William Faulkner: The Bear

William Faulkner’s highly acclaimed essay The Bear is an outstanding piece of literary work; however, I would like to focus on one of the many life lessons that Faulkner so expertly teaches us all.
During one of the earlier hunting trips Sam and the boy were out looking for a bear, but they heard a deer. The boy’s gun was up and hammer back as he waited for an opening to shoot the deer. But, he was too late; some other hunters got their shots off first. It was in that moment the life lesson presented itself.
Sam said to the boy, “Now let your hammers down…. I want you to learn how to do when you didn’t shoot. It’s after he chance for the bear or the deer has done already come and gone that men and dogs get killed.”
In that instance Sam taught the boy the importance of restraint and self-control. As much fun as shooting at the deer would have been the boy chose not to because of the high level of danger. Furthermore, the boy’s ability to safely drop the gun’s hammer reiterates the importance of those two qualities.
These lessons can be and should be applied to most if not all situations. Just as the boy planned on shooting the deer so we plan on doing many things. And just as the boy exercised self control during the entire event so we must also exercise self-control at all times.