Question: Discuss the significance of the bear and squirrel game in Look Back in Anger.
Introduction
In his newsworthy work “Look Back in Anger” (1956), John Osborne (1929-1994) symbolically uses the bear and squirrel game to explore the ups and downs of married life. To be precise, the game is simply a device to overcome social incompatibility by emotional compatibility.
The bear and squirrel game in Look Back in Anger
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A bridge for relationship
In the play, the couple could not make true feelings for each other in marital life because of their different social status. Jimmy belongs to a working-class family and Alison is middle-class. This sort of classification creates a social barrier between the two that always keeps them divided. However, the game ‘bear and squirrel’ gives them a chance to overcome their class conflicts as they act like animals during the game. So, the game helps them forget their marital misery. Thus, they transform into a romantic couple in moments where they have extreme enmity in real life.
The superb device of escapism
The bear and the squirrel are the personifications of Jimmy and Alison respectively. Jimmy plays the role of the bear while Alison the Squirrel. A big and angry fearless bear that embodies the power and arrogance of a real wild bear represents Jimmy’s ego. In contrast, the soft woolly little squirrel represents Alison’s feminine softness. The importance of subject toys is highlighted in the Second Act where Alison tells Helena about her bad experience after her marriage to Jimmy. Alison shares that she has married Jimmy against her parents’ consent. In short, according to Alison’s description, marriage has become nothing for them. Alison then shows Helena the toy bear and the toy squirrel and explains the meaning of the game. He goes on to say that this game is the only way for her and Jimmy to escape from every bitterness.
Creator of dreamy world
In Act One, after a hot argument between Jimmy and Alison, the couple is seen playing this game first after Cliff goes out. Jimmy affectionately calls Allison a “beautiful, great-eyed squirrel”, a “hoarding nut-munching squirrel” and this overly poetic description makes Allison very happy. Then she produces the sound of squirrel and calls Jimmy a “jolly super bear”, “a really great bear.” She jumps in a state of excitement. They are both very happy at this point and they embrace each other with love. Then, in a state of extreme joy, she is going to tell Jimmy about her pregnancy, but Cliff’s sudden entrance stops her, and the dreamy world of the pair breaks down.
Symbol of the specialty of husband and wife
Although Jimmy and Allison have often played the game for solace and comfort, the game is the symbol of specialty. In Jimmy’s case, Allison’s refusal to travel to London to meet very ill Mrs. Tanner creates havoc in his life. When Allison leaves for church with Helena, Jimmy sees the teddy bear lightly and then realizes that it is nothing for him and drops the toy on the floor. Allison becomes very upset with Jimmy’s indecency. She decides to leave him. While Allison packs things to go with her father, she takes the toy from the drawer’s chest and puts it in her suitcase, but she realizes that the toy of the squirrel could not make sense anymore. So, she too drops the toy on the floor. Thus, the game becomes the symbol of specialty.
The symbol of a life free from chaos
Towards the end of the play, however, Jimmy and Alison reunite. Their misunderstanding ends with a touching and romantic scene. Alison crawls and grovels at the feet of Jimmy. He asks her not to cry and tells her that he cannot bear to see her in that condition. Jimmy also feels that he is not alone. He has somebody to cling to, somebody to lean on amidst the endless trials and tribulations of life. He then reminds her of the bear and squirrel game which they used to play and says that they will again be the bear and the squirrel. Like a bear and a squirrel, they will live on honey and nuts.
Click here: all notes of Look Back in Anger
Conclusion
Exquisitely, though the game of bear and squirrel initially seems a trivial escape from the complexities of life, by the end of the play, the play becomes a statement of the nature of human love for sharing pain and the pleasure of physical relationships.
