I ran home! Believe me, I was really scared” (Geisel, 10). The bear and the pants begin with mutual fears. Mutual fear increases exponentially to pure terror in each other's presence. This mutual fear hinders them in their progression in life and growth. Furthermore, even though, at the time of the Great Depression, many business opportunities looked bleak for Geisel. He feared that his works would never be published. However, he overcame the fear of his works not being published and sent his works to 44 publishers (Lurie, 43). Even though only one of the publishers actually publishes his books, he still achieved a major victory over an internal conflict. Likewise, in the book: "And now, we meet often enough, Those empty pants and I, And we never tremble or tremble, We both smile and say...'Hello!'" (Geisel, 23).The Bear and the Pants managed to become friends after overcoming each other's fears. While they never truly mastered the fear of everything, they took an important first step in overcoming their fear of each other. This shows that fear must be overcome to make progress in life. Their victories over their internal conflicts help them along the way