Analyzing the Total Effect of a Story

Analyzing the Total Effect of a Story

The dominant literary elements of "The Bear" are symbolism and theme, but all

literary elements collaborate to produce a total effect of this story. To me, the impact of

"The Bear" is to respect nature and all creatures. Nature has its own hidden tricks and

animals can perceive that something is wrong before it happens. Animals are extremely

intelligent and dominant, but humans don't have any respect for them. For once, it

seems that nature is hunting man. The bear is described to be almost immortal, unable

to be injured by bullets at point-blank range; therefore, Old Ben is greatly respected by

the men pursuing him. The impact this story had on me was to have honor, courage,

and pride. The men had courage to track the "immortal" bear for four years and when

they finally had numerous chances to take a shot, they didn't. It was almost as if they

were too scared to. They had realized how much pride the bear withheld for itself. Over

the plethora of years it has lived through, the bear has learned much. Old Ben is old and

wise, and the humans knew that the bear was aware of its pure dominance over them.

The symbol in this story is the magnificent bear itself. It represents the most

powerful force of nature from which all life develops, but is threatened by humanity. This

contributes to the total effect because in this case, the bear isn't just threatened by

humans, but it also poses a treat towards them back. It shows its pride, and the humans

honor that pride by not killing Old Ben when they had the chance the first few times.

These people had the courage to track down and come in contact with this undying

bear, thus creating the total effect of this story.

The setting supports the dominant literary element because it is in Old Ben's

territory, thus giving him an advantage over the poachers. They must have courage and

bravery to venture into this perilous area. The character element would be the boy

because he is constantly learning and improving his knowledge

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