We read
The Bear That Wasn't by Frank Tashlin. Please share with the class your thoughts about the story and the class discussion about it. Remember, you want to write at least a paragraph for full credit. You have 24 hours to complete the assignment. The time starts at the end of class. If you were not in class on the day of the reading or film - your comment will be "I was absent."
29 comments:
This is my first comment.
I thought that the story we read in class proved that people tend to change the way they are based on others opinions. I felt sort of bad for the bear because, he was being forced to view himself as something he's not. Even his fellow bears were telling him that he wasn't an actual bear, he was just a man who needed to shave. This forced the bear into thinking he was truly a man and I think this caused him to be very confused of what he actually was. Its only natural for a person to not wanting to be left out, or the odd one out of a group. The bear eventually listened to everyone and made himself think he was a man which I truly think should never happen.
This story shows the difficulties that The Bear has to face in order to be accepted. Because of the environment and the norms, such as bears would only be found in a zoo or circus, the factory officials put pressure onto The Bear. These pressures build and build until The Bear questions his identity and whether he really is a bear. The pure desire to fit in and be accepted by a group of people leads The Bear to change his normal behavior. The Bear is influence by the views of others and begins to cave to what others think him to be. On a larger scale this shows the pressures of society and a persons fear of being rejected. As humans we have a strong desire to fit in and be accepted. Our actions define who were are as people but these actions might change based on the group we are surrounded by.
It was sad to see that the bear started off so confident when dealing with the presidents but then lose his certainty as more people told him he wasn’t a bear. Being rejected by fellow bears must have made him really question what he was since he believed they were alike. When they said that he was not a bear like them, he probably felt excluded and began to believe them since he did not have the comfort of being in a group like they did. In the story we see how the opinion of the majority influences an individual’s thoughts. I think that if one president or one bear spoke up in the bear’s defense that the bear would have much more confidence in what he was since one positive act will lead to another.
The story shows how the bear in particular has difficulties knowing himself. When he sees a factory being built outside his cave he is confused. When the bosses/ presidents tell him that he isn’t a bear, that he is a man that needs a shave, the bear starts thinking that he is not a bear, and he thinks he is what they are saying. This story relates to someone who does not know themselves, and has to try to find their own personality and not matter what others think. The bear in the end of the story eventually found his inner self, which was that he was a bear. He then excluded what others said and went back in his cave to hibernate, finding who he was.
In the children’s story “The Bear That Wasn't”, the theme is portrayed as society altering the identity and opinion of a unique individual through pressure. The bear walks into the factory knowing his true identity as a bear until the group of presidents and workers tell him otherwise. They told the bear “you're a silly man who needs a shave and wears a fur coat,” but the bear refused to believe that was his identity until it was repeated over and over to him. The zoo and circus bears also tell the bear that his identity is as a man because they believe he wouldn't be outside the cage or in the grandstand otherwise. Since the bear wasn't able to fit in with the other bears, he began to believe he was a man because he was repeatedly told by society that was his identity. To fit in a group, an individual will often become something they are not. Society’s influence on the bear caused him to conform by working in the factory and caused him to believe he was a man.
I think that the book represents the attempts to demoralize somebody to fit into a group. The bear shows the representation of the person trying to be assimilated, but rejecting it. The other human characters in the story represent the larger group, which could be society or just a few people, telling the bear that he is not what he actually is. By almost the end of the story, the bear decides that he is no longer a bear, which shows the success of the larger group in assimilating him into the new group. The bear has lost his way at this part. By the end of the story, he is finally found is identity by going into the cave and saying that he doesn't really care what the other people said, which is the victory for the individual. While this book is written in a child format, it can be applied to any age at any time.
In the story “The Bear that Wasn't” shows that groups of people try to get a new member to become something that they aren't. Within the book the Bear knows that it is a Bear when he walks into the factory. The repetitiveness of the statement telling him he is a man that wears a fur coat and needs to shave makes the Bear question his own identity. The pressure that the bosses and the presidents put on him makes him feel uncomfortable in his own skin. After hearing it for the final time he begins to believe that he isn't a Bear. Once he is away from the other bears and humans he realizes that he is a bear and it doesn't matter what anyone else says it is his identity.
