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William Faulkner (Part Two)

© Audrey McCrone

"The Bear" is a story I really disliked, and this cannot be avoided. I don't think it's a story meant to be liked, though, unless you're a male chauvinist and a bigot. There are several perspectives one could take to understand this complicated piece.

One is that Faulkner wrote it from personal experience. This is the most easily believed, since Faulkner was a Southern hunter and the story involves trapping a dangerous bear: Old Ben. In this view, a reader must remember the vast changes of the time, sweeping Southern thought. Tremendous changes in everyday life were occurring, and folks never welcome this kind of forced change.

Secondly, some say Old Ben was an actual legend, and that Faulkner was simply continuing the oral tradition. This view details the story of Lafayette County, a Southern legend about a bear. Perhaps this theory is too convenient, and the story itself too complex to be explained so simply.

"The Bear" could be central to Faulkner's ideas of Nature and Man. Where does a hunter feel at home but in the woods? The natural world, in this view, is God's world, and one that is being replaced by civilization. It is quite feasible to touch upon Old Veritas this way. This could be what was in Faulkner's heart as he wrote.

This tiresome catalogue could be Faulkner's interpretation of the history of the South. Think about the ledger and all the information it entails: nearly a biblical discovery of sin within his family, concerning slavery. Isaac McCaslin really doesn't seem to want to know what he's going to read next, the history so evil. Faulkner used flashbacks to come to grips with the whole history of the South, realizing the broad dimensions of it.

Still, one could take the approach of initiations and cultural roots. The boys in the story are marked with the blood of their first kill. This, of course, is still being done today, and is rooted in tribal lore. Yes, it's gory to any female or non-hunter type, but it's also a way to perpetuate a culture's sense of itself.

Second to last, readers will note the relationship between style and meaning. Readers might note Faulkner mixing together three aspects: narrative, time and rhetoric. This view will make readers think of him as a sophisticated writer, worthy of his prize.

Lastly, and my particular favorite, Faulkner was "spittin' in destruction's face." Like Emily Grierson, William Faulkner had courage in the face of corruption. He wasn't happy about the end of slavery by force, as can be seen clearly in the character Cass, who chooses to participate in Southern tradition by having children and not recognizing his black family members. He takes the complete opposite approach of Isaac McCaslin, his cousin, who chooses not involve himself in Southern tradition, and actually recognizes his black family members.