# Masculine Restricted Focalization as a Source of Narrative Ambiguity in “The Bear Came Over the Mountain”

“Masculine Restricted Focalization as a Source of Narrative Ambiguity in “The Bear Came Over the Mountain”” (2026), by Ziling Wen. Arts and Humanities research paper. Original abstract below, unchanged. A free PDF is available.

- Authors: Ziling Wen
- Published: October 30, 2026
- Field: Arts and Humanities
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.63313/llcs.9226
- Free PDF: https://doi.org/10.63313/llcs.9226

## Abstract

As the final story in Alice Munro’s Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage (2001), “The Bear Came Over the Mountain” is often interpreted as a narrative about Alzheimer’s disease, aging, and marital reconciliation. Existing scholarship has mainly examined Fiona’s illness from ethical, psychological and symbolic perspectives, while paying less attention to how the restricted narrative perspective shapes readers’understanding of her. This paper considers that the ambiguity surrounding Fiona’s illness and the story’s open ending arises not merely from the indeterminacy of Alzheimer’s disease itself, but more fundamentally from the narrative’s exclusive reliance on Grant’s masculine restricted focalization. Because the narrative is confined to Grant’s internal focalization, Fiona’s inner consciousness remains inaccessible, making it difficult to distinguish objective reality from Grant’s subjective interpretation. Drawing on James Phelan’s three-axis analytical framework, this paper employs close textual analysis to examine how Grant’s selective perception, retrospective self-rationalization, and guilt-driven cognitive bias jointly produce narrative ambiguity. It concludes that Munro deliberately concentrates narrative authority in Grant’s male perspective, so that the story’s ambiguity reflects not only the uncertainty of illness but also the inherent limitations of a masculine focal position in representing the inner experience of others.

Canonical page: https://nerdi.pages.dev/paper/W7225196820
Read three real papers a day in Nerdi (iPhone): https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id6813826387?pt=128757794&ct=web-paper&mt=8