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#camplitsy24

This part of the discussion is all about the 🐻.

We looked at fairy tale elements last week, but do you think that the bear is ‘just‘ a bear or is it an allegory for something else or a particular message to the reader?

Do you think the events surrounding the bear would have actually played out like this in real life? (note that we'll discuss that ending in Q3)

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Bookwormjillk I thought he was an allegory for the mom‘s bad boyfriend but the ending changed my mind. I was actually surprised when the bear turned out to be a bear. I thought it would end up being another abuser who the authorities weren‘t handling in a way that seemed appropriate to Sam. 3w

TrishB I saw it as Elena‘s bit of freedom! One thing she was keeping totally to herself as a break from everything else. She obviously wasn‘t thinking straight ofc! But she had a lot on her shoulders. 3w

DGRachel I‘m sure it was supposed to be a symbol for something, but I‘m not sure what. It shows how different the sisters view their world. For Elena, it was hope and magic, another positive experience that kept her anchored on their island. For Sam, it‘s one more reason to leave, one more reason to fear and hate the island. 3w

Kitta I did some looking into bear symbolism and in indigenous cultures it can represent family or parenthood, strength, and courage. And they‘re known for human-like qualities. https://spiritsofthewestcoast.com/collections/the-bear-symbol https://artinas.com/collections/bear/charles-harper Which is interesting to think their encounters happen while their mother is dying. In other cultures it represents a connection to another realm. ⬇️ 3w

Kitta Which makes this seem more fairytale-like (to me at least). So I think Elena interacting with the bear sort of represents her looking for care and connection. It‘s a magical experience for her and she doesn‘t recognize the danger because she‘s longing for something she‘s no longer getting at home. 3w

Jess Elena‘s life has been hard (past abuse, current responsibilities). I saw the bear and her flirtation with death as making her feel alive. 3w

ChaoticMissAdventures @Bookwormjillk oh I love the idea of it represented an abuser they were not getting help with. (Not love, b/c that would be awful for them but great storytelling) This never crossed my mind. 3w

ChaoticMissAdventures I live a few hours drive away from where this was set and I didn't realize until last year that we had bears here. You do not hear about them but my brother is an avid hunter (we are sooo different, I could never) and he got a bear hunting tag last year and I was flabbergasted which maybe set me up to believe in a bear on Shaw. 3w

Bookwormjillk @ChaoticMissAdventures I feel like there are so many different animals everywhere now than when I was a kid. There just aren't as many wooded areas so then end up in the suburbs. I live just outside of DC and we've had bears one town over, and I think there was even one in DC itself not too long ago! 3w

sarahbarnes I love all of these thoughts. It also felt like the bear represented something about the difference in the sisters. Elena accepted her fate and her place on the island and the bear was an element of magic for her in that. Sam feared anything or anyone coming in between her and Elena or their “plans” to leave and the bear represented something else she had to do away with. 3w

TheKidUpstairs I appreciated the mentions of Grizzly Man, because yes I think IRL it would have played out like this. Elena may have felt a magical connection to the bear, but the bear felt like it had found a food source.
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TheKidUpstairs I do think there was some symbolism/metaphor playing out there. Something about not romanticizing a dangerous reality or it will come back and bite you in the face. Both sisters were guilty of that - Elena with the bear, Sam with her stubborn and juvenile ideas of their future. 3w

GatheringBooks @Jess i love the phrase “flirtation with death” because that is precisely what it was, i felt. I also liked @TheKidUpstairs thoughts about Sam‘s “juvenile ideas of their future” which was also spot on. Perhaps the bear is an escape from life‘s drudgery and routine, but there is nothing romantic about “a dangerous reality” - unless it was an unwitting deathwish of sorts. 3w

TheBookHippie @Jess Yes this. I think the bear made Elena feel. Both girls were suffering from childhood trauma and dealing differently. Elena felt emotion that was strong and just hers and was drawn like a moth to the flame. It‘s also of note most childhood trauma I have dealt with, myself included are hugely drawn to dark fairytales because it‘s closest to their lived reality. 3w

squirrelbrain Yes, that didn‘t cross my mind either @Bookwormjillk @ChaoticMissAdventures - great idea! 3w

squirrelbrain That‘s fascinating @Kitta and really makes me look at the books in a different light - I guess I‘m a bit too literal! (edited) 3w

