The Ethics of the Natural World - The Anarchist Library

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The Ethics of the Natural
World: An
Anarcho-Primitivist
Synthesis of William
Faulkner’s “The Bear”
Alden Wood
AldenWood
TheEthicsoftheNaturalWorld:AnAnarcho-Primitivist
SynthesisofWilliamFaulkner’s“TheBear”
2009
Retrievedon18January2011from
www.plattevalleyreview.org
theanarchistlibrary.org 2009

Contents
WorksCited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3

Faulkner’s“TheBear”.Ed.FrancisLeeUtley.NewYork:Random While it may be argued that the metaphysical naturalism
House,1964.323–326. presented in William Faulkner’s short story “The Bear,” is
Zerzan, John. Elements of Refusal. Columbia: Columbia Al- ultimately rooted in a regressive, idealized state of existence
ternativeLibrary,1999. that is essentially incompatible with the story’s temporal
Zerzan, John. Running on Emptiness: The Pathology of Civi- and socio-historical context — it nonetheless remains a vis-
lization.LosAngeles:FeralHousePublishing,2002. cerally pertinent critique of humanity’s move forward into
modernity and the social injustices and inequities which
civilization, in all of its manifestations, is ostensibly founded
upon. Thus, in “The Bear” the repudiation of civilization
becomes synonymous with the renunciation of oppressive
social constructs, and the natural rhythm of the wilderness
providesthenecessarycontextforhumanitytorectifyitsevils.
While from a socio-political perspective, many classical and
contemporary radical ideologies share similarities with the
implicit and explicit critical perspectives that become evident
throughout the evolution of “The Bear,” none encapsulates
the emotional evocativeness of Faulkner’s story more than
anarcho-primitivism.
As in Faulkner’s story where, “one detects a relation of
his ideas to those philosophers of the past whose concepts
were dependent upon a belief in natural law and natural
rights, a belief especially popular in the late eighteenth and
early nineteenth centuries” (Breaden 273); so too does the
socio-political philosophy of anarcho-primitivism finds its
synthesis in two classically romantic, libertarian strains of
thought that emerged during the same historical timeframe.
Anarchisminitstraditionalsenseisasubvariantoflibertarian-
socialism, as it is inherently nonhierarchical and egalitarian;
and it is an ideology, “that refuses to accept an authoritarian
ruling government. It holds that individuals should organize
themselvesinanywaytheywishinordertofulfilltheirneeds
andideals”(Angeles11).Primitivismisanaestheticthatgrew
out of the Enlightenment, which places value in the organic
simplicity found in nature and the inherent freedom, mysti-
cism, primal passion, and wisdom attributed to the natural
24 5
world.Asanamalgamationofthesetwomodalitiesofthought, Works Cited
anarcho-primitivism is a contemporary socio-political theory
that places civilization at the center of its critique, arguing Altenbernd,Lynn.“ASuspendedMoment:TheIronyofHis-
thatthroughitsconduits,humanityisinherentlyoppressedas toryinWilliamFaulkner’s‘TheBear’.”ModernLanguageNotes
the individual has become distanced from its natural origins 75.7(1960):572–582.
andexistentiallyisolatedfromitself.Ofthemanymultifaceted Angeles, Peter. The Harper Collins Dictionary of Philosophy.
arguments that anarcho-primitivism levels at civilization the NewYork:HarperPerennial,1992.
main lines of reasoning usually contain critiques of the de- Campbell, Harry. “Primitivism and The Bear.” Bear, Man,
structionofnature;thecreationofandthefurtherdependence andGod:SevenApproachestoWilliamFaulkner’s“TheBear.Ed.
on technology; linear temporality and its power to create FrancisLeeUtley.NewYork:RandomHouse,1964.279–280.
finite history; humanity’s increasing inability to “commune” Bell,H.H.“AFootnotetoFaulkner’s‘TheBear’.”CollegeEn-
with nature; and the logical fallacy in viewing humans as glish24.3(1962):179–183.
being independent from the natural schema. It is precisely Breaden,Dale.“WilliamFaulknerandtheLand.”Bear,Man,
these criticisms of civilization that are given aesthetic voice andGod:SevenApproachestoWilliamFaulkner’s“TheBear”.Ed.
in Faulkner’s story, and throughout the development of the FrancisLeeUtley.NewYork:RandomHouse,1964.273–278.
