Wilderness And The White Man In William Faulkner's The Bear
The Themes of Wilderness and the White Man in William Faulkner 's The Bear
The Themes of Wilderness and the White Man in William Faulkner 's The Bear
William Faulkner 's The Bear is bilateral in subject and plot. The first half of the story looks at the wilderness and the virtues man can learn from it. The second half applies these virtues to civilization, exposing the white man 's corruption and misuse of the land. A careful look at the interaction of these two halves reveals a single unifying theme: man must learn virtue from nature. Faulkner believed humility, pride, courage, and liberty would be almost impossible for man to learn without the wilderness to teach him.
The first half of the story tells a bittersweet tale of a boy who wished to learn humility and pride in order to become skillful and worthy in the …show more content…
Each causes, in the scope of the story, everything that happens in their realm. Faulkner uses these two martyrs to further establish the virtues to be learned from the wilderness, and lacking in the white man 's civilization. Old Ben, "taintless and incorruptible," contrasts with old Carothers who raped his slaves, committed incest with and impregnated his illegitimate slave child, and began the cycle of destruction of the land which was not his to destroy. Old Ben is Carothers ' antitheses, showing humility, pride, liberty, and courage in his teasing of the hunters with his presence and showing himself to them only on his own accord. O 'Conner writes,
Obviously the bear almost begs to be treated as a symbol in stories dealing with man 's relationship with nature, especially those stories that present the physical world and the creatures in it as sacramental, as manifestations of a holy spirit suffusing all things and asking that man conduct himself in piety and with
The Themes of Wilderness and the White Man in William Faulkner 's The Bear
William Faulkner 's The Bear is bilateral in subject and plot. The first half of the story looks at the wilderness and the virtues man can learn from it. The second half applies these virtues to civilization, exposing the white man 's corruption and misuse of the land. A careful look at the interaction of these two halves reveals a single unifying theme: man must learn virtue from nature. Faulkner believed humility, pride, courage, and liberty would be almost impossible for man to learn without the wilderness to teach him.
The first half of the story tells a bittersweet tale of a boy who wished to learn humility and pride in order to become skillful and worthy in the …show more content…
Each causes, in the scope of the story, everything that happens in their realm. Faulkner uses these two martyrs to further establish the virtues to be learned from the wilderness, and lacking in the white man 's civilization. Old Ben, "taintless and incorruptible," contrasts with old Carothers who raped his slaves, committed incest with and impregnated his illegitimate slave child, and began the cycle of destruction of the land which was not his to destroy. Old Ben is Carothers ' antitheses, showing humility, pride, liberty, and courage in his teasing of the hunters with his presence and showing himself to them only on his own accord. O 'Conner writes,
Obviously the bear almost begs to be treated as a symbol in stories dealing with man 's relationship with nature, especially those stories that present the physical world and the creatures in it as sacramental, as manifestations of a holy spirit suffusing all things and asking that man conduct himself in piety and with