Eng 102 - Bear V. Shark

Bear vs shark

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Instructor: Dr. Joe Baumann

Elizabeth Rivera

ENG 102

Bear v. Shark

Society is constantly changing. Society acts in the way the media reflects. In this way, the media influence society and change the ways of life, people’s choices, customs, and consumption as is the case of advertising and public opinion. Bear v. Shark, a novel written by Chris Bachelder, an author who writes about the Normans; a typical American family who is traveling to Las Vegas to see the fight that all the media are talking about. It is a novel written in a particular way; short chapters, different information between lines, and isolated conversations among other distractions are part of it. In Bear v. Shark, Bachelder wants the reader to go a little deeper and realize that just as in the book human beings are surrounded by thousands of distractions that make them lose at some point and forget what is truly significant in life.

Bear v. Shark is a novel written in a very particular style. In the middle of the story people read what looks like a television show, a radio show, surveys, and even a pornography website. “Chapter 29. Some Jokes. How many bears does it take to screw in a lightbulb? How many? Five. One to screw in the bulb and four to pick sharks’ teeth out of their asses. Knock, knock. Who’s there? Bear. Bear who? Bear with me while I kick this shark’s ass” (Bachelder 72). Too many distractions that at first are very confusing and make people not understand what the real purpose of the book is. Nevertheless, there are some moments where people not only connect with what is happening in the book, but it makes people think of the protagonists of this story and how monotonous and boring their lives can be, but a real fact about this is people like the Normans are seen daily and everywhere. Chris Bachelder, rather than having the purpose of confusing his readers, he wants them to think about all the distractions that are around. Undoubtedly, all those distractions that were found throughout the book play a supremely important role for the author. The media such as television, radio, and the internet are almost indispensable today. Advertising builds gender roles and makes people think about things they can not reach. Advertising promotes consumption and makes society buy things that are above their needs. In a way, the media have a high influence on people. The media can help social change, since depending on how the media influence, a society can be better or worse. In addition, the media reflect the changes that are happening in a society. As seen in the book, the Normans family is highly influenced by the media making them feel a great interest in the fight between a bear and a shark. As Normans family is totally distracted and often out of reality, many people become distracted and forget the truly important things. “Safe travels, Net nomads. Remember: In the arid world a traveler needs more substance than the opium of so-called “bears” and “sharks,” the corporate tools that confuse and distract us from the TRUTH” (Bachelder 88). The distractions of the book make it hard to understand, however, distractions like the media make people give importance to things they do not really have and people are forgetting to spend more time with their children, sharing with friends, or interested what is happening in the world to be entertained with the cell phone or watching TV.

Bear v. Shark and how the media distances people from reality. The media has a great influence on society by creating types of behavior that influence how people act or think. Although it is known that the media are great creators of stereotypes and drivers of consumerism is in the people who receive the information not to be influenced by them. In the book Bear v. Shark, the Normans are the typical American family where technology and the media are essential and unfortunately are highly influenced by them. "The guy from Pump 22 crosses over the pump island and gets up close to