2. When you read a modern prose narrative--say an ordinary novel--how do you generally expect the author to deal with the series of events that make up the plot? In what ways does the technique
of Beowulf differ from conventional handling of time, place, and
character?

The speaker of the Mending Wall is the apple orchard owner. It is stated in the poem.  

EXPLANATION:  

Mending Wall is a 1914 poem and Robert Frost’s literary work. This poem is about two neighbors who meet on a spring day to repair the wall which separates their properties. Yet, these two neighbors have different sight of the wall. The speaker of the poem doesn’t see that it is needed to keep the wall between them. Yet, his neighbor sees it in a different way. In the speaker’s neighbor’s mind, it is important to keep the wall between them to separate the properties. The speaker’s neighbor also recites the proverb that says, “Good fences make good neighbors.”

The speaker of the Mending Wall, which is the one who disagrees about the idea of keeping the wall between the neighborhood is an apple orchard owner. It is stated in line 24 of the poem. “He is all pine and I am apple orchard.” The speaker thinks that his apple trees won’t cross the area. His apple trees also won’t eat the cones under his neighbor’s pines. Thus, it is unnecessary to keep the wall between them.

Actually, Robert Frost himself creates mischief in the poem to introduce the readers to a controversy. The speaker’s neighbor thinks that it is important to keep the wall because “Good fences make good neighbors”, yet in the end, he doesn’t state why good fences make good neighbors. He remains silent until the end of the poem.  

LEARN MORE:  

If you’re interested in learning more about this topic, we recommend you to also take a look at the following questions:

1.Why is the image of the setting sun most likely not described in great detail in "Because I Could Not Stop for Death"?    

2.Read the quotation from "Song of Myself."  

KEYWORDS: Mending Wall, Robert Frost, the speaker of Mending Wall, who is the speaker of Mending Wall  

Subject: English

Class: 10-12

Sub-chapter: Mending Wall