Analysis The Bear , Momaday

N. Scott Momaday’s poem, "The Bear," takes place in the wilderness at midday. The day is calm and sunny. The bear is quietly walking through the forest, not hurriedly or destructively. He blends in with his environment. The bear is very old. He has many scars, and a misshapen limb as a result of an old trap injury. It still causes him pain. Then he moves out of sight as buzzards fly overhead. This …

…white culture diminished their numbers and attacked their culture, it is as if the truly pure Kiowa is gone from sight and the white culture circles waiting to envelope them at a weak moment. The bear is a symbol of power, strength, and nobility, all that the Kiowa believe themselves to be. Their culture may have been scarred and maimed, but they are still all of those things. They are as the bear, courageous survivors.