Language Leading to Change
...hould say. Language leads to change no matter how we look at it. When we are able to express our thoughts and emotions, we then have the ability to change. We must accept that it comes with language and realize that it can only better us as a person. Language in Audre Lorde’s life changed her life. She was able to speak about her tumor, warn others so they do not have to go through what she did and then come to an understanding with herself. She was no longer afraid of what she thought or had gone through. She put what she knew out on the table and those who wanted to take parts of it did. This not only changed her life, but the lives of those who listened so open-mindedly. When looking at Frost’s poem, “Mending Wall,” we see the same characteristics that Audre Lorde spoke of in her essay. The neighbor in the poem says very little and experiences no change throughout this poem. The speaker on the other hand comes out wondering why they are mending this wall. He, as Lorde did, put what he knows out on the table to examine. After thinking and studying, he still is unable to come to a conclusion why his neighbor acts as he does. The speaker says: It comes a little more: There where it is we do not need a wall: He is all pine and I am apple orchard. My apples will never get across And eat the cones under his pine, I tell him. He only says, “Good fences make good neighbors.” (23-27) This passage expresses how the speaker feels about the wall the two have between them. He begins by stating that he sees no need for this wall. Then the speaker goes on to explain that they are two totally different people who, without contact will gain nothing, but with contact will not lose anything either. The neighbor quickly replies with, “Good fences make good neighbors.” trying to sweep the subject out of the way as quickly as possible. This led him to believe that there was no hope for his neighbor. He was stuck in the past and found it difficult to change his old ways. Even though the speaker presents all of this information to the neighbor, no further communication between the two occurred. The speaker goes on to say to himself: “…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 says “Elves” to him, But it is not elves exactly, and Id rather He said it for himself. (32-38) In these lines the speaker comes across as wanting to talk to his neighbor about his ridiculous “notion” he has, but soon he comes to the conclusion that is not worth it. It became less and less important because the speaker is able to recognize how his neighbor’s ideas are formulated and he also realizes that you cannot change others or their way of thinking unless they too are able to communicate. Talking someone into having a relationship is not as meaningful as it would be if nature had run its course. His neighbor is following in the ideas held in the past and no amount of persuasion could get him past it. The speaker’s thoughts race through both the poem and also the speech. Frost’s tone in this piece is somewhat critical. In the beginning the speaker seems to criticize his neighbors ideas and how they were formulated. He speaks how his neighbor does things to silence himself removing himself from the presence of others, and goes on to express how he disagrees with these actions. The neighbor’s actions only added to the criticism and make the speaker think more and more. When looking at Lorde’s speech, she is quick to criticize t...