Grizzly Man
By: Rolland Martins
College Now Course - SCI 1
The grizzly man, Timothy Treadwell, went in several places to protect bears and to
educate the public about them. One of the places that he went was the Alaskan Peninsula.
He wanted to show the bears in their natural habitat. While on his trips, he discovered
that bears work together in strong packs. The grizzly man is trying to hold his ground
while trying to get to know the bears in the Alaskan Peninsula. He explained that,
"if anyone is in their territory for a few days, and they try to move from that territory,
the bears will bite or decapitate them. Treadwell felt such an excitement when he
saw how tall one of the bears was. That excitement he felt connected him immediately
with children. In Treadwell's campaign to create awareness, he reached thousands and
thousands of school children, who would remember his astounding story-telling to be
one of the highlights of their school years. He took his mission so seriously that
he never solicited a fee for the lectures. Because of his hard work to create awareness,
he reached the point of becoming a celebrity. Treadwell's passion for bears was phenomenal.
Treadwell explained to interviewers that he will never go into a bear's home and kill
it or kill a bear in defense of his life.
One of Treadwell's close friends spoke of his horrible death. A strange and unknown
bear had taken the life of the superb Treadwell and his girl friend Amy. Upon opening
the stomach of the bear after his death, clothing and people were collected. The fishing
offers who did the post-mortem on the bear accumulated four garbage bags of people.
Treadwell's mission was to help the resources of bears while performing this task,
and he was unprotected. He disguised himself by wearing bear costumes. Many people
thought that he deserved what he was asking for...some people thought that Treadwell
was mentally challenged, and they ignored him. But, on the day that he was killed,
the bear must have had enough of him...Treadwell had lost sight of what was really
going on. He was never going to bond with bears. Treadwell once wrote in a letter
that he wanted to mutate into a bear; to handle the life he had with bears.
He once said that for people to take him more seriously, he would have to die in order
to get is message across. Instead of his message being understood for the purpose
intended, many hate mails were sent to him.
- Treadwell crossed a boundary.
- He wanted to be like the bear.
- The line between bears and native Americans was always respected.
- Treadwell's story is tragic, since his girlfriend died also.
- Treadwell disrespected the bears by crossing the boundary, which meant getting too
close to them and what they represented.
- He did more damage because he familiarized himself with bears so they thought all
humans are safe.
The concept of the documentary, which I admired, was how Treadwell took the initiative
to protect and preserve bears worldwide. He used his camera to get his message across;
but, the idea of being with the bears was ridiculous. He failed to recognize that
in nature there are predators and prey.
My opinion is that Treadwell went distances to protect bears worldwide. In many ways,
he preserved and succeeded to a certain extent. Despite insults and controversies
that arose, he still looked to the future with optimism and joy. He prevented many
bears from being killed by hunters worldwide.
The part that impressed me the most, was that Treadwell went to various schools and
told stories about his mission. He took his mission seriously, and never solicited
a fee. Through his effort, he reached many school children in his campaign to create
awareness. His love and compassion for bears will never fade away. Although he knew
the danger to his life, he never stopped and questioned it.
In conclusion, Timothy Treadwell became the pioneer for the preservation of the life
of bears worldwide. He will be remembered forever for his contribution in the preservation
of bears and their habitat.
