The bear is a recurring image in the book Lyddie, beginning with the literal bear in chapter 1 and recurring as a metaphor several times. In the first chapter, a bear gets into the cabin and Lyddie makes sure all her family members are safe in the loft while she stares it down. The bear then gets a pot of hot porridge on its head and runs out of the cabin, but the incident is...
The bear is a recurring image in the book Lyddie, beginning with the literal bear in chapter 1 and recurring as a metaphor several times. In the first chapter, a bear gets into the cabin and Lyddie makes sure all her family members are safe in the loft while she stares it down. The bear then gets a pot of hot porridge on its head and runs out of the cabin, but the incident is the last straw for Lyddie's mother, who takes it as a sign that she should leave the cabin. This incident happens on pages 1 - 4. On page 88 Lyddie receives a letter from her mother about Agnes' death, and Lyddie remembers Agnes as being only 4 during the "winter of the bear." On pages 97-98 when Lyddie is working in the factory, she thinks of the looms as bears. She motivates herself to cope with the increasing speed of the machines by remembering how she faced down the bear. On page 126 just after Lyddie has taken responsibility for Rachel, she has a nightmare about the bear and dreams she can't "stare him down," revealing how worried she is for Rachel and their future. On page 169 after Lyddie gets fired, it seems as if "the bear had won." Here the factory supervisor and the system at Concord Corporation is likened to a bear that seeks to destroy her and succeeds. On page 181 she determines to "stare down all the bears" that are in "her own narrow spirit" that might keep her from the life she wants. She decides to go to college.
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