The Bear: Bildungsroman

The Bear represents a bildungsroman because it shows the growth in Ike, the protagonist, through the various hunting trips he participated. When Ike is a boy, he is fascinated with hunting down Old Ben, the legendary bear, due to civilization’s desire to triumph over nature. Nevertheless, each year when he returns to hunt Old Ben, he sees more of nature and begins to understand its beauty and essence through the guidance of Sam Fathers. On his last trip into the hunting ground, he sees civilization slowly destroying it and forcing Boon to insanity. Witnessing these things and discovering the sins of his grandfather, Ike rejects his inheritance because he wants to cut off his relationship with the land which causes many people to suffer. As Ike becomes more synchronized with nature, he finds strength to reject his inheritance and worldly possessions, the compass and stick. He further understands that no one is the rightful owner of land because it belongs to nature. From a boy who accepts his role as part of civilization, Ike has grown to become a man who rejects civilization’s most precious possession, land, in order to find peace within him.