plot an earnest call for “civilized” humanity to engage in Faulkner, William. Go Down Moses. New York: Vintage In-
self-reflectionissuesforth. ternational, 1940. LaBudde, Kenneth. “Cultural Primitivism in
Within “The Bear,” the most fundamental relation of “civi- William Faulkner’s The Bear.” American Quarterly 2.4 (1950):
lized” humanity to nature is the exploitation and subsequent 322–328.
destruction of wild areas. This monodirectional relationship Lewis, R.W.B. “The Hero in the New World: William
achieves primacy in Faulkner’s work on a multitude of levels, Faulkner’s The Bear.” Bear, Man, and God: Seven Approaches
yet the most prominent occur as the initial hunt and the sale to William Faulkner’s “The Bear”. Ed. Francis Lee Utley. New
of the woods to the lumber company. The purpose of the eso- York:RandomHouse,1964.306–322.
teric hunt in which the characters of “The Bear” engage in is Lyndenberg, John. “Nature Myth in Faulkner’s The Bear.”
drastically different from the hunts in which pre-agrarian in- Bear, Man, and God: Seven Approaches to William Faulkner’s
digenouspeoplesengagedin,andthisdifferencemustbehigh- “The Bear”. Ed. Francis Lee Utley. New York: Random House,
lightedindepthasitunderscorestheoppositionalviewsofthe 1964.280–289.
wild’s purpose to “civilized” and “primitive” peoples. For the Stonesifier, Richard. “Faulkner’s The Bear: A Note on Struc-
huntingpartyofWalterEwell,MajordeSpain,GeneralComp- ture.”CollegeEnglish23.3(1961):219–223.
son,andMcCaslinEdmonds,thehuntisanunconsciousasser- Taylor, Walter. “Let My People Go: The White Man’s Her-
tion of humanity’s dominance over nature. For these men na- itageinGoDown,Moses.”Bear,Man,andGod:SevenApproaches
tureispurelyutilitarian,itisrelegatedtotherealmofform,and to William Faulkner’s “The Bear”. Ed. Francis Lee Utley. New
itessentiallybecomescomodifiedandtranslatedintofinancial York:RandomHouse,1964.290–300.
valuethroughthesaleofthelandforlumberattheendof“The Vickery,Olga.“God’sMoralOrderandtheProblemofIke’s
Bear.”Thewholeartificeofthehuntadoptsanairofunreality Redemption.”Bear,Man,andGod:SevenApproachestoWilliam
6 23
moves from the realm of it being a physical regression to the forthesemen,asnaturebecomessomethingostensiblyoutside
muchmoreconceivablenotionofaprogressionofmorals.“The themselvesthattheyquiteliterallyhavetotravelinto onlyon
Bear”isnotastorythatsuggeststheoppressiveconditionsof holiday.Thehuntisnotanactofveneration,butrather,“itisa
civilizationcanbeovercomethroughphysicalmeans,ratherit duelenactedwithinasolidsetofconventionsandrules,fault-
is a narrative that suggests that humanity engage in a quasi- lessly observed on both sides” (Lewis 308). In this sense the
spiritualself-reflectionandadopttheegalitariancommunality huntingpartyin“TheBear”isengaginginaspectaclethathas
ofthenaturalworld.ItisinthissensethatFaulkner’sstorydis- beenself-definedandpossessestemporalboundaries,physical
plays anarcho-primitivist tendencies; as the hope for human- rules, and appropriate conduct; thus the hunt for these men
ity does not arise out, “of some primitive past, some so-called is marginalized to the point of it being nothing more than a,
‘Golden Age,’ we cannot and do not want to re-implement its “yearlypageant-rite”(Faulkner186).