AmyG Yes to what @sarahbarnes said. With the appearance of the bear we saw the difference between the sisters. In Sam‘s mind they had a definitive plan to “freedom”. As in life, things don‘t always work out as planned. Here comes a bear which, in the end, resulted in Sam leaving the island…..her dream realized. (edited) 3w

squirrelbrain So many wonderful thoughts and ideas here of different allegories / metaphors / (dark) fairy tales - this is why I love #camplitsy so much - it‘s the accumulation of ideas from thoughtful campers that really makes this event so meaningful. @TrishB @Bookwormjillk @DGRachel @Kitta @jess @ChaoticMissAdventures @sarahbarnes @TheKidUpstairs @GatheringBooks @TheBookHippie 3w

squirrelbrain @TheKidUpstairs @GatheringBooks - I guess Sam had never known any different, growing up so isolated as the younger sister and that‘s why she came across as juvenile. Maybe she was somehow like the bear, grumpy and lashing out and Elena‘s downfall was caring too strongly for her / the bear? 3w

squirrelbrain @sarahbarnes @amyg - that kind of relates to my comment just prior to this. Sam needed to get rid of the bear in order to move on, but in doing so she unwittingly lost her sister too. So the bear comes between the sisters and is a catalyst in moving Sam on, but not in the way she expected or hoped for. (edited) 3w

Megabooks @Kitta I love these points and your research! She was desperately seeking connection spiritually and on the island. I think knowing she would likely never live elsewhere she still wanted to connect with something greater. I think losing her mom also opened up new spiritual possibilities for her. 3w

BarbaraBB Yes @jess that‘s what I thought too. The bear made Elena feel alive, gave her an opportunity to escape her harsh reality, flirting with death because why not? Nothing much to loose after the mother died and with her Elena‘s relevance (she didn‘t seem to care much for Sam, didn‘t tell her a thing about what went on in her mind). 3w

Deblovestoread For Elena the bear broke up the drudge of the life she was living. Her fairytale was the magic of the relationship she was forming with the bear. Sam‘s fairytale was the big $ after selling the home and living the high life in a fancy hotel. Neither fairytale had a hope of coming true. 3w

TheKidUpstairs @Deblovestoread yes! Sam's ideas of what they would do with the money really brought home how out of touch her plan was. It wasn't just sell the house to have some money to start out on the mainland, it was sell the house and live like royalty! As much as 500K is, it's not enough to live the life of luxury she was imagining. It really drove home how naive she was. 3w

DebinHawaii @Deblovestoread @TheKidUpstairs Yes to all of this! 3w

squirrelbrain Yes of course @Deblovestoread @TheKidUpstairs - I hadn‘t considered Sam‘s unreasonable expectations. I‘m now recalling the scene at the medical centre where she didn‘t have a clue about the bills for her mother‘s care. 3w

CarolynM @Bookwormjillk I also thought the bear was going to turn out to be an abuser rather than a literal bear. Like @DGRachel I‘m not sure what it is intended to symbolise - maybe something to do with authority? Madeleine, and her relationship with Sam, seemed quite an odd to me and I wondered if it was supposed to be some kind of flip side to Elena‘s relationship with the bear. 3w

Hooked_on_books When I read it, the bear was just a bear to me. But I can see how all these various takes about the bear‘s representations work as well. And as far as it playing out this way in reality, absolutely. From the word go when we saw Elena‘s response to the bear, I knew she was toast. 3w

CBee The bear was Elena‘s escape. At first I thought it was a silly passing fancy, but then realized she really is starting to love this bear. And that wasn‘t strange to me at all, I suppose because I relate to Elena in a lot of ways I think? This grand animal looks at you and seems to fixate on you, and that just made her feel special. Important in a way she hadn‘t felt in a long time. Free. 3w

JamieArc I agrée about the bear being Elena‘s escape. And in the end, I saw the bear as representing the ways we romanticize nature. But nature is as nature does. It made me think about the desert - it can be gorgeous, but it is to be respected, and is a dangerous place to be if not. 3w

squirrelbrain I agree @CarolynM about Madeleine - that was where I was wondering if this was true to life. Would Madeleine really have behaved that way? I suppose we were seeing her behaviour from Sam‘s POV, but turning up at the memorial service was a bit weird. 3w

squirrelbrain I agree @Hooked_on_books - so many interesting representations that could all work! 3w

squirrelbrain Yes, I can see that @CBee - that the bear made her feel special / chosen. It makes me wonder about the boyfriend though - why didn‘t he make her feel that way?! I thought maybe because she was keeping the boyfriend a secret, but she was hiding her meetings with the bear too, to some extent. 3w

squirrelbrain @JamieArc - yes to the romanticising nature! We do it all the time, but it can turn on us in so many ways. 3w

Chelsea.Poole Elena looked at the bear as something to escape into and preoccupy herself with, even though it was ultimately her downfall. Sam (rightfully!) feared the bear, and maybe even resented it for taking Elena‘s attention away. The bear could be a symbol for many things in life, and may be specific to each individual reader. Great discussion! 3w

squirrelbrain Yes, it certainly seems like the bear meant so many things to different people @Chelsea.Poole 3w

CBee @squirrelbrain there is so much more to Elena that we really never discovered, but it seems like she was escaping however she could. She wanted those things just for herself. I think it was so difficult for her when Sam couldn‘t understand how magical the bear was to her. 3w

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