John Green begins this review by describing how, for many centuries, humans saw bears as a threat, and we were a threat to them as well through bearbaiting and overhunting. He also mentions the origin of the Teddy Bear from President Teddy Roosevelt’s hunt on which he refused to shoot a bear that was already hurt and tied to a tree. After this incident, companies began making teddy bears for children, and for the first time in our history, bears were seen in a different way. He goes on to explain that the animals that survive are the ones that are useful to humans, or if not useful, are cute and adorable which make it hard to let the species go extinct.
I feel that Green was inspired to write about teddy bears due to the fact that he had one as a child. He mentioned that he loved his teddy bear because of its silence and the fact that it did not ask anything of him or judge him. Then, when he was ten, he suddenly did not feel like the bear helped or worked for him anymore. I feel that this led him to think about the fact that people are a dominant species that determine the survival of other species.
I feel like this could help him to find a life of significance by thinking about the impact of the human race on other species. He says that he doubts that cuteness can save a species because the bear population is declining. However, he does mention that the teddy bear industry is doing great. This goes to show that humans have a huge part of controlling the outcome of the other species of our planet, so if we prioritize saving them, we could do something to help them. John Green gave Teddy Bears two and a half stars. I will give them three stars. I think that teddy bears are a great toy to comfort children, but I do see Green’s point that we are viewing an animal that we tormented in the past, into an animal that is vulnerable.