Sunday, January 29, 2012
The Bear (Part 3)
After reading Parts 1 and 2 of The Bear, I was thoroughly involved in the story. The years in the story passed quickly, and I could tell that the time for Lion to confront Old Ben was fast approaching. Yet Part 3 began with a different facet of the story: Boon Hogganbeck. We learned in previous chapters that Boon's status amongst the men at Big Bottom is low; like Sam Fathers, he has some Chickasaw blood in him, but "Sam was the chief, the prince; Boon, the plebeian, was his huntsman. Boon should [be nursing] the dogs" (210). Yet the image Faulkner gives of Boon is not only as a drunkard and lousy shot, but as a man faithful to what he holds to be important. This is especially evident when Lion finally confronts the bear. The dog leaps for Old Ben, but the bear "caught the dog in both arms, almost loverlike, and they both went down. ...Then, rising and rising as though it would never stop, stand erect again and begin to rake at Lion's belly with its forepaws" (228). Boon leaps onto the bear's back and uses his knife to kill the bear, which I find to be extraordinary because thus far Old Ben has been somewhat untouchable and immortal, sort of on a different plane. For Boon, only fit to care for a chief's dogs, to be the downfall of such a creature proves what he is capable of doing for someone he is devoted to. Then Faulkner ends the chapter with Boon defending Sam Fathers's grave on page 240, saying "This is the way he wanted it. He told us. He told us exactly how to do it. And by God you aint going to move him," and Isaac sides with Boon against his cousin McCaslin and Major de Spain. This ending, I think, is Faulkner's way of showing that while Isaac hugely looks up to and respects his cousin, he still does what he believes is right, and like Boon, holds faithful to the ones he is devoted to.
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One thing that you touched on that I think is really interesting is the use of the knife to kill Old Ben. From the very beginning of The Bear Isaac has mentions the slow deterioration of mans relationship with the wilderness and how it is fueled by modernization- "that doomed the wilderness whose edges were being constantly and punily gnawed at by men with plows and axes who feared it because it was wilderness..." (183), but Isaac also makes it very clear that none of this new machinery has been able to kill Old Ben, especially not guns. When I read the passage that describes Boon's final struggle with Old Ben, I found it very fitting that it was not a piece of the new age that finally killed him, but a piece of the older age that we had come to associate both with Old Ben and with Sam Fathers, "indomitable and invincible out of an old dead time, a phantom, epitome and apotheosis of the old wild life." (183).
ReplyDeleteI think the death of the bear was difficult for everyone, even the readers. Old Ben, like you said, has been an untouchable, almost immortal character throughout the story. His status is one of respect and dignity, and I believe that this was not reflected in his death. For Boon, however, it was expected that his faith would ring through and be the deciding factor in killing Ben. One thing I noticed was how after Old Ben died, he was no longer regarded as Old Ben. "It was as if the old bear, even dead there in the yard, was a more potent terror still than they could face without Lion between them" (234). While he was alive I don't think he was ever regarded as a "potent terror." He was always thought of with respect. In his death, however, he looses his capitalized, almost human, name, and is simply referred to as the old bear. I also found it interesting that the gun which had hit him 52 times never killed him, but one slit with Boon's knife did the trick.
ReplyDeleteAt first, having Boon, who was described as lazy and a drunkard, kill the bear was shocking and confusing for me. It seemed like such an injustice letting the opposite of an ideal hunter be the one to finally kill the bear since Old Ben is revered among all hunters. Then, looking at it more closely, I realized that Boon was somewhat an underdog in the hunting group and by killing Bear in order to defend Lion, who he cared about, was an act of courage, something I never expected from Boon. I am hopeful that this act will bring out better qualities in Boon as the story continues and goes to show that, as cliche as it might sound, outer appearance can juxtapose inner personality. This is shown throughout the book, where outer appearances are described "impervious" and "impenetrable" and then a deeper layer is discovered through the short stories.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Anna, I wasn't expecting the revered, and somewhat eternal Old Ben would fall to the underdog Boon. I mean, he missed 5 point blank shots at him! I was surprised that Boon was the one to finally seal the deal with the hunt for Old Ben, and I was also expecting Issac to do it in the end. This is because the connection between Sam Fathers and Old Ben seems to be one on a deep level. Sam wouldn't want to end this nature beast when he is the one who is connected to nature the most out of the group. It was interesting that Boon was able to kill Old Ben with a knife, Old Ben was known to be able to escape guns for so long and it seems kind of odd to end with the lesser technology of a blade. This goes back to the Industrial vs Agrarian relationship this chapter explores, maybe the only was Old Ben could have died is by a knife.
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