It was as if she was born again, seeing the light for the first time since the tragedy of her mother’s death. By hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, Cheryl Strade was able to push aside her grief and continue living out her life, pursuing her hopes and dreams. Though she made shameful decisions, making her look even more weak in the darkest moment of her life, in the end, Strade is a strong-minded and strong-willed human being; who shows great strength fighting through her grief. A strong-human being finds a way to keep pushing on, and that is exactly what Cheryl Strayed did. By hiking the PCT, she proved how much strength she really possesses, regardless of the shameful actions she took to get there.
Cheryl Strayed was twenty-two when she lost her beloved mother to lung cancer. It was such an unexpected death, she had no time to prepare for her mothers disastrous fate. Since she had no time to prepare, her grieving process lasted much longer than anyone expected. But, she had great reason. Her mother was the heart and soul of their entire family; keeping her brother, sister, and new stepfather all together. Without their mother being the glue that held them together, they all fell apart from each other, not even keeping in touch.
How would one feel losing their entire family over the death of their mother? It would not be a quick sting that lasted a week or two, no way. It would be an agonizing, emotional pain; lasting for months, even years. In Strade’s case: four years, three months, and seven days. Just because a strong-minded and strong-willed individual has weak moments and expresses them in a shameful way, does not mean they are weak overall. When life knocks you down, a human-being who has strength gets back to their feet...
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...r grieving process she hikes the PCT alone, as a woman, and no one, I mean no one, has a clue where she is. That is the makings of a very strong woman, in fact, the makings of a very strong human-being in general. Against all odds, she keeps pushing on, and she will earn herself a title just as MJ did with, “the Greatest Basketball Player of All-Time.” Her title will be, as she likes to say, the “Incredibly Talented and Extraordinary Brilliant and Successful Writer.” Well would you look at that, Cheryl Strade is an incredibly talented, extraordinary brilliant, and successful writer.
Works Cited
Strayed, Cheryl. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail. New York: Vintage
Books, 2012.
Strayed, Cheryl. The Love Of My Life. The Sun Magazine. (September 2002): 3 Pages. 18 Feb
2014. http://thesunmagazine.org/issues/321/the_love_of_my_life?page=3
I, of course, knew my mother as a mother. As I have reached adulthood and become a mother myself, I have also known her as a friend. My mom shared much of herself with me, and I saw sides of my mother as she struggled with her cancer that I had never seen before, especially her strong belief in positive thinking and the importance of quality of life. I was privileged to know so many facets of my mother, but certainly I did not know all. There were parts of her life that I didn’t see, relationships that I didn’t know about. Last night, at the wake, so many stories were told to me about my mom’s strength, courage, humor, kindness, her quietness, her loyalty as a friend. It was so special to hear of these things that my mom said and did, to know some of these other parts of her life. I hope that her friends and family will continue to share these stories with me and with each other so we can continue to know and remember my mom.
The novel “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer goes into great detail to describe the main character, Chris McCandless, who died traveling alone into the Alaskan wilderness. McCandless, whom in the novel renamed himself Alex, left his home and family to travel to Alaska in 1992. In Alaska McCandless planned to live an isolated life in the desolate wilderness, but unfortunately he did not survive. This non-fiction novel portrays his life leading up to his departure and it captures the true essence of what it means to be “in the wild”.
Strayed portrayed the negative figure of herself representing things she did not like and would like to eliminate. Being with a lot of men affected her she wanted to supposedly not sleep with men, but she still did. There was many occasions she had sexual relationships with men she met in the Pacific Crest Trail. Strayed says, “We spent most of the summer having adventurous sex and doing heroin” (Strayed 53). Although she finally got over her shadow. “For once I didn’t ache for a companion. For once the phrase, it didn't even live for me anymore” (Strayed 299). She was heartbroken with the divorce of Paul and still liking him, but she eventually gained maturity to be a better
The characters in Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones are faced with the difficult task of overcoming the loss of Susie, their daughter and sister. Jack, Abigail, Buckley, and Lindsey each deal with the loss differently. However, it is Susie who has the most difficulty accepting the loss of her own life. Several psychologists separate the grieving process into two main categories: intuitive and instrumental grievers. Intuitive grievers communicate their emotional distress and “experience, express, and adapt to grief on a very affective level” (Doka, par. 27). Instrumental grievers focus their attention towards an activity, whether it is into work or into a hobby, usually relating to the loss (Doka par. 28). Although each character deals with their grief differently, there is one common denominator: the reaction of one affects all.
...lows us to feel a different sort of grief, because we do not have personal attachments to her. It is only shock and helplessness that we are forced to feel.