The story "The bear that wasn't" is a representation of not only the corporate ideal of standardization by having your identity determined for you before you have the chance of to express himself freely. Initially, he is assumed to be a lazy human and wasn't "saying what he truly was" which was what each branch of the company tells him he was as they continuously report him to each higher up. By the end of the story, he learns that he is himself, and that he wasn't a human to begin with. Quite literally, he is following nature to start out with, and once man corrupts, he believes that spending the winter outside in the cold is best because he has been told otherwise. This story demonstrates the dangers of assimilation and when the minority party is not heard out.
I thought the story we read really showed how the bear was pure at first, but when he awoke from his hibernation he was poisoned by the rest of the world. Everyone kept telling him that he was just a silly man who wore a fur coat and needed to shave, and at first he assured them that he was a bear. But when everyone told him that he wasn't a bear he actually started to believe them, which destroyed his individuality. Instead of being himself, he changed because of others and began to work at a factory like everyone else. And when everyone else had left he was alone and with no one there to mold him to the norm he realized that he was different after all and began his hibernation like all bears.
“The Bear That Wasn’t” holds an important message about identity. The struggle the bear in the story goes through in his search for identity parallels to the struggle countless people go through, trying to find a balance between yourself and who people tell you to be. Initially when the bear wakes from hibernation he has complete confidence in his identity, nobody has tried to change him, and he simply knows he is a bear. As the bear is continuously told by people of power that he is not a bear, he grows increasingly confused, but is able to maintain that he is a bear. However, after other bears even tell him he is not a bear, the bear lets them change his identity and believes he is not a bear. Fortunately, when the bear is alone, trying to act like a human, he realizes he is truly a bear, and he ends the story having found his identity again. This story teaches an important lesson, it shows how difficult it can be to find your identity, especially when countless people will try to change it. It also raises a question, although the bear fit in when he acted human, he lost his identity, so is changing yourself really worth no longer knowing who you are?
Reading: The Bear That Wasn’t by Frank Tashlin in class today was a great example of how people change based off of what others say or think, while disregarding their own beliefs in order to fit in. When the bear is at the factory everyone thinks he’s just a man who wears a fur coat and needs to shave. He denies it every time, but as more and more people tell him he isn’t a bear he begins to believe them. Not only is a majority formed against him, arguing that he is just a silly man, but the more people he is sent to, the higher up in standing those people get in regards to the factory until he is finally sent to the president. This shows that a person’s may conform not only because of what the majority thinks, but by the social class/standing or position of someone within that majority (or the majority itself). Another important thing to note about the story, is that the factory owners and managers only said the bear was a man because of the stereotypes they associate with bears. They strictly believed that bears only belong in circuses and zoos, therefore they never challenged that idea and neither did the bears in the circuses and zoos. If you think about it, the factory owners didn’t even take the time to stop and think about their own opinions of where they thought bears belong, they just followed the stereotypes already set for them without question, which shows the lack of individualism and divergent thinking present in our society today.
I thought that this story shows how easily our perceptions of ourselves are influenced by the opinions of others, however misinformed or mistaken they may be. The bear eventually accepted the idea that he was not a bear because the men in charge of the factory repeatedly told him so. Even though it was clear to us as readers that the men were wrong, their opinions still made a huge impact on the bear. I think this can be applied to our views of ourselves and what shapes them. No matter how firm we are in our beliefs of ourselves, they eventually can be twisted by the opinions of others. We are constantly seeking approval and assurance from those around us, and often put more stock into others' opinions than our own. I think the lesson to be learned from this story is that we are naturally susceptible to change our views based on the views of others, so we must be aware of this in order to maintain our individuality.
I thought that the story that we read in class showed how over time you start to doubt yourself after people tell you over and over again that you are someone or something you're not. You start to believe the lies they tell you and you question who you need to be to fit in. In the story everyone told the bear that he wasn't a bear, he was just a silly man who needed a shave and who wore a fur coat, and when it came time to go back into his natural habitat he was confused and unsure of himself. This happens in real life, sometimes the way your friends/peers act reflect on you and at the end of the day when you are around your family and those who truly know you for you, they question who you are, even though sometimes you may not even realize how big of an affect other people have on you. This is what happened to the bear, and he eventually came to his senses and realized who he was.
