Walls

Walls and boundaries are images used in “Mending Wall,” “Slam, Dunk and Hook,” “The Game,” Whale Rider, and Death and Life of Great American Cities to represent divisions. Each of the literary works focuses on some sort of wall that separates society and the negative effects that boundaries cause. Although each focuses on a different circumstance, the recurring theme is separation among people and nature.
Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall” portrays the image of an actual wall, deteriorated by winter’s harshness. One of the neighbors in the story believes that “good fences make good neighbors.” The other neighbor does not understand what about walls is good. He tells his neighbor that his apple trees will not eat the other’s pine cones. He asks himself “Why do they make good neighbors?” The author feels that these boundaries are unnecessary and that they just create distance between people.
Similarly, Jane Jacobs’ Death and Life of Great American Cities presents the argument that boundaries create distances and oversimplify society. The boundaries are presented physically but have social connotations. Jacobs writes about the other side of the railroad tracks and dead ends. Both reference lower class divisions that are found in societies.
“The Game,” written by Judith Ortiz Cofer, discusses the physical limitations found on a girl named Cruz. She was humpbacked and somewhat displaced from normal society because of her physical deformity. Although afflicted, she was able to interact and play, but the poem is somewhat sad because it discusses the game of pretend-the world in which Cruz takes part. Whale Rider, by Witi Ihimaera, presents another example of boundaries. The division between humanity and nature and men and women is discussed throughout the novel. In the end, it is concluded that however different those things may seem, they are really one. Both are united and do not to be distinguished in so much as to make a decision involving tradition and belief.
Yusef Komunyakaa’s “Slam, Dunk, and Hook” depicts the wall put up by Sonny Boy when his mother dies. When his mother dies, he separates himself from his normal life and gets involved in gambling and plays basketball with anger. He separated himself from the world to escape his pain.