In “The Bull Moose,” Nowlan presents the subject as an animal who simply does not fit into the world of humans. He is an outsider in an artificial habitat. Nowlan's sympathies clearly lie with the moose, suggesting he identifies with the animal’s ultimate refusal to be tamed and categorized.

Nowlan certainly knew about the pressures of not fully fitting in, since he bridged the seemingly disparate worlds of the working-class poor and the world of academia. He refused to be absorbed fully by either, positioning himself as an observer of life—a unique perspective that gives his poetry its particular tension.

Nowlan was born in the poor village of Stanley in Nova Scotia to Grace Reese and Freeman Nowlan. At the time of his birth, Grace was only 14 and Freeman was 28. Freeman sporadically worked as a laborer in nearby mills. When Alden was seven, and his younger sister Harriet five, Grace left the family. The children were raised by Freeman and their paternal grandmother, Emma. Freeman considered education a waste of resources, so Alden was out of school by fifth grade. However, Emma encouraged his prolific reading habits.

After Emma’s death from stomach cancer, Alden fell into a deep depression and was sent to the Nova Scotia Hospital, a psychiatric facility.