time or character; but we can, now, recover and cleave to its In contrast to the majority of the hunting party, the hunt
temper”(Zerzan11).Faulkner’staleisostensiblycautionaryin takes on very different implications for Isaac McCaslin and
toneas,“thehuntforthebear,ifsuccessful,willbetantamount Sam Fathers. From the hunt’s onset, the wild is something
tothedestructionofthewilderness.Thelegendsofthebear’s whichenvelopesthebeingofIsaacinaquasi-mysticalsenseas
immortality correspond, then, to the supposition prevalent in heentersintothewoodsas,“thewildernessclosedbehindhis
America until a little over a half-century ago that the green entranceasithadopenedmomentarilytoaccepthim,opening
Americancontinentwasinexhaustible”(Altenbernd573).Itis before his advancement as it closed behind his progress”
thesenseofentitlementthatstemsfromthesubjugationofthe (Faulkner 187). The relationship that Isaac develops with
land,whichthroughtransferencebecomestransposedontothe nature is one of reciprocity, as Isaac learns that he is just as
notion of human slavery, greed, and ultimately modern day much apart of the natural order of things as Old Ben is. The
American capitalism. Thus for Faulkner, “the virtues of primi- huntthen,forIsaac,becomesanallegoricalrepresentationofa
tivesocietyareenvisionedascuresformodernills,specifically journeyintotheoriginoflifeitself.Thismutualunderstanding
forthoseoftheSouth”(Taylor291).Itistheownershipofnat- Isaacdevelopswithnaturecomesthroughhisalmostspiritual
uralthings,whichultimatelybelongtonoindividual,thatcre- connectiontoanorganic,collectiveunconsciousnotjustwith
atetheclimateofinequalitythatonewitnessesin“TheBear”; humanity but also with all nature; and this becomes evident
and Faulkner’s driving argument is one which is simple in its fromthenarrative’sbeginningwhenitseemstoIsaac,“thatat
polemic — humanity is detached from the natural communal- theageoftenhewaswitnessinghisownbirth.Itwasnoteven
ity it once possessed, and it is only through the adoption of strangetohim.Heexperienceditallbefore,andnotmerelyin
the ethics and morals of the divine, natural order of life that dreams”(Faulkner187).WhatsetsIsaacapartfromtherestof
humanitycanprofoundlyreconnectwithitself. the landed, plantation-owning, aristocracy and gentry is his
ability to convene on a very personal level with the natural
world—andthisissomethingthatSamFathers,whobecomes
his initiate into the anarcho-primitivist world, realizes from
thebeginning.
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If the continuum of natural insight is manifested along a the “civilized” world’s ownership of the natural world trans-
spectrum,thenitmaybearguedthatOldBenandSamFathers ferstotheownershipofhumanbeingsassubconsciouslySam
aremerelytwodifferentaspectsoftheinherentknowledgeand FatherssaystoMajordeSpainduringtheirtripbacktocamp,
regalityofnature.OldBenrepresentstheinfalliblewisdomof “‘Let me out, master […] Let me go home” (Faulkner 234). Al-
non-humannature,whileSam Fathers representsthe same in thoughSamFathersisnottechnicallyaslave,theethosofop-
itshumanincarnation.Thus,Isaacbecomesanovitiateintothe pression still looms in his past, and the collective past of the
worshipofthatwhichiswild,pure,andsanctified.OldBenand American South. Sam Fathers is the human wisdom present
Sam Fathers are ultimately the same character, as they both in the natural world, and his plea to be let out by his mas-
evoke within Isaac a respect, deference, and filial love for na- ter is essentially his final wish to free himself from the sub-
ture.FreedombecomestantamounttoIsaac’sownunderstand- jugation of the “civilized” world and die, ultimately returning
ingofself,anditisthroughthelessonshederivesfromnature to the earth of his origins. While the “civilized” world in the
thathelearnsthat,“OldBenisthewilderness,themysteryof guise of the doctor assures the characters that Sam Fathers is
man’snatureandoriginsbeneaththeformsofcivilization,and fine, only Isaac has the acuity and connection to the natural
man’sproperrelationshipwiththewildernessteacheshimlib- world to know that Sam Fathers is about to die. He stays on,
erty, courage, pride, and humility” (Stonesifier 219). Thus the and much like the religious death rites of many indigenous
hunt for Isaac is actually a medium for education in the ve- peoples transference occurs. In Sam Fathers’ death, the man-
racity of nature as, “if Sam Fathers had been his mentor and telispassedandIsaacbecomesrepresentativeofthehumanity
the backyard rabbits and squirrels his kindergarten, then the withinthenaturalworld,bindinghisfatetonaturalethicsand
wilderness the old bear ran was his college and the old male values—asheproclaims,“SamFatherssetmefree”(Faulkner
bear itself, so long unwifed and childless as to have become 286). Through the course of the narrative it becomes evident
itsownungenderedprogenitor,washisalmamater”(Faulkner that, “the bear hunt furnishes the prologue to Isaac’s attain-
201–202). It is also important here to notice the parallels be- ment of spiritual maturity” (LaBudde 322); and central to this
tween Sam Fathers and Old Ben. Just as Old Ben is “unwifed spiritual maturity is Isaac’s notion of the natural inner truth:
andchildless”sotooisSamFatherswithoutkin.OldBenlives “Thatiftruthisonethingtomeandanotherthingtoyou,how
anintenselysolitarylifeinthewilderness,justaSamFathers will we choose which truth? You don’t need to choose. The
doesnotabodewiththerestofthehuntingpartyatMajorde heartalreadyknows”(Faulkner249).Thusthroughtheknowl-
Spain’s hunting cabin — instead the son of a Chickasaw chief edgeoftheheartthatIsaacgainsinhisadolescencefromOld
and a black slave lives in isolation in his own small cabin at Ben,SamFathers,andthenaturalworld,andcarrieswithhim
theedgeofthewoods.YetintheirrelativeseclusionbothOld intoadulthood,thereisnohesitationinhisclarityofpurpose
BenandSamFathersareactuallymoreconnectedtothetruth ashefindsitessentialtoatoneforthesinsofhisfamilyandhis
of living, than the men who either out of fear or convenience societythroughtherenunciationofcivilization’smores,norms,
liveintheircabins,towns,andcities.Whileitmayseemonthe andlaws.
