Bearstone by Will Hobbs Can Be Considered

BEARSTONE BY WILL HOBBS CAN BE CONSIDERED TO BE AN ENVIRONMENTALIST NOVEL -ONE THAT TEACHES READERS ABOUT THE NEED TO RESPECT THE ENVIRONMENT. CHOOSE 3 ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN THE NOVEL AND ANALYZE HOW THEY TEACH THE READER TO RESPECT THE ENVIRONMENT.

How is Bearstone an environmentalist novel?

Bearstone depicts the life of Cloyd Atcitty, a Native American boy who has become emotionally estranged from the traditional ways of his people. After being expelled from his native school, Cloyd is sent by his tribe to live in Colorado. Through his closeness with a white rancher, Cloyd reestablishes his connection with the land and the traditional ways of his people. Cloyd, at the beginning of the novel, is full of anger, but living in consort with the land has a healing influence upon him. "These were the mountains where his people used to live. Maybe he should stay on the ranch" he decides, gazing at the area (Hobbs 12). The question of who 'owns' the land and who can exercise better stewardship of it -- whites or natives -- comes to the forefront of the narrative's concerns through the story of Cloyd.

Native Americans are often portrayed as living more in harmony with the land than whites. However, Cloyd has a divided self. He is town between his Ute heritage and the whites that dominate the rest of society. His sense of self is further destabilized after he has become friendly with Water, when he learns how bear-hunting is common amongst Walter and his friends. Hunting and the question of how to deal with endangered species is another issue of concern amongst environmentalists. Cloyd expresses his rage and anger by turning against Walter in the only manner he knows how: destroying Walter's trees. Cloyd views the attacks on the bears as an attack upon himself and his heritage.

While Cloyd feels affection for Walter, Walter also embodies many of the negative aspects of white control of the land, including panning for gold and seeking material gain from the land. Whites seek dominion over the land while Native Americans seek unity with the land, this suggests. However Cloyd, at the beginning of the novel is not in a full state of harmony with either his people or himself. Bonding with Walter over their common love of nature and establishing a sense of togetherness is essential. Walter, despite his more stereotypically 'white' relationship with the land, provides needed guidance to Cloyd's aimless life.

Bearstone is thus an environmentalist novel, but not a traditional one in which Native Americans have a more pure relationship with the land with whites, in an unmediated fashion. Only by embarking upon a journey together to Walter's abandoned gold mines do the two find peace and harmony together. The land, and nature, is a source of healing and teaching for all people. This is also exhibited in Clyod's evolving relationship with animals. He identifies with the bears, as a lost part of his identity when he finds a carving of a bear in the mountains. Coming to Walter's ranch is thus a kind of a natural homecoming for Cloyd as well as a new start. He learns to relate to Walter's horses, even though Cloyd has never resided amongst such animals throughout the duration of his life. Nature gives Cloyd his identity and better enables him to relate to people of all origins. Everyone owns the land, the book suggests, and it ultimately advocates a balanced relationship between humans and nature. Endangered species must be protected but it is important to remember that the Ute used to hunt for survival.