I see one similar theme between The Bear and Their Eyes were Watching God in the reading I have done so far. The theme of Man vs. Nature, or perhaps even Man vs. God, is evident in The Bear, but this novel seems to take a different view on the subject. Rather than doubt the power of nature as Janie and Tea Cake did with the hurricane, Sam seems to know and accept this power. Sam teaches the giant dog to obey, but makes it a point to say, “We don’t want him tame” (212). Ironically, he names the dog Lion, which is an animal that humans often try to tame. The interesting thing is that Sam seems to believe that only one specific dog, Lion, will be able to take down Old Ben. He recognizes that a man cannot do it on his own, and he seems to believe that man can never truly tame wild animals. Only an untamed dog will be able to take down the untamed Old Ben. As we have seen time and again in the news, animals that humans believe they have tamed often carry out deadly attacks. It is going to be interesting to see how the idea of man taming nature plays out in this novel.