surfacethatbothSamFathersandOldBenlivethelonelylife Faulkner’scritiqueofcivilizationgainsitstrengthfromthe
ofasceticrenunciates,itispreciselythroughthisrenunciation concessionthatthereversionbacktoamore“primitive”wayof
thatbothcharactersfullyactualizetheirinherentfreedom. existenceisanimpossibleidealtoachieve,thustheargument
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BoonattacksOldBen,notfromaplaceofrationallogic,but ItisthisessenceoffreedomthatIsaacdiscoversonhistrips
outofareactionaryimpulsivitywhenheseesthedogthathe deep into the wilderness, as Isaac’s hunting evolves into the
has come to love being torn apart by the bear. Thus Boon’s act of discovering the synthesis between an individual’s self-
killing of Old Ben becomes primal, not with the impersonal identityandtheimmutabletruthoftheinterconnectedoneness
gunsofcivilization,butthecloseproximitythataknifeneces- of nature. The successive hunts portrayed in Faulkner’s story
sitates.Boonflings,“himselfastridethebearashehadhurled depict the crossing-over from one realm of existence into
himselfontothemule,hislegslockedaroundthebear’sbelly, another, and it is through this allegorical journey that Isaac
hisleftarmunderthebear’sthroatwhereLionclung,andthe McCaslin births a self-identity that exists in a state free from
glintoftheknifeasitroseandfell.Itfelljustonce”(Faulkner the tainted constructs of civilization, technology, and time.
230–231). The killing of Old Ben becomes a hypersexualized Throughoutthecourseofthehuntingnarrative:
unionbetweenbothaspectsofnature,itisrepresentativeofthe
finalcohesionbetweenanimaandanimus,andattheendofthe “Itwouldseemtherearetwoworlds:theprimitive
ordeal it leaves all four representatives of the natural world’s world of the old free fathers — the first world —
binary opposition clinging to life: Old Ben dies immediately, the wilderness and the animals of the wilderness
Lion dies the next day, Sam Fathers is face down in the mud and the men who live by and in and through the
and dies in three days, and Boon is badly injured. The irony wilderness; and the civilized world of contempo-
inthissceneisthatnocharacterwhofullyembodiesthe“civ- rary man who has insulated himself against the
ilized” world takes part in this killing, yet it is precisely these primitive world by interposing houses, societies,
characters that set the chain of events leading to this penul- andmaterialvaluesbetweenhimselfandtheland,
timatemomentintomotion.ItbecomesspectatorialforMajor earth,nature.Ikeisbornintothislatterworldbut
deSpain,GeneralCompson,McCaslinEdmonds,andthegroup soon learns the existence of the primitive world.
ofsharecroppersandswamperswhohaveliterallycometobe Throughtheritualofthehunt,heisinitiatedinto
spectatorsastheysay,“Wefiggeredwe’dcomeupandwatch, theprimitiveworld,prefersit,anddecidesthatal-
if you don’t mind. We wont do no shooting, lessen he runs though he cannot completely escape the civilized
overus”(Faulkner213).ThusthefinalsceneofOldBenisone world,hewillrepudiateitsvaluesandliveinterms
inwhichnatureispittedagainstnature,asOldBenfacesLion, ofprimitivevalues.”(Campbell280)
yetcontrollingtheimpetusofthewholeordealisthe“civilized”
ThusIsaac’smetaphysicalpassagefromthe“civilized”world
worldwhoremainsataphysicalandmetaphysicalplaceofde-
to the “primitive” world is one which is not idealized and ro-
tachment.Itisametaphoricalrepresentationofthe“civilized”
manticized for he acknowledges that a reversion to a “primi-
world forcing nature to its will and as a consequence the nat-
tive”existenceisimpossiblegiventhesocialcontextinwhich
ural world dies, yet tragically the “civilized” world is still not
he lives. Isaac’s adoption of “primitive” values happen gradu-
cognizantoftheirowninterdependencewiththenaturalworld
ally, as he slowly acquires skills and knowledge from Sam Fa-
theyseektocontrol.
