Introduction
“The Bear Came over the Mountain” by Alice Munro is a short story that follows the lives of a couple Grant and Fiona Anderson as they try to come to terms with the reality and inconveniences of aging. The story was first published in the December 27, 1997 issue of The New Yorker. In 2006 director Sarah Polley made a film with the title “Away from Her”, which was based on Munro’s short story. Although the two are quite similar in many aspects, they measure up differently in how their success in conveying the story. While the film is interesting and captivating, the written is better as it explains the context of the story; an aspect that may not be apparent in the film.
Criteria
The criteria used to judge the effectiveness of Munro’s short story is based on its structure, plot, the representation of the characters and the themes covered. Firstly, the title “The Bear Came over the Mountain” is appropriate for this story as it foreshadows how the plot unfolds. In Canadian folklore, “the bear came over the mountain” is a children’s song that describes how a bear climbed over a mountain and sees the other side of the mountain (Sustana, 2018). This alludes to how until people are often oblivious to other people’s experiences until they face similar circumstances. In this case, Grant did not realize how much he had probably hurt Fiona through his affairs until he was faced with the possibility of her being in love with another man (Munro, 1997).
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Munro’s written story is effective because of how its plot unfolds. She begins by giving a background on the main characters, showing specifically how Fiona was like before she got married to Grant. She then proceeds to tell the present story while making reference to the past through flush backs where necessary. This way, a reader gains greater perspective when reading this story as it gives them context and allows them to judge the situation for themselves. The way the story is organized is simple enough and the transitions between past and present are clear and easy to comprehend.
In her story, Munro is able to convey emotional context clearly by stating vivid details about how a situation affects a character. This aspect allows a reader to enter the mind of the character and empathize with them so that the strength of story does not only rely on the words of its characters and the description of the physical context. For instance, when Fiona rubs the smear made by her rubber shoes off the floor she says “I thought they’d quit doing that…” (Munro, 1997) The author describes her feelings precisely as the moment she says this by writing that “…she said [it] in a tone of ordinary annoyance and perplexity…” (Munro, 1997) In writing, these feelings cannot be mistaken for anger for instance.
The Film
Sarah Polley did a great job of adapting Munro’s story into a wonderful film, and although it conveys the story with adequate intensity, it also fails to meet a lot of the established criteria. The title “Away from Her” implies something different from what Munro writes about as it turns this into a love story where Grant cannot bear to be away from Fiona. This title draws the audience away from the real issues of endurance, Alzheimer’s, loss, karma and aging by romanticizing the film.
The plot of the movie is unclear so it can confuse the audience. There is no background as in the written form which is understandable because it would take too much time to film this. However, having a narrator can fix this problem as it takes less effort to tell a story than act it out. The starting scene of the movie is confusing because Grant is driving to a destination that is later revealed to be Marian’s house while remembering the day Fiona proposed to him (Polley, 2006). These scenes where Grant speaks to Marian about her husband make up the end of the story so one may get confused as to what is happening. Placing these scenes at the beginning of the movie also make it more interesting when they slowly unfold to reveal the plot in reverse.
The film fails in explaining the emotional context of the story which is significant to the interpretation of this film. For instance Grant is seen seated in Meadowlake’s common room, watching his wife with another man (Polley, 2006). Unlike in the written form where the author clarifies using words, it may be difficult to correctly decipher Grant’s emotions, and it becomes a matter of the audience’s opinion. One person may think he is sad, while another that he is helpless depending on how they interpret the expression on his face.
Although the film is mostly accurate in portraying the story written by Munro, the way its characters are presented change the entire narrative. The movie shows Grant as a devoted husband while Munro paints him as an unfaithful and somewhat selfish character that we should hate to some extent. The movie makes Fiona seem vengeful about her husband’s affairs while in the book, she simply has memory loss. Since these are the main characters of this story, this changes how the audience will interpret the movie as compared to the book.
Judgment
Indubitably, the film is more interesting to watch than it is to read a story since visual data requires less effort to interpret. However, it the written form tells the story better. The two are very similar in the wording and the conversations between the characters, but the criteria mentioned above change the outcome. The film is an inaccurate representation of Munro’s story and more the director’s interpretation of it since Polley adds or removes scenes to the film depending on how well they tell her story of the devoted husband. For instance, she leaves out the scenes where Munro explicitly explains the affairs that Grant had and how both he and Fiona felt about it (Munro, 1997). Conversely, the scenes where Marian and Grant have relations in exchange for her sending Aubrey to the institution permanently to comfort Fiona are added (Polley, 2006). If both scenes were included, Grant would only seem like he was reverting to his philandering ways now that Fiona was out of the way.
References
Munro, A. (1997). The bear came over the mountain. The New Yorker . Retrieved from https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/10/21/the-bear-came-over-the-mountain-2
Polley, S. (Director). (2006). Away from her [Motion picture]. Canada.
Sustana, C. (2018, July 8). Analysis of 'The bear came over the mountain' by Alice Munro. ThoughtCo. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/analysis-bear-came-over-the-mountain-2990517
