I believe that
everyone needs something that makes them feel worth it. Without an outlet or something to make you
feel like you matter, life gets hard.
For Timothy Treadwell, this outlet was looking after and sharing a life
with bears. He described the time that was spent with theses bears as him
taking care of them and keeping them safe from any harm. I think that they were
keeping Timothy safe. He talked about his previous life of drug and alcohol
abuse and I think that this was his way of coping. Creating a false sense of
nurture and care giving gave him the feeling of meaning that he needed in his
life. Sometimes, taking control of a situation (even if it doesn’t need to be)
can make you feel like there is a purpose for your being. Timothy didn’t want
to be a drunk, he wanted to be a caretaker; and I don’t think we can judge
someone for wanting to matter.
People often bring up the
possibility of mental illness in Timothy. I don’t doubt for a second that Timothy
wasn’t completely sane but then again who is? I think that he had many problems
including bipolar disorder and maybe some addiction problems but regardless,
what he was doing was important in his eyes. There are so many people that we
look up to today, people who have done great things that are not sane at all.
This doesn’t change the fact that they were living there life’s doing the
things that they felt they needed to do. Timothy Treadwell needed to help those
bears, regardless of if the one benefitting was the bears or him.
In my opinion, the best way to die
is to die doing what you love. Timothy is a perfect example of this because he
got exactly what he wanted. He mentioned several times “I will die for these
bears” and that is exactly what he did. I think that Timothy wouldn’t judge the
bear for doing that; the bear was being a bear. I think that he knew exactly
what he was doing and the thing that people don’t see is that he accepted the
full reality of it. He knew that they could and most likely, eventually would,
kill him and he didn’t care. He was there do to what he loved, he was there to
be with the bears, and he was there because it was right for him.
I found your idea of the bears being the ones who were keeping Timothy Treadwell safe extremely interesting. In a sense those bears were his family and he did indeed feel more at home with them than with most other humans. Treadwell did mention several times that he could easily be killed by the bears and that it wouldn't matter to him that much if it did end up happening. Someone with that kind of attitude, not caring about being killed while doing something they love, means that the thing they are doing is more important to them than living. Without the bears, he'd be dead. And in contrast, without him the bears would be... probably just fine. But he was glad to be there regardless.
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