thers and from the wilderness itself as, “he was teaching him-
Immediatelyafterthesubjugationofthenaturalworldinthe
self to be better than a fair woodsman without even knowing
formofOldBenandLion’sclimaticscene,theextrapolationof
20 9
he was doing it” (Faulkner 196). This idea of learning without formed by the “civilized” world into something that can be
beingconsciousofdoingsoisrepeatedthroughout“TheBear” owned, sold, tamed, controlled, and ultimately destroyed. The
and it ultimately underscores the relationship of natural wis- huntingpartyactuallydoesyearntodestroyOldBenasanun-
domtoanunconsciousunderstandingthatallofhumanitypos- conscious assertion of “civilized” power; as “they are under a
sess. compulsiontocarryouttheirannualritualatthetimeof‘the
Yet through the course of the story, it becomes clear that year’sdeath,’tostrivetoconquertheNatureGodwhosevery
only those who are willing to strip themselves of their ego presencechallengesthemandraisesdoubtsastotheirpower”
and engage with nature from a position of humility can tap (Lyndenberg67).Oftheparty,itisonlySamFathersandlater,
into this collective unconscious. With the exception of Isaac Isaac, who understand what Old Ben represents as, “to him
andSamFathers,therestofthehuntingpartydoesnotposses [Isaac],theyweregoingnottohuntbearanddeerbuttokeep
the necessary humility to encounter the essence of the natu- yearly rendezvous with the bear which they did not even in-
ralworld.Inasensethehumilityrequiredtoconnectwiththe tendtokill”(Faulkner186).
“primitive”worldisanactofcourage,asitchallengestheaspir- ItisofsignificancetonotethatOldBen,isultimatelykilled
ing novitiate to confront themselves without the dependence byLionandBoon,forbothofthesecharactersexistinaliminal
onself-constructedbarrierssuchasidentity,classposition,ex- worldwherethe“primitive”andthe“civilized”becomeamalga-
perience, and ownership. Old Ben, as being representative of mated.Theyareonthenaturalspectrum,yetwhereasOldBen
the collective unconscious of the natural world, waits in the andSamFathersrepresentnature’sinherentwisdomandnobil-
shadows of the woods unseen to those who are not yet wor- ity,LionandBoonrepresenttheprimal,animalistic,irrational
thy to behold the consecrated ethos of the “wild.” Most of the side of nature. Lion turns out to be Old Ben’s complimentary
hunters in Faulkner’s narrative delude themselves into think- character,ashebecomestheonlydogthatcanrunOldBenand
ing that they are the ones doing the tracking, watching, wait- bringhimtobay,asIsaacsaysofhim,“Wedon’twanthimtame.
ing, and hunting — yet the reality is contrary to that logic, as We want him like he is […] He’s the dog that’s going to stop
the hunters themselves enter the realm of the wild they are OldBenandholdhim.We’vealreadynamedhim.Hisnameis
consequentlybeingobservedandjudgedbynatureitself.Isaac Lion”(Faulkner210).AsLionisafoiltoOldBen’scharacterit
experiences this reversal in hunting roles as, “he said humbly, becomesessentialthat,“hemustneverberenderedacivilized
notevenamazed:‘Itwasmehe[OldBen]waswatching.Idon’t dog. For Sam knows that it would be most inappropriate and
reckonhedidneedtocomebutonce”(Faulkner193).Thenat- downright wrong to have Old Ben, the ‘God’ of primitivism,
uralworld,itsphysicalembodimentasOldBen,anditshuman run to ground by a civilized ‘lap dog’” (Bell 183). In a similar
medium Sam Fathers, are testing Isaac to see if he can indeed vein, Boon is depicted with primal qualities, as he is “the vio-
conceptualize his very existence on its interdependency with lent, insensitive, hard-faced man with his touch of remote In-
thenaturalworld.Itisthosewhocannotviewtheirexistence dianbloodandthemindalmostofachild”(Faulkner211).Thus
asrelationalanddependentontheorganicworldaroundthem it becomes fitting that when the mystic, divine side of nature
that are ultimately cursed to a life in which the liberty inher- fuses with the animalistic, irrational side — they both die, for
enttothenaturalworldisobfuscated.Itisthroughseeinghow inthefinalstandofOldBenboththebearandLioneventually
thenaturalworldisstructuredandhowitoperatesaccording perish.
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