The Bear By: William Faulkner

1. The BearBy: William Faulkner By: Jack Foley

2. William Faulkner’s early life • Born on September 25, 1897 in New Albany, Mississippi • He was the first of four sons to Murry Faulkner • July 1918 he joined the British Royal Air Force (RAF) • In 1929, Faulkner married Estelle Oldham.

3. http://www.southernliterarytrail.org/images/rowan_oak.jpg

4. William Faulkner • In 1949 he was awarded The Nobel Prize in Literature. • Faulkner is considered one of the most important writers of Southern literature • He wrote about The old South, the new South, and the reconstructed South

5. The Bear • Published in 1942 • The narrative is divided into five sections • 3rd person point of view

6. Characters • Isaac McCaslin- also known as Ike. The son of Uncle Buck McCaslin and is the heir to the McCaslin plantation • Sam Fathers-teaches Isaac to hunt the former lands of his ancestors • General Compson- is a close friend of the McCaslin's • Boon Hogganbeck- Native American with a lot of hunting skill. He kills Old Ben • Lion- is a fearless mongrel hunting dog • Old Ben- A bear that is hunted every year by the hunting club

7. Setting • Late nineteenth century in wild lands of the Tallahatchie River in Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi • Covers different time periods during Ike McCaslin's youth

8. Themes • Rites of passage for Ike McCaslin • His first hunting trip at age ten, killing his first deer at age twelve, and other important landmarks in his hunting experience • The death of Old Ben • Race and Slavery • Sam Fathers being part Native American and African American • Maltreatment of African Americans • Moral problems associated with pride, humility, and guilt.

9. Foreshadowing • "And so he should have feared and hated Lion” (19; ch.2) serves as a foreshadowing of Lion's role in the hunt for Old Ben • the phrase is a constant reminder of how the story will end.

10. Symbolism • Old Ben Symbolizes the natural world • Old Ben dying symbolizes the destruction of nature that the railroad and the foresters bring • Boon Hogganbeck represents modern man seeking to wrest nature to his advantage with blind brute strength.

11. Work Cited • "The Bear." Britannica School Edition. Web. 23 May 2011. <http://wfxsearchgalileo.webfeat.org/wfsearch/search>. • The Bear. Photograph. The University of Tennessee Martin. Web. 23 May 2011. <http://www.utm.edu/departments/acadpro/library/information_pages/topFiction/index.php?display=true&row=13&start=0>. • "MWP: William Faulkner (1897-1962)." The University of Mississippi. Web. 23 May 2011. <http://www.olemiss.edu/mwp/dir/faulkner_william/>. • Nobel Prize in Literature. Photograph. Nobel Prize in Literature. Web. 23 May 2011. <http://nobelprizeinliterature.com/>. • Rowan Oak, Home of William Faulkner. Photograph. Southern Literary Trail. Web. 23 May 2011. <http://www.southernliterarytrail.org/oxford.html>. • "William Faulkner - Biography." Nobelprize.org. Web. 23 May 2011. <http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1949/faulkner-bio.html>. • William Faulkner. Photograph. Nobel Prize in Literature 1949. Web. 23 May 2011. <http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1949/>.