What should be our attitude to our neighbours for a harmonious living?
 

Human beings should shed their selfishness and realise that the earth is not our property.  As Rachel Carson says, we belong to the earth.  The earth does not belong to us.  We have to live in harmony with everything else around us.  This includes our neighbours.

When we build a wall around our property, we get a false feeling that whatever is within that boundary belongs to us.  But as social beings we are called to be broadminded to include other people also in to our lives.  In an ideal world there should be no need for artificial boundaries. It is against nature.  That is why Robert Frost doubts that there is some force behind the destruction of walls every year.  There is something in nature that doesn't love a wall.

Walls are temporary solutions to avoid disputes between neighbours.  For those who have not grown mature enough to think beyond walls, it may be necessary.  But we have to grow mature and understand the futility of divisions between people.  Be it political, economic, religious, or any other, we as human beings should rise above narrow divisive attitudes.

Appreciation / Review of Mending Wall

Comparison of the poem with "Neighbour" by Ian Crichton Smith