The Bear

The Bear by William Faulkner

In this short story , William Faulkner expresses his hopelessness over man 's continuing destruction of the environment . Mostly through the eyes of a young boy , Isaac , the story progresses to finality that for Faulkner , marks the end of a time of unspoiled wilderness

The characters are Isaac , Old Ben , Sam Fathers , Lion and Boon Hoggenback . Isaac symbolizes the youth easily influenced and molded His encounters with Old Ben teach him to leave all the trappings of civilization in order to be closer to nature . In the end

, Ike , remains a symbol of the struggling effort to unite nature and civilization

Sam Fathers is a noble savage , who teaches Ike Old Ben 's ways . Sam remains pure and uncorrupted as he is the few who can see Old Ben . Sam is the epitome of old traditions trying to resist change

Old Ben is nature . It is powerful , wild , mysterious and unpredictable Old Ben is described as the biggest and strongest of all bears (Faulkner , 1990 . He is a force that can destroy the forest or men 's establishments . Yet , Old Ben is also the embodiment of the goodness and the timelessness of nature that will outlast man . In a way , Old Ben is also seen as the symbol of independence . His stubborn will to survive is exceeded only by his will for freedom . Thus , in the end , Old Ben prefers to die rather than be tamed

Old Ben dies at the hands of Boon Hoggenback through...