The Bear (Part 1)

This unnamed character – female, mature, intelligent and educated – is the protagonist and narrator of Part 1, “The Grandmother: An Evolutionary Theory.” The title comes from the fact that she is something of a matriarch, proving to be the mother of the central bear character in Part 2, and the grandmother of the central bear character in Part 3.

Throughout her section of the book, grandmother bear (as she will be referred to in this section of the analysis) is on a journey of discovery – about herself, about her past, and about her interactions with human beings. She is very much an anthropomorphic representation of a bear – that is, an animal given human qualities. She rides planes and trains, she sends texts, she holds a pen and writes, she has conversations with human beings. In short, she is a bear living and functioning as a human, in a human-oriented world...