The Bear Came Over the Mountain Response

In The Bear Came Over the Mountain, Alice Munro captures a saddening, yet heartwarming story of the power of love. Munro’s third person point of view allows for each character to be of equal emotion access to the reader. I find it is wise to have the point of view be in the third person for this story because there are many rich details that would otherwise be lost if the point of view were to change. This helped contribute to the empathetic voice within the story. I felt that I was able to reason with each character, for Munro allowed for each character to have a voice in the story.

Towards the end of the story, Munro describes (shows) Aubrey’s wife, Marian, after she’s left a message for Grant: “Maybe she would have calculated how long it would take Grant to drive home. His address in the phone book would have given her a rough idea of where he lived. She would calculate how long, then add to that the time it might take him to shop for supper (figuring that a man alone would shop every day)…And as the silence persisted she’d think of other things. Other errands he might have had to do before he got home. Or perhaps a dinner out, a meeting that meant he would not get home at suppertime at all.” Munro is able to capture the humanity within Marian through this clever description. Initially, Marian is introduced as a grumpy old woman whose quality of life is quickly deteriorating. Yet this quote brings life into Marian’s character, reminding the reader that Marian is more than a struggling housewife.

The brilliance of this story comes from the poignancy of each plot point. Throughout the entire story, I felt incredibly sad for Grant, especially when he endured the relationship between Fiona and Aubrey. These emotional sequences, however, make the final moment of the story worth the all the heartache. Munro captures the story well, leaving the reader engaged and caring for the characters.