Friday, October 18, 2013
Bear Sighting
A bear was on the campus of the school I live at two nights ago. I've been terrified ever since. I usually love going on walks in the woods, but now I've been sticking to the roads or fields around my house. Today when I was walking with my mom, she started talking about how much she'd love to run into this bear, and see it up close. She wasn't even thinking about the danger of being faced by a bear; she was far too concerned with how breathtaking and beautiful that experience would be. Although my mom would not be delusional enough to walk up to a bear, or to call it a "friend," her excitement reminded me of Timothy Treadwell. For my mom, and for Treadwell, seeing this bear would cause pure joy and happiness. For me, it would instill terror. This differing perspective is what allowed Treadwell to be so happy in what he was doing. To me, his work seems absurd, dangerous, and unproductive, but for him the work he was doing was amazing, life-changing work. And because he so authentically believed that protecting the grizzly bears was what he was meant to do, he was happy to live with these bears, and happy to die for them. Even though, from an outside perspective, Treadwell seems delusional, this work was very real to him and allowed him a happy, satisfying life.
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In response both to your post and Raymond's ("Happiness") I want to argue that Treadwell was not truly satisfied and happy in his life, both professionally and romantically. I think that living in the woods, away from civilization, was running away, hiding from facing his life. Yes, he believed in his work and was persistent in perusing his cause for 13 summers. But what about those 13 falls, winters and springs he did not spend in the woods? We know he gave lectures, but I doubt that was what he did with all his free time. And if he was not paid for it, he must have had a day job to sustain himself or was dependent on someone else to sustain him. His outburst towards the government and the park rangers also illustrates a man who is not satisfied. Treadwell wanted his work to be recognized - he did not stay in the woods solely to "hang" with the bears; he wanted to make a change and to be acknowledged for it, and from his own words, I conclude that he knew he was not quite there, (yet?). You might say that in his death he achieved his goal, but, as far as I know, he is only recognized for how he brought to his own death, not necessarily for saving grizzly bears.
ReplyDeleteLina. I agree with you to an extent as I thought the same thing at first ; however, I believe that initially he was running away but after some time, the bears became his family and friends and these adventures became his reality. Remember, when Treadwell was killed, he was there out of season because he felt like he needed to come back, he wanted to return to the world he loved. Even though he spent decreasing amounts of time in the human world, it wasnt what he called home - he basically just passed time there while he waited for the bear season to begin. However, you do bring up an important point of 'what did Treadwell do in the human world?' Why was it so hard for people to love him and so hard for him to love other people?
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