The story we read in class today really symbolized the changing of one's identity because of the influence of others. The bear knew what he was; and he tried and tried to convince all the humans, and other bears of that. This story really ties in the concept of stereotypes as well. The bear stated, "I'm a bear" and the foreman retorted with, "But you're in the factory, so you must be a silly man who needs to shave and wears a fur coat". The bear became confused and finally gave into all the pressure and the humiliation and did what people thought he should've done. I really sucks because that story can be applied to people in this very school. A kid who is influenced by other's views of him/her, so then they change to avoid being individual and lose their identity. This is unfortunate and happens because of others thinking they know someone better than they know themselves.
The story “The Bear That Wasn't” shows humans tendencies to label, judge and conform to fit into a group. The bear started off content with who he was, but more and more factory workers convinced the bear that he was one of them. Since none of the workers had ever seen a bear in a factory, they refused to believe the bear was actually a bear. They judged him based on his appearance (they all commented how he needed to shave) and then forced him to conform to factory worker life. This left the bear confused and lonely, he was no longer confident in himself. This story shows how we as humans always feel the need to label people and put everyone into certain “groups”. Humans harsh judgments on one another force us to conform and not believe in our true selves. We are taught that different is bad, just like how the bear lost confidence in himself just because he wasn't a human.
I definitely think "The Bear that Wasn't" was an exemplar for how poisonous our innate human desire for belonging can be, and the threat it not only poses to the satisfaction of individual but to the progression of society. Within the story the Bear was exposed to more and more insistence that he was something he simply wasn't, and as this occurred the Bear's will to assert what he felt and knew—the absolute truth that he was in fact a bear—wore down. By the end we are able to see that the Bear has trained himself to deny his nature. His first instinct when he realizes winter is coming is to hibernate, yet he quickly allows this to be suppressed by the view he's been fed by the majority and as a result nearly freezes to death. This completely exposes the vulnerability of human beings to the perspectives of those around us. But beyond that I think this allegory is an interesting example of the multiple effects of exclusion and conformity, as the story also highlights how being part of a group intrinsically distorts an individual's thinking and rationality and how pervasive these distortions can be. It also shows that the one group is equally as vulnerable to others perceptions of their group, demonstrated by the zoo and circus bears when they reject a member of their own species due to the limitations that the majority (the humans) have imposed on them.
"The Bear that Wasn’t" was a short story based upon human interactions and how people treat other when they claim they are something. In the story there were several instances where the bear tried to claim his real personality and was then shut down by people not like him. When he claimed he was a bear to the other bears they simply laughed and discouraged him. This is very similar to how people treat others when they try and be themselves. People disagree and attempt to infiltrate their heads changing their thought process. "The Bear that Wasn’t" is a great way to reflect on how people label other depending on what group they belong to. This short story really opens eyes and makes you realize how people view themselves and when others disagree they begin to follow along with what the others think.
I thought this story while it was simple it had a very powerful message. What I got from the story is that we should never believe what others tell us about ourselves but we should continue to be who we are no matter what others say. In the story nobody believes the bear and they think he's silly but in reality they are the ignorant ones who are too stubborn to believe that the bear isn't a bear just because he's not in the zoo or the circus. At one point the bear believes that they might be right because they all believed the same thing and unfortunately that causes the bear to suffer in the cold. Just like the bear I believe we all have to stick to what we know is right so that we don't suffer because of what ignorant people tell us. We have to be ourselves and not let what others think change the way we live. I believe everyone should read this story because it's message is powerful and helps us all to understand how important it is to stick to our believes.
I was absent.
The Bear that wasn't, although a quite simple story, holds a very powerful message. The story tells the tale of a bear who nearly forgets who he is when he is confronted by people who constantly question his identity. I think this is a commen sight nowadays. Let's say, for example, that someone wants to do something other than go to gollege, he or she will be questioned and judged by others, simply because going to college is the accepted norm. I think many people who perhaps weren't made for college or simply wouldn't gain anything from going, end up applying nonetheless because they're constantly told that they're expected to do so. Much like the bear who started to think he was a weird man who needed a shave, simply because people told him he was.
