The Bear William Faulkner | Joyce W. Warren (essay date 1968)
Joyce W. Warren (essay date 1968)
SOURCE: "The Role of Lion in Faulkner's The Bear': Key to a Better Understanding," in The Arizona Quarterly, Vol. 24, No. 3, Autumn, 1968, pp. 252-60.
[Below, Warren discusses Lion's purpose in the narrative, describing the dog's similarities to Old Ben and the significance of their meeting in terms of the hunters' values.]
Since its appearance in 1942 as a part of the larger work, Go Down, Moses, "The Bear" has received more critical comment than any other of Faulkner's short stories. As yet, however, no one has clarified the position in the story of Lion, the "great blue dog" that ultimately brings about the death of the old bear. Most critics have paid little attention to Lion, and the confusion and disagreement among those who have considered the dog at all only point up the need for a careful analysis of his role in the story.
A major tendency among critics of "The...
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