Flaubert is the bear and Caroline, his sister, is the rat. They each refer to themselves as these animals and Flaubert compares himself on a number of occasions to a bear. In September 1845, Flaubert refers to himself as a white bear, for example. Geoffrey wonders if this is because the white bear can not be tamed. Other bears have been used by humans, but not the white bear. The white bear is the aristocrat, aloof and distant.
But Flaubert compares himself to other animals as well. If Flaubert hadn't been the bear, Geoffrey thinks that Flaubert might have been a camel. It is both a serious and a comic comparison at the same time. Flaubert writes that he is like a camel that is very hard to get started and.....
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