What are the symbols in Robert Frost's poem "The Bear"?

In the poem, Robert Frost compares the "uncaged progress" of the bear to a man, who is portrayed as a "caged bear" in the way that he is continually analyzing the world and universe instead of experiencing it like the animal. Frost depicts the bear as a free, uninhibited being, which experiences the universe and thrives as it makes progress throughout the countryside. In contrast, man inhibits himself by overanalyzing the environment using microscopes and telescopes in an attempt to figure out the secrets of the universe. In man's intellectual and scientific pursuits, he becomes inhibited and begins acting like a "poor caged bear," who is upset at the fact that he does not have the answers to universal questions. The bear in the poem symbolically represents nature and every animal inhabiting the globe. Unlike humans, animals live uninhibited lives as they travel freely throughout their environments without attempting to reason, understand, and comprehend the complex meaning and properties of their natural environment. The cage that Frost references symbolically represents the minds of humans, which continually search for answers and scientifically analyze everything in the natural world. The telescope and microscope also symbolically represent science and the study of the natural world.

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