The Southern Civilization and the Death of the American Dream - Essay Example

of the Teacher The theme of the paper is the defeat of Southern civilization and the death of theAmerican dream, and how these expressions not only communicate to the selected stories, but also to our very lives. As quoted by Scott Russel Sander, the American dream is not about fame and fortune, but it is about inhabiting in a promised land with peace, freedom and co-operation. This idea of peace and prosperity is demonstrated by a group of bears’ in the story “Bears discover fire” by Terry Bisson. He is an American fiction writer and his reputed works include “Talking men”, “Fire on Mountain” and “Voyage to the Red Planet”. The story “Bears Discover Fire” not only gives a message of the degrading society we are living in ,but also does it with a bit of humor that captivates readers interest. Terry Bisson is a fantasy author, best known for his short stories. Several of his stories are award winning. He also wrote several comic books including “Web of horror”, which is a horror comic magazine. “Bears discover fire” is one of the most preferred short science fiction stories. As claimed by the author, the story is exactly what its title suggests. Once upon a time in a place called Appalachia, all of the bears started burning bonfires in the widespread freeways. They used to assemble themselves in a circle and stare into the flame all night long. During the ritual, they intermittently get up from the fire to find barriers or hunt for firewood. The news media and police wanted to capture the occurrence and made sure they kept the local folks away from the ritual. The story begins when one family manages to get to a very close proximity of the bears’ social gathering due to a flat tire. (Whyte) The story begins with Chronicler driving with his brother and nephew, Wallace jr. to the North of Bowling Green, when he experienced a flat tire near a bear military camp. Their flash light goes out and the narrator had to change the tire in the dim glow of orange light that was coming from the torches held by two bears. “They just held the torches up, whether out of curiosity or for helpfulness, there was no way of knowing” (P:2, Bisson ) Afterwards, in the car, the narrator’s brother comments that it seemed like finally the bears had discovered fire. Use of fire is the well-built western icon of civilization and intelligence. This symbol is often used to separate humans from the animal kingdom. Fire describes humanity in a cultural level. The narrator states a number of events in the story that depict the decline of humanity in human beings. Meanwhile, bears are discovering what humanity and civilization is. One event was the disappearance of the narrator’s mother from a nursing home and her appearance with a group of silent bears. The situation forces the readers to see that bears became human enough for the old lady to leave the nursing home and find solitude and peace in their company. Departure of the bears in the morning, when the mother of the narrator dies, also shows the concern that the bears felt towards the lady. The bears were present with the lady for her ease in the last moments of her life. Perhaps this is why the narrator’s mother seemed to understand them more than the others did.”It would be rude to whisper around the creatures who don’t possess the power of speech”(pg:4, Bisson) The most sentimental part of the story is the depiction of the narrator’s relationship with his mother and his nephew. At one point, he attempts to come to terms with her going to the nursing home and accepts her departure from the world. On the other hand, he teaches his nephew, Wallace jr. about the practicality and morals that are required to survive in the world of humans with animal like characteristics and to create a distinction from such human animals. Decline of human society from a higher level and evolution of animal society to a higher level, is the main idea of “Bears discover fire”. The bears seemed to have gained something that humans have lost, i.e., the art of enjoying each other’s company by warm firewood, which eventually leads us to no good in a materialistic aspect, but it leads to peace of mind and prosperity in a spiritual aspect.” It seemed like only a few of the bears knew how to use fire, and were carrying others along, but isn’t it how it works with everything?”(pg:4, Bisson) Humans take everything and everyone in respect of what can be gained from one person or what is the best investment to gain something bigger and better. However, what should be in one’s mind is peace and care for others as well. For instance, the narrator’s brother Wallace is a preacher, but he makes a large part of his living in the real estate business, thus, giving more time and energy to worldly matters than to preaching. Insensitivity of human nature is shown at its peak when the nursing home tells the narrator that he has to pay the bill for another two days even though she has already escaped from their care. The author clearly thinks that bears were more human than the humans themselves were. He stated that in the morning when the bears had already left, the state troopers came and “scattered the bears’ fire ashes and flung their firewood away in the bushes” (pg: 5, Bisson), which was a trivial but all the same repulsive act of bear like manners from a human. The author defends the bears attitude towards his mother when troopers suggest that “First report we’ve had of them …bothering old folks” (pg:5, Bisson), but nobody pays much attention to his words. On another occasion, when hunters in Virginia complaint about their burnt houses and the bears were held responsible for the act, the speaker feels sympathy for the bears rather than the hunters and he states that the bears had the right to do what they did. The hunting commissioner didn’t blame the bears as well, as he stated that a hunting license does not stop the hunted from striking back.” Besides its illegal to hunt in the medians” (Pg:3, Bisson) says the author. One more event that illustrates the American Dreams’ decline occurs when Wallace jr., a twelve-year boy, wanted to keep a gun, a .22, in his pocket. One of the main functions of this tentative fiction story is to make us realize the decline of our sensitivity towards nature, peace and other human beings. This story states that each human is important, not only for money-oriented or other selfish needs, but for moral support and for peace of mind. Rejection of human virtues by humans and their acceptance by animals is the phenomenon soon to be discovered by the world. This is not stiff science fiction in the smallest amount, but it’s an exceptional story in which bears have certainly revealed fire and are base camping on freeway medians. The story is infact all about family associations and ageing and the writer has portrayed all his assertion very nicely into a framework. It is a bizarre little anecdote in which the unbelievable is at a remoteness, and the insinuation of what you have immediately read appears after the reader has finished reading. Works Cited Bisson, Terry. Bears Discover Fire. New York: TOR, 1993. Whyte, Nicholas. "Bears Discover Fire" by Terry Bisson. 2010. 21 March 2012 . Bottom of Form Read More