Sometimes a character may be pushed over the edge by our materialistic society to discover his/her true roots, which can only be found by going back to nature where monetary status was not important. Chris McCandless leaves all his possessions and begins a trek across the Western United States, which eventually brings him to the place of his demise-Alaska. Jon Krakauer makes you feel like you are with Chris on his journey and uses exerts from various authors such as Thoreau, London, and Tolstoy, as well as flashbacks and narrative pace and even is able to parallel the adventures of Chris to his own life as a young man in his novel Into the Wild. Krakauer educates himself of McCandless’ story by talking to the people that knew Chris the best. These people were not only his family but the people he met on the roads of his travels- they are the ones who became his road family.
disappearing for 2 years, McCandless was found dead at age twenty-four in the Alaskan wilderness, the world stunned on why an affluent young man with a bright future would give it all up to live in seclusion in the wilderness. In his book Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer theorizes the motivations of McCandless and why a seemingly sane person would take such dangerous risks. Krakauer’s major theories of why McCandless did what he did revolve around a singular idea: freedom. Krakauer uses McCandless’s change of identity and wilderness adventures to symbolize freedom and self expression. McCandless was previously burdened by the expectations his parents put on him to
I walked into the room on New Year’s Day and felt a sudden twinge of fear. My eyes already hurt from the tears I had shed and those tears would not stop even then the last viewing before we had to leave. She lay quietly on the bed with her face as void of emotion as a sheet of paper without the writing. Slowly, I approached the cold lifeless form that was once my mother and gave her a goodbye kiss.
Looking back on the death of Larissa’s son, Zebedee Breeze, Lorraine examines Larissa’s response to the passing of her child. Lorraine says, “I never saw her cry that day or any other. She never mentioned her sons.” (Senior 311). This statement from Lorraine shows how even though Larissa was devastated by the news of her son’s passing, she had to keep going. Women in Larissa’s position did not have the luxury of stopping everything to grieve. While someone in Lorraine’s position could take time to grieve and recover from the loss of a loved one, Larissa was expected to keep working despite the grief she felt. One of the saddest things about Zebedee’s passing, was that Larissa had to leave him and was not able to stay with her family because she had to take care of other families. Not only did Larissa have the strength to move on and keep working after her son’s passing, Larissa and other women like her also had no choice but to leave their families in order to find a way to support them. As a child, Lorraine did not understand the strength Larissa must have had to leave her family to take care of someone else’s
dealt with and the individual moves on. Susan Philips and Lisa Carver explored this grieving
Into the Wild, written by John Krakauer tells of a young man named Chris McCandless who 1deserted his college degree and all his worldly possessions in favor of a primitive transient life in the wilderness. Krakauer first told the story of Chris in an article in Outside Magazine, but went on to write a thorough book, which encompasses his life in the hopes to explain what caused him to venture off alone into the wild. McCandless’ story soon became a national phenomenon, and had many people questioning why a “young man from a well-to-do East Coast family [would] hitchhike to Alaska” (Krakauer i). Chris comes from an affluent household and has parents that strived to create a desirable life for him and his sister. As Chris grows up, he becomes more and more disturbed by society’s ideals and the control they have on everyday life. He made a point of spiting his parents and the lifestyle they lived. This sense of unhappiness continues to build until after Chris has graduated college and decided to leave everything behind for the Alaskan wilderness. Knowing very little about how to survive in the wild, Chris ventures off on his adventure in a state of naïveté. It is obvious that he possessed monumental potential that was wasted on romanticized ideals and a lack of wisdom. Christopher McCandless is a unique and talented young man, but his selfish and ultimately complacent attitude towards life and his successes led to his demise.
She continues in this sequel to talk about the abuse she faced and the dysfunction that surrounded her life as a child and as a teen, and the ‘empty space’ in which she lived in as a result. She talks about the multiple personalities she was exhibiting, the rebellious “Willie” and the kind “Carol”; as well as hearing noises and her sensory problems. In this book, the author puts more emphasis on the “consciousness” and “awareness” and how important that was for her therapeutic process. She could not just be on “auto-pilot” and act normal; the road to recovery was filled with self-awareness and the need to process all the pieces of the puzzle—often with the guidance and assistance of her therapist. She had a need to analyze the abstract concept of emotions as well as feelings and thoughts. Connecting with others who go through what she did was also integral to her
Throughout the emotional lyrics of Tupac Shakur’s song “Dear Mama”, he constantly reveals trial and tribulation. Shakur sympathetically expresses the obstacles he endures due to the undying support of his mother who displays sacrificial love. He explains the abnormal circumstances in which his family undergoes such as poverty, single parenting, and even feelings of hopelessness. Shakur characterizes his mother as a heroic figure, who outshines the negative aspects of his life by providing the essentials only a mother could both physically and morally instill in her child. The artist brilliantly captivates his audience by revealing personal information from his childhood in which many can relate to.
...can be a life-changing experience. McCandless entered the wild as an overly confident hitchhiker and left as a self-accepting and humble man. He thought that human relationships were futile, he was impervious to materialism, and that he could understand nature on a scientific level. However, McCandless left the wild with a newfound appreciation for humanity, some clarity on his purpose in life, and the ability to create his own legacy. Many people finish reading Into the Wild and form negative opinions about McCandless’ reckless behavior. However, it is important to focus on how being in the wild brought McCandless closer to understanding himself. Into the Wild should motivate humans to participate in explore the wilderness to discover the true meaning of life.
tragedies that befell her. She is an example of a melancholic character that is not able to let go of her loss and therefore lets it t...