One of the most significant themes in “The Bear Came Over the Mountain” is the theme of infidelity and its ongoing influence on one’s actions, reactions, and thought processes. Because the story follows Grant and his memories for most of the narrative, readers are privy to his thought processes and rationales for his infidelity. He minimizes these indiscretions, telling himself that he wasn’t “as bad” as his colleagues because he didn’t have “half as many conquests or complications” (296). He says he was “pushed out” just in time by “the feminists and perhaps the sad silly girl herself and his cowardly so-called friends” (298), thus allowing him to keep his marriage to Fiona. He reasons that because he always went back to Fiona, he was a dutiful husband. He blames “the times” for his getting swept up in a “contagion” that people were running toward. Grant doesn’t take accountability and blames outside forces for his infidelity. His image was more important than his vows, revealing the selfishness of both infidelity and Grant as a person.

Grant’s guilt, shame, and recognition of his hypocrisy are present throughout the narrative.