Eady 1

Juliette Eady

April 8th, 2022

ENG 2102

Dr. Jennifer Gayle Baker

Nature: A Non- reproductive Sexuality

Nature and sexuality have been main themes in Canadian literature for hundreds of years.

Turner expresses that “Canadians have articulated their feelings about nature through the literary

expression” (Turner) These feelings include loneliness, happiness, and even sexual desire. This

desire is seen in the novels, Wild Geese by Martha Osterno, and Bear by Marian Engel. Using

the non-reproductive sexualities portrayed in the novels, understanding the character’s mental

states create a new view on sexuality in Canadian literature

In Bear, by Marian Engel the main character Lou uses nature, specifically an animal to

fulfill her sexual desires. Lou has moved to Northeastern Ontario into Colonel Cary’s home to do

research. She has never experienced being in solitude and having a self-sustaining lifestyle. Her

relationship with the bear is a way of dealing with the loneliness and coping with the new

change thrown at her life. In the article Marian Engel's Bear: Romance or Realism? by Cinda

Gault, she states that the bear is “the medium through which she [Lou] has been able to make her

psychic journey through the wilderness" (Gault 116). Instead of dealing with her mental issues

head-on, she resorts to the bear to be her companion and lessen the strain on her mind. As her

mental relationship grew with him so did her sexual desire to be with him. She treats the bear, as
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she would a regular lover. She does not have to worry about her troubled past with men and

instead discovers the bear is a good replacement for men in her life. Paul Barretts article “Animal

Tracks in the Margin": Tracing the Absent Referent in Marian Engel's Bear and J. M. Coetzee's

The Lives of Animals” exclaims that love is a “symbolic function of Lou's challenge to

patriarchy and assertion of her subjectivity” (Barrett). Lou avoids the patriarchal life she lives in

by forming a connection with the bear. He has no political views or knowledge of the outside

world. She sees her and the bear as equals and believes he sees the same thing. Lou’s

relationship with the bear is symbolic of her exploration and acceptance of the natural world and

herself (Barrett). She is enduring loneliness and sadness, so he is her escape and provides mental

stability for Lou.

Caleb Gare from the novel Wild Geese lives on a farm in Manitoba with his wife and four

children. He, like Lou endures loneliness and the strain it can have on mental health. Caleb is a

successful farmer; his greatest possession is his flax field which he adores in a sexual manner.

Caleb Gare likes to oversee everything in his life, however, naturally, he cannot always control

other people’s actions. This is one of the reasons his relationship with his crops is so strong, he

decides if they thrive or die. In the article Taking Cereals Seriously in Martha Ostenso's Wild

Geese by Margaret Boyce, she expresses that “he "run[s] his hand across the flowering, gentle

tops of the growth. A stealthy caress-more intimate than any he had ever given to woman"

(Boyce 152). When an individual cannot control aspects of life such as family, they turn to the

things they can control. Caleb Gare develops a mental reliance on his crops even seeing them as
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more of a sexual “partner” than his own wife. In the novel, Caleb never openly admits to

disliking his whole family, although, it can be assumed by his actions. Boyce remarks that

“critics often read the fact that he saves his affections for the plants as either emblematic of his

disaffection for his family or as symbolizing the multiple despairs endemic to early prairie life.”

(Boyce) Caleb cannot mentally seem to give emotion and affection to his family so he creates a

secondary outlet, his crops. Boyce also touches on how difficult early prairie life was and that it

may also influence how Caleb views his most sacred possession. Caleb is a lonely man with the

inability to show love to his family. This caused the unwavering mental and sexual desire for his

crops.

Although Lou and Caleb desire a non-reproductive sexual relationship for different

reasons, there are some similarities. Romance and desire can be found in many forms, in this

case, it is with nature. The characters are enlightened to what they believe is romance and love.

