"Facile Gates:" Walls and Identity Across Paradise Lost and Along the US-Mexico Border

This article compares the respective functions of the US-Mexico border wall and borders within Paradise Lost. Supposed threats to economic, physical, and cultural property encourage modern nation-states to continue constructing territorial borders despite a growing body of work that contests the efficacy of walls in deterring unauthorized migration. More effective are the symbolic capacities of walls and their ability to articulate the people and cultures they enclose.