"Bluffing"

             "I meant the bear to come after me instead of you”. It is the most obvious of lies to Gabriella. Only three weeks ago Gabriella and her cowardly boyfriend Liam had gone for a hike in Jasper Park and had a deadly encounter with a grizzly bear.  Liam, the most horrible boyfriend ever, ran away as Gabriella intelligently played dead to save her life. Unfortunately for Liam he was chased and mauled by the bear while Gabrielle was left safely lying on the ground. This is the tale Gail Helgason tells in her short story, Bluffing. In this story it is clear to see that Liam is a self-centered man that only thinks of his own desires. He always wants to get away but leaves his girlfriend behind constantly. While Gabriella thinks of how to pay the rent for the house they live in; Liam is planning a “Three month [trip]…down south” with his friend Clive. Gabriella is always living with the consequences of having “relented one more time,” to Liam. Therefore, it would make sense why Liam, the narcissistic man he is, ran away from the grizzly bear to try and save his own skin. Liam is also the kind of man that doesn’t like “to learn from people who…know more than [him]”. During, the bear attack Gabriella told Liam to back, ‘off slowly” but Liam who thinks knows everything thought running away was a smarter action. He paid a painful price. Lastly, Liam is consistent liar. When Liam noticed that some men were going on a hike in the same area as he and Gabriella he quickly diverted them. He told them that it, "might not be such a good idea," as they had come across, "an elk carcass". He convinced them a grizzly was in the area so that he and Gabriella would be alone. All of the reasons clearly state that Liam ran away from the bear to save his own skin.