Mendi

ngWal
l
RobertFr
ost
,oneofthemostf amouspoet
sinAmerica,
isalsoknownasaf ar
merpoet.Hei
s
well
knownforcol
loquial
styl
einhispoems.‘
MendingWal l
’isadramat
icnarr
ati
vepoem
composedinbl
ankv er
se.Thepoem movesfr
om deli
ghttowi sdom.

Thepoem beginswi tht

hereali
zat
ionthattherei
ssomet hi
nginnaturethatdoesn’
tloveawal l
.
Thewal l
sdestroy
edbywi ntermakeshimt hi
nkso.Thepoetandhi sneighbourdecidetomend
thei
rwallduri
ngspringti
me.Whi l
ereconstructi
ngthewall,
thepoetconstantl
ythinksaboutthe
futi
li
tyofthewall
.Theyhav enocowst hatmaycr osst
heirproper
ty.Theyaregrowi ngdif
fer
ent
crops.Buthisneighbourr
epeatstheoldsaying,“
Goodfencesmakegoodnei ghbours”.

I
nthedarkshadesofthetrees,t
hepoetseeshisneighbourcarr
yingst
onesi
nbot
hhands.This
r
emindshim ofanuncivi
l
izedStoneAgeman.Accor dingtothepoet,hemovesi
ndar
kness.
Notj
ustt
hedar knessoftr
ees,butt
hedarknessofignorance.

Therearev ar
iousinter
pret
ati
onspossi
blefort
hepoem.Onei nterpret
ati
oni sthatthewall
s
repr
esentrulesandl aws.Justi
cei
stheprocessofmendingwal ls.Butinar eall
yjustsoci
ety
ther
ewi l
lbenoneedf oranyrul
es,
lawsorwall
s.Inanotherint
erpr et
ati
on,theseemi ngl
yanti-
soci
al wall
buildi
ngitsel
fbecomesanoccasionforsoci
alint
eraction.Therear esomecr i
ti
cs
whov iewthepoem asacommentont hecreati
veprocess.Creat i
onisalsodisrupti
ve.Atleast
i
tdisruptsthestatusquo.

Thepoem aboundswi thaf l

urr
yofpoet icdevi
ces.Theforemostamongt hesei sthemetaphor
ofwallwhichstandsf orthebarri
erthatisol
atespeople.Anothermetaphorist hatofthe
boulderswhichare‘ l
oav es’and‘bal
ls’
.Theneighbourcompar edtoanol dstonesav ageisa
beautif
ulsi
mi l
e.Thissi milebecomesal lthemoref or
cefulwhenheisr epresentedasmov ingi
n
darkness.Whent hepoetspeaksaboutamy ster
iousforcewhichdoesnotl iketheexist
enceof
thewall,wehavei nstanceofper sonif
icati
on.

Anotherpoet
ictechni
queusedispun.I
nthel
i
ne“
Andt
owhom Iwasl
i
ket
ogi
veof
fence”
,the
word‘off
ence’soundsli
kef
ence.

Allt
hesepoeti
cdevi
cesadddept
handbeaut
ytot
hepoem.Asf
arasr
hymeschemei
s
concer
nedtherei
snodefi
nit
epatt
ern.

Inconcl
usi
on, t
hepoem dealswit
har el
evantt
hemeandconveysapowerf
ulmessage.Humour
andconver
sationaltonecont
ri
butest
otheaesthet
icv
alueoft
hepoem.Theabundantuseof
poeti
cdevi
cesr ei
nforcest
hethemeandmessage.Thus,‘
MendingWal
l’
becomesacal l
for
amityandf
riendshi
p.

Ami
goBr
other
s
MANHATTAN,19THOCTOBER2016:Itwasawonderf
uleveni
ngfort
heaudi
enceatthe
Tompki
nsSquar
ePar
k.Ever
ybodypr
esentther
ewi
tnessedthest
unni
ngperf
ormanceofAmi
go
Br
other
s.

