The Theme of Tradition in The Bear

A major theme in Faulkner’s The Bear is tradition, and the importance of keeping them. The story is mostly about a boy who begins going on these hunting trips for two weeks every year with a group of men since he was ten years old. During the first few years, Ike believed that the ultimate aim of these trips was to kill Old Ben, but as he grew older and wiser, he soon realized that the bear was not the main reason, but only a part of something greater. It was this tradition of taking oneself away from the crowdedness and complications of society and escaping into an intimate relationship with nature and the wilderness that was their true aim. There in the wilderness, Ike learned many things about life as well as about himself. When they finally killed the bear, it also symbolizes the end of this great tradition. We know how these years were important to the main character because the only happiness we see in him is when he reflects on this specific time in his life. It was these trips and what he learned from them that made Ike the man that he was.