Killing Bear by Judith Mintys free essay sample

Pity the Bear in Judith Mintys story, Killing the Bear Pity the Bear in Judith Mintys story, Killing the Bear Judith Mintys story, Killing the Bear, is a rather chilling tale about a woman who shoots a bear to death. The story is not merely a simple account of the incident however. It is full of stories and facts about bears, which affect how the reader reacts to the story. In the beginning, the reader expects the bear to be portrayed as a cold-blooded monster who must be killed for the safety of the primary character however this expectation is foiled throughout the story and the reader sees the bear in a very different light.  [tags: Minty Killing the Bear Essays] Dealing with Loss in Killing the Bear Dealing with Loss in Killing the Bear Often things that we experience as children have lasting affects on us that creep up when we least expect them. We will write a custom essay sample on Killing Bear by Judith Mintys or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In Judith Mintys story Killing the Bear, a woman finds herself in just such a situation. She finally deals with something that happened to her as a young child that she probably never even realized was bothering her. In this story the central character painfully comes to grips with a major loss of security from her childhood. Throughout Killing the Bear the author flips back and forth from the story at hand and seemingly only loosely related anecdotes about the main character and bears. [tags: Minty Killing the Bear Essays Killing the Bear The Killing of Me; A Reader Response of Judith Mintys Killing the Bear Judith Minty’s story, â€Å"Killing the Bear,† is the about a woman who commits murder against her sexual self. Although, she wants to move on with life, she realizes that she must kill this bear in order to be a peace w Pity the Bear in Judith Mintys story, Killing the Bear Judith Mintys story, Killing the Bear, is a rather chilling tale about a woman who shoots a bear to death. The story is not merely a simple account of the incident however. It is full of stories and facts about bears, which affect how the reader reacts to the story. In the beginning, the reader expects the bear to be portrayed as a cold-blooded monster who must be killed for the safety of the primary character however this expectation is foiled throughout the story and the reader sees the bear in a very different light. Due to the stories and facts given about bears throughout the story, the reader comes to pity the bear, but most will still acknowledge the necessity of killing him. The beginning of the story seems very quiet and peaceful. It sets up a scene many people would be familiar with. Even the story about the dog is one most people who have ever owned a house pet would instantly recognize. The woman does seem very vulnerable, however. She is outside in a hammock and the dog seems very little help since she ended up more his protector than the other way around (2). The second section sets up frightening images of animals, but they are all in the zoo, so they pose no threat. Yet, this still sustains the readers original expectation of the bear being a threatening animal. Of all the zoo animals described, the bear seems the most harmless, yet she is still afraid of it. The reader has not been shown any danger yet, but there is still a sense of something about to happen. The only bear we have seen is a bundle of clothes by [a] dead tree (5) in a cage at the zoo. The third section of the story returns the reader to the calm security, but then quickly sends the tone of the story into a frenzy. These constant tone changes show the reader how strong and resourceful the woman is, but it also shows us how she can be thrown into a panic easily. We come to have little confidence in the main characters ability to react well if a dangerous situation arises. Throughout the story, Killing the Bear, the reader is given a number of side notes about bears and the womans experience with them. The most interesting of the womans experiences with bears is the story about her stuffed bear. Anyone who had a toy that they carried around all the time as a child will be able to relate to her attachment to her toy bear. These readers will be able to understand how devastating the loss of such a toy would be to a child. This story of the stuffed bear also gives the reader some compassion for bears. The author then gives descriptions of some beliefs about bears from various cultures. All of these beliefs involve somehow humanizing bears, which makes the reader sympathize even more with bears. We see them as very human creatures with human needs. This becomes particularly evident when we read about a man who brings a lost bear cub home to his wife who suckled it (19). Immediately following these soft, personified images of bears, we are given a series of very harsh, violent images of bears. The author describes bears as cold-blooded killers, which removes some of the compassion for bears. At this point in the story, what we are supposed to feel for the bears seems rather contradictory. Why does she make us feel compassion for cold-blooded killers? As the story of the woman continues, the tone is again changed. The calm remains, but now it is a quiet fear. As the woman buys the rifle, the salesman tells her she could get a man with it at twenty yards (26). She doesnt intend to shoot a man however; she intends to shoot a bear. This again turns the bear into a man. When the bear physically appears in the story again, he is screaming. The verb to scream conveys more of a human feeling than an animal one. The human images continue through the death of the bear. Because of these images, the reader comes to feel sorry for the bear. Even in death, he huddles like a frightened child. The readers sympathies are firmly with the bear. The author changes abruptly in the last sentence. The bear suddenly becomes a bear again as the author says, She will dig him up to take the claws (42). This story does not frustrate the readers expectations, but it changes them as the story moves along. The readers sympathies change from centering on the woman to centering on the bear. The bear is personified throughout the story, and even referred to as he rather than it. This causes the reader to feel sorry for the bear in the end, but even the most sympathetic readers would most likely acknowledge that they would have done the same thing in killing the bear. u