Thef i
ghtbet weenAnt onioCr uzandFel ixVar gaswasf ixedi nTompki nsSquar ePar k.ThePar k
wascr owdedev enbef oret heschedul edt i
me.Thegamest artedat2o’ clock.Whent hebot h
fi
ghtersent eredt heaudi encewel comedt hem wi thgr eatappl ause.Fel i
xwasescor tedbya
dozenf ansi nwhi teT- shi
rts.Ant oniot oowasescor t
edandgui dedi nagr andmanner .Atfirst
therefer eegav ethei nstr
uct i
ons.Whent hef i
ghtbegan, theyat tackedeachot herwi thstr
ong
blowsandpunches.Thecr owdwasv ibrantandent husi ast i
cint hebegi nning.Whent hefight
wasaboutt of ini
sh, theygotwor ri
ed.I twasbecauseoft hef i
ght ers’sav ageattacks.Bot hof
them wer ereal l
yf i
ght i
nghar d.Ev erybodyt houghtt hati twoul dendi ndr aw.Thecr owdbecame
sil
entandt hei rblowscont i
nued.Thebel l rangagai nandagai n.Thei rblowsappear edas
hail
stones.Fi nallyther ef
er eeandt het wot r
ainerspr i
edFel ixandAnt onio.Af terafewmi nutes,
theylookedar oundandt henr ushedt owar dseachot herandembr acedeachot her
.Ther eferees
werer eal l
yinadi lemma.Theyf oundi tv erydi ffi
culttof indt hewi nner.Theannouncerbegant o
maket heannouncement .Hewasl ooki ngar oundt oseet hewi nner .Butbot hAnt onioandFel ix
hadlef tliketruef riends.Theyknewt heywoul dalway sbechampi ons.Thecr owdatt he
Tompki nsSquar ePar kwitnessedt het r
uef r
iendshipoft heset woboxer s.

“Ladi
esandGent l
emen, nowi sthemomentwehav eallbeenwai t
ingf or.Themai nev ent
betweent hetwofiney oungPuer toRicanf i
ght
erswill
beginshor t
ly.Thef i
ghtersareAnt oni
o
CruzandFel ixVargas.Feli
xVar gaswei ghs134poundsandhi sr i
val AntonioCruzwei ghs133
pounds.Thewi nnerwi l
lrepresenttheBoy ’
sclubinthetournamentofchampi ons,theGolden
Gloves.Itwouldber eall
yawonder f
ulcompet i
ti
on.Soont hewhistl
ewi l
lgoandy ouwi l
lseet
he
wonder f
ul boxi
ngcompet i
ti
on..Bereadyf orabreat
htakingfi
nish.Icanseet hereferee
prepari
ngt owhist
le.Hopeal lofy ouwoul denj
oyitwell”
.

TheHourofTr
uth
Mr.JohnBal
dwin,sonofMr .RobertBaldwinisar epresentati
veofthenewgener ati
ony out
h.He
i
snotreal
lyamanofpr i
nciples.Hismindi schangingaccor di
ngt otheci
rcumstances.When
thepl
aybegi
nswecanseehi sstrongprincipl
esofmor al
it
y.Butlaterheischangi
nghi sopini
on.
Hisvi
rt
ueisnotdeep-rooted.Int hebeginningoftheplayheev ensuspectshi
sfather.Butheis
powerf
ulandenerget
ic.

Mr.Gresham isthePresi
dentofanati
onalbank.Hei scorr
uptfrom t
hebegi
nning.Heisreal
l
ya
t
ruerepresentat
iveofthenewAmerican.Hehasast rongattachmentwit
hthemoney .He
misappropri
atesmoneyf r
om hi
sownbank.Hi satti
tudetowardsmoneyisreall
yself
ish.Hei
s
r
eadyt odoany t
hingforhi
dinghi
scorrupt
ednature.Hei sr
eadyt ogi
veandtakebri
bes.Buthe
i
schangi
ngint
heendwit
hthepowerful
andtr
uthf
ulat
ti
tudeofhi
sfr
iendJohnBal
dwi
n.He
becomesanewman.Thi
sshowsthathehasawil
ltobeamanofhonesty.

