The Bear Came over the Mountain

Munro employs irony throughout “The Bear Came Over the Mountain.” Irony occurs when what’s being said and what’s being shown are vastly different. One of the first examples of irony is in Fiona’s description itself. She wears her hair “down to her shoulders, as her mother had done” (287), yet considers herself nothing like her mother. Another example of irony in this story is that Grant starts to believe that Fiona losing her memory is a charade to get back at him for cheating she never learned of and he had never confessed to, especially when her romance with Aubrey strikes up. She appears angelic and gentle, yet Grant believes her capable of trickery and meanness, when, in reality, she is none of these things. She is a woman losing her memory and only has Grant, someone who may or may not love her anymore, in her corner.

“The Bear Came Over the Mountain” ends on a cliffhanger. A cliffhanger is when a story ends without tying up one or more loose ends, leaving the reader wondering what comes next. Munro leaves the ending of this story full of ambiguity and open to interpretation. While Grant announces that he has a surprise for Fiona and asks if she remembers Aubrey, her hesitation indicates that she does not. If a reunion does happen, it is unclear what it might look like considering that she may not remember him. Equally unclear is what, if anything, has transpired between Grant and Marian to arrange Aubrey’s return. The cliffhanger ending rewards Grant in one sense, as Fiona finally remembers him, but ultimately imbues the characters’ futures with a sense of uncertainty and the potential for more emotional turmoil.