Tunes for Bears to Dance To

“The old man came out of the crazy house every morning shortly before eight o’clock.”

The novella’s opening sentence reveals how intently the story’s protagonist, Henry Cassavant, has been watching the elderly stranger. Henry goes on to ask himself questions about the man—why he lives in a psychiatric hospital and why he is allowed to leave each day. Robert Cormier uses the scene to pique the reader’s interest in learning the answers and finding out more about the character, who turns out to be Mr. Levine.

“They had not left Eddie behind in Frenchtown, after all.”

The Cassavant family has not been able to leave the memory of Eddie behind despite their move to a new town. They are still steeped in grief because they haven’t been able to confront and acknowledge Eddie’s death; his photos are not on display and his trophies are still packed. They have not yet come to terms with The Inescapability of the Past.

“His smile was not really a smile—just as his laughing was not really laughing.”

Mr. Hairston, the personification of evil in the story, is a constant reminder of the theme The Everyday Nature of Evil. He cannot even pretend to care about other people. The grocer’s smile is false, and when he does speak tenderly to Henry, he is at his most manipulative.