Character Analysis
Old Ben is the gigantic and legendary bear in "The Bear" that roams Yoknapatawpha County. He has defied death for many years despite having been constantly hunted, and has a signature footprint thanks to a foot that was mangled by a trap. He keeps attacking other wildlife and occasionally livestock. He's grown big and powerful in Isaac's imagination over the many years of hearing stories about him. You can see why bears are usually first on Stephen Colbert's "Threatdown" List.
Finally, one year, a big, wild dog mauls some of the livestock in the area. Sam Fathers decides that this is the right dog for the task of hunting Old Ben and traps him. The following hunting season, Lion does in fact track and jump Old Ben. When Old Ben starts to attack Lion, Lion's caretaker Boon cannot stand it, and attacks Old Ben with only a knife. He cuts Old Ben's throat and kills him. It's a vicious scene and we kind of feel bad for poor Old Ben, who's survived so much and so long.
Old Ben's death is so demoralizing that Major de Spain, who owns the land where the men go hunting, sells the land to a timber logging company that year and gives up hunting. It's the end of an era. More on this later, but Old Ben seems to have some heavy symbolic meaning here.