Speaker
The speaker self-identifies as a writer and context makes it clear that the speaker writes about and is a lover of nature. The presumption, therefore, is that the speaker is interchangeable with the poet herself. She describes coming across a fox one day. It is clear from her interaction with the animal that she is very comfortable with animals in the wild which further delineates her close affinity with nature which all but cement this is a self-portrait of the poet.
That affinity with the wild creatures that populate untamed nature extends to defending them against the predatory violence of hunting for sport. One day in the recent past, the speaker had been involved in a conversation about fox hunting—which is not hunting for food, but merely for sport—in which some unidentified woman had staked the claim that fox hunts are good for the fox. The speaker’s impulsively inquiring, “Which fox” not only serves to show her affection for animals in the wild, but is overheard and makes her something of a legend in the local fox world.
At the same time that she is protective of wild creatures, however, she is also jealously protective of her position as a writer. The fox makes an offhand compliment that sparks a surprisingly terse reply from the speaker. Her pride in being a writer even extends to her remarking upon this ability as what separates her from the fox.
The Fox
The fox is spread out in the shade offered by a tree when the speaker approaches him. It is clear that he knows the speaker and, more importantly, knows he has no reason to fear her. While he does look at up at her approach, upon seeing her he takes no defensive posture, nor does he try to run away. His actions indicate an unusual level of comfort with this human. The speaker’s reaction to this indicates a psychological change since last they met because she voices surprise at his not trying to scamper away.
The fox then reveals he has the power of speech by informing her that she has since last they met become newsworthy in the world of foxes. He also reveals that there is a grapevine throughout which information is passed from one fox to another. This is how he has come to learn of the speaker’s conversation about fox hunting. This conversation also leads to one moment of conflict in the story when he tells her that position on the subject of fox hunts makes her okay in his book.
The speaker’s defensive posture to what she considers an offensive remark does nothing to undermine the unflappable fox. In fact, his response is to agree with her insistence that writing is what separates humans from the animal world. This agreement is arrived at courtesy of conflicting perspectives, however. His agreement with the speaker is based on his view that the real difference between them is that humans waste too much time with words. They are either trying to figure out the real meaning or trying to find ways to use them to seem clever. Foxes don’t waste their lives with such inevitably pointless endeavors, but instead are content to live. As the writer is left speechless, the fox finally stands up and stretches, revealing his advanced age for the first time before slowly ambling away.
