![]() ![]() There, he hopes to make the kill, achieving the status of hunter, and thus, man. In “The Bear,” Isaac McCaslin, later to be nicknamed “Ike,” is venturing to the big woods, where the men annually hunt for Old Ben, the mythic bear that has personified the wilderness. Faulkner and Morrison provide Isaac McCaslin with the wilderness and the black community of Cincinnati with the Clearing, respectively, where they are inspired by the older generations, taught life lessons, and encouraged to imagine a grace so strong that it could change their realities. In both novels, the authors provide their characters a place to retreat, to gather their thoughts, to experience serenity and find hope for the future. The genealogical lines are unclear, the actions between people are disgraceful, and the later generations are left with more questions than answers. William Faulkner’s “The Bear,” from Go Down, Moses and Toni Morrison’s Beloved both address the lives of families whose pasts are ugly and disheveled. ![]() ![]() Tina Kluesner, Southeast Missouri State University ![]()
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