“Corr
uptionisagl
obal t
hreatt
odev el
opmentanddemocr ati
crule.I
tdi v
ertspubli
cr esourcesto
pri
vateinter
est
s,l
eavingfewerresour
cestobuil
dschools,hospital
s,roadsandot herpubl i
c
faci
li
ti
es.Whendevelopmentmoneyi sdivert
edtopr
ivat
ebankaccount s,maj ori
nfrastr
ucture
proj
ectsandbadlyneededhumanser vicescometoahalt.Corrupti
onal sohindersdemocr ati
c
governancebydestr
oy i
ngtheruleofl
aw, t
heint
egr
it
yofi nst
it
utions,andpubl ict
rustinleaders.
”

GoodMor ningt oev ery one……It ot all

yagr eewi t
ht hev i
ewsofA.Cor rupt i
onhasbecomeagr eat
threatt oademocr at i
ccount ry.Butwecannotf ul lyov erthr owcor rupt i
onf rom oursoci ety
becauseoft hemoder nwor ld.Butwecanmi nimi zecor rupt i
onifst ri
ctr ul
esandr egul ati
onsar e
l
aiddown.Publ icr esour cesshoul dbegi venpr i
mei mpor tancet hant hepr i
v at einterests.Most
oft hecor rupti
oni neducat ionsect orcanber emov edbyencour agi ngpubl icschool sand
colleges.St ri
ctrul esshoul dbeenf or cedonpr ivatef inancecompani es.Privat ehospi talsshoul d
bedi scour agedandpubl i
chospi tal sshoul dbeencour aged.Si mi larlypr i
vatef i
rmsshoul dbe
discour aged.Itisnotpossi bletomeasur ecor rupt ion, buti tispossi bletomeasur ethe
percept ionsofcor rupt ion.Of t
eni ti st heSt atethati nev i
tabl ecreat esaf ertil
egr oundf or
corrupt i
on.Thegr owt hofI nternat i
onal tradeandbusi nesshasal socr eatedasui table
env ir
onmentf orcor rupt i
on.Amongt heeconomi cchangesi nrecentt i
mes, pr i
vatizati
oni sthe
onet hathasbeencl osel ylinkedwi thcor rupt i
on.I ti sgoodt onot et hedef i
nit i
onofcor r
uption,‘I
t
i
st heabuseofpubl icpowerf orpr ivatebenef i
t.
’ Thi sist hedef initionusedbyt heWor l
dBank.
From t hisdef i
niti
oni tshoul dnotbeconcl udedt hatcor rupt i
oncannotexi stwi thinpr i
vatesect or
activities.Itexistsi nt hepr ivateact ivit
iesr egul atedbyt hegov ernment .Cor rupt i
onr educes
publ i
cr evenueandi ncr easespubl icspendi ng.I tincr easesi ncomei nequal i
ty .Itisgener all
y
believ edt hatincreasi ngt hepenal tiesf oract sofcor rupt ionwoul dr educeacount ry’
scor r
uption.
Cor rupt ioncannotber educedwi t houtmodi fyi
ngt hewaygov ernment soper at e.Thef i
ght
agai nstcor r
uptioni si nt i
mat elylinkedwi tht her efor m oft hestat e.Tor educecor r
upt i
onmy
humbl esuggest ionsar e1.Honest yandv isiblecommi tmentbyt hel eader shi pt of i
ghtagainst
corrupt i
on.Thel eader shipmustshowzer ot oler ancef ori t.Reducet hesuppl yofcor r
upt i
onby
Increasi ngpubl icsect orwages, i
mposi ngst ri
ctpenal t
iesandi nst itutingeffect i
vecont rol
s.