Often things that we experience as children have lasting affects on us that creep up when we least expect them. In Judith Minty’s story “Killing the Bear”, a woman finds herself in just such a situation. She finally deals with something that happened to her as a young child that she probably never even realized was bothering her. In this story the central character painfully comes to grips with a major loss of security from her childhood.
Throughout “Killing the Bear” the author flips back and forth from the story at hand and seemingly only loosely related anecdotes about the main character and bears. One of the first of these side stories is about the woman’s childhood. It talks about something that happens to most children, the loss of an object of security. The girl is attached to a stuffed bear and her mother takes it away “for three months” (12). She is told that when the time is over if she has stopped sucking her thumb, she can have the toy back. When the time passes, however, the child discovers…
Respect for Nature in Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Respect for Nature in Rime of the Ancient Mariner
“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a parable of a seaman’s crime against nature (pointlessly killing an albatross) and his repentance by blessing the lowly water-snakes. Setting the poem in the Middle Ages in the then-unknown seas near Antarctica, the poet is able to make his narrative credible and give the reader what is called ‘the willing suspension of disbelief.’ ”
This seven part ballad begins as a tale told by an “ancient Mariner” who has grabbed hold of a Wedding Guest and captivates his will by sharing his wild tale at sea: “The Wedding-Guest stood still, And listens like a three years’ child: The Mariner hath his will.” The ancient mariner tells us about a great Albatross, “At length did cross an Albatross, Thorough the fog it came; As if it had been a Christian soul, We hailed it in God’s name.” The Albatross brought “a good south wind” and enjoyment for the mariners. But then, for no reason, the ancient Mariner says that “With my crossbow I shot the Albatross” and from then on, Nature had her fury on…