The Bear Came Over the Mountain is a short novel by Alice Munro, first published in The New Yorker magazine in 1999 and later in 2001 in book form, called Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage, where another short stories of Munro can also be found. There is also a movie based on this story, called Away from Her, directed by Sarah Polley. The story is about a husband (Grant) and wife (Fiona), who have been married for almost 50 years. However, Fiona starts to show the early symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, which by time only gets worse. She gets into a nursing home, where she falls in love with a man (Aubrey), whom she knew from when she was young. Fiona completely forgets where she lived, where she’s from or that she has a husband who visits her quite frequently. When Aubrey gets taken home, Fiona falls into depression and refuses to eat and walk. In the end, Grant brings back Aubrey to the nursing home and the novel closes with Fiona temporarily remembering his husband and the vow they made before she got into the nursing home.
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia. It has three stages, each becoming worse and worse by time. In the first or early stage, there are no upfront symptoms. The person may only lose their belongings, forget words and names but he/she can still drive and look after themselves. The symptoms in the second stage are getting more serious. Forgetting what day is it or where did they go to school, being suspicious and