In the article "Nature as a theme in Canadian literature" by Kate Turner and Bill Freedman, they

state that “Roberts defines such animal and nature stories as being "psychological romance

constructed on a framework of natural science" (Roberts in Grady 1992, p. 8). (Turner,

Freedman). Due to nature being such a prevalent theme in Canadian literature, it creates a

romance about how humans interact with it. Although, when first reading these novels, one may

not see the romance aspect, once understanding why the characters feel this way creates a

romance like no other. The characters are surrounded by wilderness and nature and a way they

both cope with the solitude of that is by forming a deep bond with nature. Although Caleb did

not have intercourse or a physical relationship like Lou did, he mentally found peace in his crops.
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Although the desire to have a sexual relationship with nature is not necessarily physically wrong,

morally it is. This is especially prevalent in Lou’s case. Turner and Freedman voice that “Frye

points to darker sides of nature in Canadian literature (e.g., portraying the destruction of human

morals), but he also discusses a fusion of humanity (and of individuals) with the natural world,

and claims that these are complementary themes.” (Turner, Freedman). Although what Lou or

Caleb is doing is by no means morally correct, it is complementary to the natural world. Two

natural beings indulging in what is non-reproductive sexuality fuses two very different types of

humanity. Lou and Caleb do not see what they are doing as wrong and believe that the love is

reciprocated by them. These two characters are so desperate for real love in their life they go to

the natural world around them to find it.

Sexuality is subjective to the person. Many things can influence an individual’s sexual

desires such as unsatisfactory family life or running from a patriarchal society. Although Lou

and Caleb develop their own reasons for craving nature as non-reproductive sexual partners, one

thing remains similar. This theme is loneliness. Both characters are surrounded by nature with no

one to fulfill their mental and sexual needs so they turn to the only thing they can find. They’ve

both formed an immense emotional connection with aspects of nature and desire to give their

bodies as well. Understanding someone’s mental state is crucial for understanding why they

enjoy certain things. In the case of Lou from Bear and Caleb from Wilde Geese readers begin to

understand their love and desire for the natural world.

Work Cited

Barrett, Paul. "Animal Tracks in the Margin": Tracing the Absent Referent in Marian Engel's

Bear and J. M. Coetzee's The Lives of Animals." Ariel, vol. 45, no. 3, 2014, pp. 123-149.

ProQuest,

https://login.proxy.bib.uottawa.ca/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-

journals/animal-tracks-margin-tracing-absent-referent/docview/1668086930/se-

2?accountid=14701, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/ari.2014.0018.

Gault, Cinda. "Marian Engel's Bear: Romance or Realism?" Canadian Literature, no. 197, 2008,

pp. 29-40,200. ProQuest, https://login.proxy.bib.uottawa.ca/login?url=https://www-

proquest-com.proxy.bib.uottawa.ca/scholarly-journals/marian-engels-bear-romance-

realism/docview/218760001/se-2?accountid=14701.

Boyce, Margaret. "Taking Cereals Seriously in Martha Ostenso's Wild Geese."Canadian

Literature, no. 234, 2017, pp. 92-108,182. ProQuest,

https://login.proxy.bib.uottawa.ca/login?url=https://www-proquest-

com.proxy.bib.uottawa.ca/scholarly-journals/taking-cereals-seriously-martha-ostensos-

wild/docview/2088410730/se-2?accountid=14701.
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Coates, Kimberly. Bodies Unbound: Non-reproductive Sexuality and Subjecthood in

(Post)Modern French and American Literatures, State University of New York at Stony

Brook, Ann Arbor, 2019. ProQuest,

https://login.proxy.bib.uottawa.ca/login?url=https://www-proquest

com.proxy.bib.uottawa.ca/dissertations-theses/bodies-unbound-non-reproductive-

sexuality/docview/2307190796/se-2?accountid=14701.

Turner, Kate; and Bill Freedman. "Nature as a theme in Canadian literature" Environmental

Reviews, vol. 13, no. 4, 2005, pp. 169-197. ProQuest,

https://login.proxy.bib.uottawa.ca/login?url=https://www-proquest-

com.proxy.bib.uottawa.ca/scholarly-journals/nature-as-theme-canadian-

literature/docview/206766513/se-2?accountid=14701.