The Bear Came over the Mountain

Content Warning: The source material includes mentions of infidelity, suicide, university sex scandals, mental health issues, and molestation.

“The Bear Came Over the Mountain” is, in many ways, a character study of an unfaithful man who has little remorse for his actions but claims to love his wife. A character study is a story or narrative that is driven by the internal struggles of one or more main characters; Munro has chosen Grant as the point-of-view character, so the character study focuses on him. Grant’s memories, fears, and denial surrounding his infidelity comprise a majority of the story. He feels that he was a good husband even while cheating and believes he made up for it despite never admitting what he did. He feels punished by the changes going on with Fiona, to the point of questioning her condition.

Grant exemplifies The Enduring Effects of Infidelity and Guilt, as the story explores how his infidelity and the guilt surrounding it disrupt his life and affect his perspective. During Fiona’s first doctor’s visit when they begin to suspect she is facing Alzheimer’s—a visit that should be about Fiona and her health—Grant’s mind wanders to the way Fiona used to mimic “uncannily the voices of women of his that she had never met or known about” (289). This demonstrates his ongoing fixation on his past actions. It is also the first hint that Grant might think Fiona is playing a trick on him to get back at him. Munro delivers this information early in the story, foreshadowing the way Grant’s past infidelity colors not only how he interacts with his present, but also how he handles regret, action, and shame. Further, it highlights Grant’s underlying fear that Fiona will punish him in some way, even though Grant claims he never told her the truth.

Grant’s inability to admit his affairs to Fiona does not mean that she was unaware, however. Though he states that he never confessed to Fiona, the text suggests that the consequences affected her, too:  

[…] word got around. Cold shoulders became conspicuous. They had few Christmas invitations and spent New Year’s Eve alone. Grant got drunk, and without its being required of him—also, thank God, without making the error of a confession—he promised Fiona a new life (286).

Even from Grant’s point of view, he seems oblivious, or in denial, that the social fallout of his infidelity would have been obvious to Fiona or that “word” could have reached her. Further, his promise of a “new life” indicates his guilt over his role in her current one.

Grant goes to great lengths to hide his infidelity and seem a dutiful, working, loving husband, as if such loyalty negates his actions. He highlights the efforts he took to stay with Fiona: “He had not stayed away from her for a single night […] He had gone easy on the dope and the drink and he had continued to publish papers, serve on committees, make progress in his career” (297). By contrasting this with his colleagues’ affairs, which are implied to be messier, Grant minimizes his actions: He “did not go overboard, at least in comparison with some people around him” (313). During the time of his infidelity, he felt a sense of invincibility because he was never caught. Now that Fiona is sick, Grant’s invincibility is wearing down. He can’t force Fiona to remember him. He can’t force Aubrey to stop loving her. Seeing them together only solidifies his guilt and shame, later in life, when he’s too old to cheat and he can’t repent and ask Fiona for forgiveness even if he tried.

Whether he believes that he deserves it or not, Grant is losing his wife, and his sense of control. His punishment—even if self-inflicted via his guilt—is before him. When Fiona starts her relationship with Aubrey, he questions Fiona’s diagnosis and wonders “whether [Fiona] isn’t putting on some kind of a charade’” with this relationship, and even her memory loss, to get back at him (305). Grant is treated like a visitor Fiona is simply used to; meanwhile Aubrey gets to hold on to her as they walk, hear her laughter, and be with her in ways that Grant cannot. To confront them with his suspicion, however, is to admit to his infidelity, and to admit he has lost faith in his wife. As Grant becomes a third wheel in his wife’s new relationship, “stalking and prowling” (307) behind Fiona and Aubrey, he doesn’t display any sense of empathy with how Fiona might have felt about his own sneaking around, nor any real remorse: “But who had time for regrets?” (313).

Grant’s fixation on his infidelity highlights the theme of The Limits of Selfish Love. His inability to stop obsessing over his perceived punishment and accept his wife’s condition, and the changes that come with it, reflect the self-obsession that underlies his character. Even though meeting Marian catalyzes his final act of redemption, which is reuniting Fiona and Aubrey, his interest in Marian—which is clearly sexual in nature—complicates his redemptive arc.

Marian’s ultimate role in bringing Aubrey and Fiona back together is unclear. Like Grant, Marian’s ability to support Aubrey’s and Fiona’s relationship is limited by her own needs. Rather than being purely selfish in nature, however, Marian’s needs are more pragmatic: She wants to keep her house because it’s meaningful to her, but it’s also all she has. Marian’s financial concerns reflect The Impacts of Class on Relationships. While Grant and Fiona have never had to worry about money, Marian cannot afford for Aubrey to be at Meadowlake full-time. Instead, she serves as his full-time caretaker, a role that causes her stress and a degree of resignation. The reader is not privy to Marian’s reasoning for her change of heart that leads to her calling Grant back and inviting him to a singles dance, but her need for financial stability is established—as is Grant’s ability to provide that.

The final lines of “The Bear Came Over the Mountain,” as well as the events that lead up to the scene, are ambiguous and open to interpretation. When Grant returns to the nursing home with Aubrey to surprise Fiona, it is unclear whether Aubrey is visiting or staying indefinitely. It is also unclear whether Grant and Marian have begun a romantic relationship. These are deliberate choices on Munro’s part, a resistance to a clear-cut happy ending.

One thing that is clear is that Grant accepts the reality of Fiona’s deteriorating condition and focuses, finally, on her needs by reuniting her with Aubrey. Only then does he obtain the reward he’s sought throughout the story, which is Fiona remembering him. While Grant redeems himself in Fiona’s eyes, whether he has truly redeemed himself—and escaped the guilt of his infidelity—is uncertain.