This story depicts how the bear that was surely convinced he was a bear, had difficulties in believing that throughout the story. He was influenced by what everyone else around him were trying to say and he wanted to believe them but he couldn’t. He tried to be himself but none of the people would believe him. They were all convinced he was something else and not a bear while deep inside him he knew quite well that he was. Towards the end he didn’t even know his true identity anymore and was lost without knowing what to do and who to turn to for help.
This story depicts how the bear that was surely convinced he was a bear, had difficulties in believing that throughout the story. He was influenced by what everyone else around him were trying to say and he wanted to believe them but he couldn’t. He tried to be himself but none of the people would believe him. They were all convinced he was something else and not a bear while deep inside him he knew quite well that he was. Towards the end he didn’t even know his true identity anymore and was lost without knowing what to do and who to turn to for help.
The Bear that wasn't is a unique story that shows how people are influenced by what they are called. In society, bullying being such a big deal lately, I think it's common for people to be told who they are which unfortunately shapes their identity. The bear story had a bright ending where the bear found his own identity and believed he was in fact, a bear. I think this correlates to most people, who, when they eventually mature, are no longer bullied and are able to find their identiy.
This story depicts how the bear that was surely convinced he was a bear, had difficulties in believing that throughout the story. He was influenced by what everyone else around him were trying to say and he wanted to believe them but he couldn’t. He tried to be himself but none of the people would believe him. They were all convinced he was something else and not a bear while deep inside him he knew quite well that he was. Towards the end he didn’t even know his true identity anymore and was lost without knowing what to do and who to turn to for help.
Although "The Bear That Wasn't" appears to be a children's story, it carries a very powerful message. After being told by numerous people that he wasn't really a bear, the bear becomes confused with whom he actually is and starts to believe that he really isn't a bear after all. This relates to the human desire to fit in with a group and please others. Many people will do anything it takes to be liked by a group, even if it involves changing who they are. When the bear was told he wasn’t a bear the last time, he went and worked in the factory because that is what the group wanted him to do. It is very unfortunate that people feel the need to change in order to fit in. If a person doesn’t like you for who you are, I believe that it is not worth it to be friends with that person. The Bear also shows that the group and you may disagree and they may tell you that you are someone who you are not, but in the end only you know who you are. Don’t let anyone tell you who to be or you will end up lacking an identity like the bear did by the end of the movie.
I think the story was making the point of how difficult it can be to have your own identity. The Bear knows who and what he is for most of the story. But when he is around a large group of men, everyone tries to convince himn that he is just like them and is not a Bear. Although the Bear tells them he is a Bear, he starts to question his identity based on what he is being told. After he was told by some zoo and circus bears that he could not possibly be a bear, he believes them. Becuase he was not doing what they were doing, they believed him to be a man. This story proves how easy it can be for a person to change what they see themselves as simply because of what others around them say and do.
I think this story accomplished the difficult job of being an entertaining children's story with quite a powerful thematic idea. I found "The Bear that Wasn't" an incredibly sad story in that it shows how easily it is to be influenced by others and how difficult it is to stay true to who you are. The Bear was told by both humans and other bears that he wasn't a bear, and with every disagreeing person, he became less and less sure of who he was. He became so convinced that he wasn't a bear that he decided not to hibernate for the winter. I think this story shows the influence of the thoughts of the majority on the individual and the impact of societal pressure on the minority. It is the Bear's gradual loss of confidence and faith in himself and his thoughts that made me feel that this story is quite sad.
After reading "The Bear that Wasn't" I was intrigued and left with several questions and comments. First of all, I enjoyed how the author used the bear as a metaphor for someone who changes to fit in with a group. The part where the bear ended up in the snow and the freezing cold due to his efforts to fit in was a message for adults and children alike. It showed how fitting in isn't the most important aspect of life and emphasized the importance of being yourself. It also showed how influential a large group of people can be on someone's character.
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