symbolize many things in his famous poem. In its concrete form, the stone wall serves to unify its neighbors each spring when the ground thaws, causing a swelling in which many of the stones are dislodged. The neighbors, who rarely speak or communicate during other times of the year, work together on opposite sides of the wall, mending its damaged sections. The word "mending" also serves to help the neighbors reconnect verbally each spring, patching up a friendship that is based entirely upon their shared stone fence. The phrase "Good fences make good neighbors" is totally appropriate: Rather than leave the fence to further deteriorate after each winter ends, the two men repair the fence, thereby making it good again; by working together, the two men maintain their neighborly, if otherwise distant, connection.