William Faulkner's The Bear

The power of nature can never be suppressed nor can it be fully understood by men, no matter how hard they try. As time has progressed, the evolution of man has occurred but with this evolution, men have taken the stance of being all powerful and full of knowledge of the world around them. However, the power of nature is much stronger than any force and can take on any challenge; it will never be understood by men, no matter how long they try to discover it’s wisdom. William Faulkner’s story, “The Bear,” utilizes symbolism, a parallel plot structure, and a unique writing style to address pressing moralistic issues and to determine man’s place in the hierarchy of power.
Although a beast is not the typical main character, Old Ben, an old,

A large portion of this varying style can be seen by Faulkner’s creation of a fictitious place, known as Yoknapatawpha, that he incorporates throughout many of his stories and novels. Yoknapatawpha is believed to be based off of ___ (Swiggart 9). He uses this place not only as a way to differ his style from other writers, but also to blend a historical representation of the South into his writing. The element of a standard setting is meaningful, because it envelops the reader and allows for a deeper understanding of the failure accompanied by Isaac’s family, as well as many other white Southern families. This fictitious land is meant to project the Southern image by showing both moral and social aspects of the corruption and failure that was taking place at the time (Swiggart 10). Failure of the South can be seen in many aspects of the living style shown by many families during the time, including Isaac McCaslin’s. Slavery was a major role of the South and with it, came many problems. Not only were men taking wrongful ownership of land, they were now taking ownership of other men, of their own brethren. Although this land does not truly exist as it does in Faulkner’s writing, everything has a place in the land; every character fits into it, though they have never been a part of a real

Throughout the story, a shift occurs that severs the writing styles already present. It is done by Faulkner’s use of flawing the writing, i.e. not ending sentences with periods or leaving the last part of a sentence off, causing it to be merely a phrase. This unique style may be part of Faulkner’s plan to show the discordant nature of man. As reflected upon by Thomas Carpenter, “Faced with the extraordinary bear, none thinks of anything new. Their minds do not work; they only reach for their useless shotguns and puny carbines.” The blank thoughts of the men could be a result of the flaws of man and used as a tool to portray the men and weak and incapable of producing anything comparable to the power illustrated by nature. In a sense, men are put in their place because they cannot conceive the needed thoughts to grasp a true understanding of anything, much less the true power of the land and Old Ben. When compared to John Lydenburg, it can be more confidently believed that this dazed literary style is actually intentional in such a way that it shows the flawed minds of men. Lydenburg believes that no one fully understands the men, including Faulkner himself, referring to them as an unthinking animal. The inability to think rationally and absentmindedly ultimately plays a crucial role in their demise. By removing himself of such issues, Isaac can