This Frost poem is based on a contradiction. It is impossible to have a civilization, or simply have mankind exist, without rules and boundaries. We could not survive in anarchy, or with everyone just doing whatever the felt like. However, being limited and bound is something that man frowns upon severely in many ways. We all want to be free to do what we think is best for us, and to be able to achieve our fullest potential without anything trying to hold us down.
This contradiction is somewhat ironic if you consider the role of government as a law making body. There is an immense amount of work put into making rules and laws. There are men who dedicate their entire life to this, and they are considered in most countries to be some of the most prestigious. Yet there are many cases where the limits imposed by a government are considered by its people to be horrific. The picture of the Berlin Wall being knocked down comes to mind.
In the poem, the speaker and his neighbor represent each side of the contradiction.
The speaker's neighbor says, "good fences make good neighbors." (459) He believes that the boundary is a necessary thing. He does not question it at all. The speaker however is very skeptical of the wall. He goes along with it, is okay with its existence, and rarely vocalizes any objections, but he does often think of the possibility that it is unnecessary. He says, "He is all pine and I am apple orchard, my apple trees will never get across and eat the cones under his pines." (459).
