Identity and Chapter 4

The Bear is indeed a bildungsroman novel for in the beginning we are introduced to a young immature, inexperienced boy named Isaac. We are given the opportunity to watch Isaac face the wilderness and through this encounter find himself. This journey begins within Isaac the formation of His character and identity. When he leaves the wilderness he leaves a man who has a deeper sense of what his place is in the world. Then we see him take a step into his identity that will bring him to a more complete sense of self. He in essence walks backward through his families past to discover from whom he came, and then is faced with the decision as to whether or not to accept or reject the identity to which he has been born. By rejecting it Isaac further enters self to discover who he truly desires to be. The novel shows the reader that we have a choice when it comes to our identity. We have to choose what parts of our cultural upbringing to accept and which parts to reject, and yet there will always be parts that though we wish to reject are an innate part of us.