Beartown

“There’s an obvious difference between the children who live in homes where the money can run out and the ones who don’t. How old you are when you realize that also makes a difference.”

Amat never has the illusion that he and his mother are anything but poor. This is true even when he isn’t being mocked for being from the Hollow. His awareness that he and his mother are always on the verge of financial ruin makes him a harder worker and turns him into someone who refuses to give up.

“Everything reaches an age where it no longer surprises us.”

The weariness of aging underlies many of the adult characters in Beartown. Things that once seemed novel come to be viewed as trivial. People become so familiar with each other that they become distant. Hockey is one of the things that continually surprises the people in Beartown because it evolves, even if people do not.

“A boy who cares too little for the future and frets too much about the past: nothing could depress a mother more.” 

Benji’s mother watches him pedal away on his bike. If she did not get him out of bed, he would never leave. She wants him to be happy, but worries that he can’t. He reminds her of her husband, and her husband grew so miserable that he took his own life.

“She turns around fleetingly, notes his presence, but nothing more than that. When you’re fifteen years old, no look can hurt you more.”

Amat has been in love with Maya for years. It hurts him that she does nothing but merely notice him when he is there. As the novel progresses, this gains greater significance. Some of the other characters are never even noticed by other people unless they are causing trouble, or unless they are skilled.

“It’s only a game. It only resolves tiny, insignificant things. Such as who gets validation. Who gets listened to. It allocates power and draws boundaries and turns some people into stars and others into spectators. That’s all.”

The narrator sarcastically points out that hockey in fact shapes the most important things in the lives of many of Beartown’s citizens. Validation and power are neither tiny nor insignificant, nor is the feeling of being listened to and having a voice.

“The worst thing about having power over other people’s lives is that you sometimes get things wrong.”

Sune worries about whether he has always made the right decisions about his players. In a town obsessed with hockey, the hockey coach has great influence over a player’s development and future, and not just on the ice. Sune has been trusted, and he often worries that the trust has been misplaced.

“A simple truth, repeated as often as it is ignored, is that if you tell a child it can do absolutely anything, or that it can’t do anything at all, you will in all likelihood be proven right.”

The expectations of the parents in Beartown shape their children, but the methods by which they set their expectations vary drastically. Kevin’s dad refuses to let his son fail at anything and sets up success as the master virtue of the household. Amat’s mother encourages him through pride and love. David motivates the players by turning them into an insular unit whose players will die for each other if asked. Despite having the most advantages, Kevin is poorly suited to anything but hockey, and it shows in his behavior and inability to relax away from hockey.

“The only thing the sport gives us are moments. But what the hell is life, Peter, apart from moments?”

Ramona tells Peter that he should not apologize for making too much of hockey. In Beartown, hockey is a grounding, foundational force that provides optimism and hope at its best. And even when the team is not elite, the sport still provides people with reliable, happy moments. Sometimes Ramona knows that is the best that can be hoped for. 

“My job is to be your father, not your friend.”

Kevin’s father explains why he doesn’t need to come to Kevin’s games. His job is to set Kevin up for success through training and discipline. By the time Kevin gets on the ice at a game, he has already put in the work he needs to win. His father does not need to see him win to know that he is a winner. He does not understand that Kevin would benefit emotionally from his presence at the games, or if he does know, does not care.

“Hockey changes all the time, because the people playing it do.” 

David knows that a player’s playing style is a reflection of who they are. Their styles evolve as they age, grow, and change. Only the rules of hockey are fixed. This is one of the reasons why David is so diligent about studying the game: he knows that if he takes his eye off of it he may get left behind because people can change quickly.

“People say she’s gone mad, because that’s what people who know nothing about loneliness call it.”

Ramona talks to her picture of Holger and tells him that she misses him. She is often seen as an eccentric, or even as mentally unwell. But Ramona knows that she is the way she is because she loved Holger as much as it is possible to love a person. She can feel a depth of loss that someone without that kind of love can never know.

“Winners have a tendency to be forgiven in this town.”

David explains why he is putting Amat in the game and taking Lyt out, even though Maggan is screaming at him. He knows that if they win, the result will be all that matters. This foreshadows the ease with which Kevin will escape justice when his rape investigation is shut down. Kevin will be forgiven because he wins.

“For the perpetrator, rape lasts just a matter of minutes. For the victim, it never stops.”

Maya has not always been happy, but she has never had to deal with constant fear for her safety. After her rape, she feels trapped in a moment that never ends. She worries that she will never feel the same. The fact that Kevin may get away with it, without any punishment or suffering, agitates her to the point where she wants to kill him.

“You’re one of us now. No one touches us.”

Bobo defends Amat from an attacker, now that Amat is on the team. Amat has never experienced this type of solidarity, and he has never experienced unconditional loyalty from anyone but his mother. He realizes that being on the team has more perks than he had been aware of.

“You know what women are like.”

Kevin tries to explain to Amat that what he saw was not a rape. The dismissive tone of his statement indicates how little remorse he holds over his own actions at this point, and it is clear that he is far more focused on distancing himself from his actions than acknowledging that he was in the wrong. Amat is also 15, and Kevin knows that Amat has no experience of having a girlfriend.

“Never again do you find friends like the ones you have when you’re fifteen years old.”

Ana demands to know what Kevin did to Maya. Maya hugs her and tells her everything. The children in Beartown have a capacity for loyalty and friendship that is not seen among most of the adults. They need each other in a way the adults do not.

“It takes three little girls playing in the street outside her window to change her mind.”

Maya has almost made her peace with not reporting the rape until she sees the three little girls playing. She cannot let Kevin go on and potentially rape another woman in the future. Even though she will be subjected to great abuse, Maya knows she will not be able to live with herself if she does not make the effort to spare other girls the same pain.

“Words are not small things.”

Maya’s case gets framed as generically as possible. She is called “the young woman” instead of Maya. Kevin is always “the boy” and never the suspected rapist. The police and the community are careful to refer to the incident and to Maya in ways that allow them to ignore the heinousness of rape.

“What is a community? It is the sum total of our choices.”

A community is made up of the people who live in it. Those people’s identities are shaped by the choices they make and their reactions to the consequences of those choices. Maya’s choice to accuse Kevin publicly redefines the community because it forces people to make new choices and form new alliances.

“Fighting isn’t hard. It’s the starting and stopping that are hard.”

Fighting is simple once a fight starts. Most of the anxiety in Beartown comes from the idea of not knowing when a fight will begin or not knowing how to stop a fight once it starts. Peter hates that he does not know how to fight, even though he could do it if he had to. He worries about potential fights more than the ones in front of him.

“This isn’t my town. You’re not my town. You should be ashamed of yourselves.”

Ramona is well respected in Beartown and is seen as an astute judge of character. When she enters the cafeteria and publicly separates herself from the others, everyone is forced to confront the fact that she might be right. Her presence in the rink insists that the rape accusation be taken with more gravity.

 “It isn’t your fault.”

Kevin’s mother tells Maya that she is sorry. She blames herself for not raising Kevin correctly, and for letting her husband override her opinions when it comes to their son. Maya tells her that she doesn’t blame her, which may give Kevin’s mother a chance to absolve herself of some guilt. It is unlikely, however because she never publicly states her knowledge that Kevin raped Maya.

“We have to live mom, please. Don’t let him take my family as well.”

Maya begs her mom to stop fixating on the end of the investigation. She has to bear her own suffering and memories of her rape, but she cannot bear seeing her family suffer over it to the point where they can scarcely function. Maya knows that she might not ever fully recover, but she knows they have to try.