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Element of Fiction in the Bear Came over the Mountain
Alice Munro’s “The Bear Came over Mountain” was published in December 1999. While
presenting the author’s perspective on several themes, the story uses several elements of fiction
to engage the reader. Element of fiction entails: setting, character, plot, conflict, theme, and point
of view. The story explores the themes of marriage, memory, and infidelity as its central focus.
Although Grant fervently loves Fiona, he has several flows of infidelity in his marriage.
Therefore, this essay will analyze elements of fiction in the story, ‘The Bear Came Over the
Mountain” by Alice Munro.
Plot
The plot of “the Bear Came Over Mountain" begins with Grant and Fiona have been in
their marriage for forty-five years, Fiona start showing sign of deteriorating memory thus
prompting the need for a nursing home for her. During her first month in the nursing home, out
of which Grant is not allowed to visit her, she forgets her marriage to Grant and develops like for
a residence called Aubrey. Aubrey is in the nursing home temporality while his wife is on
holiday. Fiona is devastated when Aubrey’s wife returns; however, she will continue to grieve
for a while, and Fiona will soon forget Aubrey. For the sake of Grant’s wife, Grants tracks
Aubrey’s wife to persuade her to return Aubrey to the facility permanently. Unfortunately,
Aubrey cannot do so unless she sells her house, which she initially refused to sell. Presumably, at
the end of the story, Grant makes a romantic relationship with Aubrey's wife, and Aubrey is
brought back to the facility. Unfortunately, by this time, despite Fiona having known Aubrey,
she had renewed he affection for Grant (Munro, 1999). .
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Character
The major characters in the story “The Bear Came over the Mountain” are Grant, Fiona,
Mariam, and Aubrey. Grant is a former professor and husband to Fiona. The narration of the
story is told from Grant’s perspective on how Fiona moved into a nursing home which contrasts
with Grant's marital affairs. (Munro, 1999). Fiona is Grant’s wife. She grew up a carefree
woman. Her family was upper class. However, she has dementia. She is shown as a charismatic
and beautiful woman who chose Grant despite many suitors at the time. Aubrey is a temporal
resident while his wife Mariam is on holiday. Aubrey becomes Fiona’s companion at the nursing
home. Mariam is Aubrey's wife. She comes back to take Aubrey back home. Grant approaches
her to allow Aubrey to continue staying with Fiona because of their newly found connection at
the residence. Eventually, Mariam and Grant date as a means to secure a relationship between
Fiona and Aubrey. Finally, Kristy, who is a nurse at the facility, is the person Grant contact
regarding Fiona's services.
Theme
The story “The Bear Came over Mountain” explores several themes. Because of the
connectedness between several themes in the story, the theme of love, Fidelity, and marriage are
discussed in one section. Also, the theme of memory, aging, and identity are discussed (Munro,
1999). Finally, the theme of Gender and power are discussed in the same approach. In this story,
Fiona, who is married to Grant, starts a romantic relationship with Aubrey ad appears to forget
Grant. Grant’s marital affair is also explored when he was a professor in the university. The
theme of aging and memory and identity are explored throughout the story. Specifically, the
story explores how memory informs or creates one's identity. While the story portrays Grant as
someone with the desirable qualities of a good husband, somehow, Grants appear as a typical
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20th-century character of a stereotypical gender. He takes her to a nursing home and visits her
with gifts that “make him look like the guilty husband in the cartoon" (Munro, 1999). In most of
his thought, he is often misogynistic because most of his thoughts are structured based on the
expectation of gender norms to highlight the limitation of norms which can lead to imbalances of
power.
Point of View
Although Munro’s “The Bear Came over the Mountain” is written in the third person
point of view, the plot’s narration is confined to a particular Characters perspective at a given
time. In the opening scenes, the story is written from Fiona's point of view. The rest of the plot
and primary focus of the author is written from the perspective of Gran (Munro, 1999). t. A
greater emphasis is placed on Grant's experiences in his marriage and his emotional struggles.
However, Grant's perspective is inherently connected to Fiona's point of view. This consistent
sense of consideration from Grant, however, contrasts with Grant's marital affairs. The
relationship between Grants and Fiona’s perspective seems to be formed based on the past
experiences in their marriage.
Setting
There are several kinds of settings explore in the story. First, the nursing home is located
near Fiona’s and Grant's residence in Ontario, where Fiona check-in for her deteriorating
memory. At the facility, she loses her memory of Grant. The facility is called Meaddolake. After
Grant’s infidelity, Grant and Fiona move to Georgina Bay for his retirement. Also, the setting of
the story captures Mariam’s House, where she lives with Aubrey. Mariam's house is relatively
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closer to Grant's. After the discharge of Aubrey, Grant approached Mariam's house to persuade
her if she can allow Fiona and Aubrey to live together.
Major conflict explored in the story includes Grant's emotional experience about Fiona
over dementia, his jealousy over Aubrey, and Fiona's connection that highlights his history of
marital affairs (Munro, 1999). . It is evident that Grant is remorseful and longs for his wife;
however, his inner struggle comes from losing Fiona, a person he loves most. Grant admits that
he "had never stopped making love to Fiona despite disturbing demands elsewhere," this shows
that he had betrayed Fiona, but at least he did not stop loving her.
Several elements of fiction have been explored in the story. Such include character, point
of view, and theme. Conflict, setting, and plot. The story art Grants as the main character whose
flows portray the major themes in the story. Despite Grants’ fervent love for his wife Fiona, he
still loves other women outside the marriage, which leads to Fiona's affection for Aubrey while
at the nursing facility. These lead to Grants and Mariam dating to secure their loves’ happiness.
References
Munro, Alice. The Bear Came Over the Mountain. The Magazine.
