TOW #20 - Wild

            My IRB, Wild, From Lost To Found On the Pacific Crest Trail, seems very similar to Eat Pray Love. Written by Cheryl Strayed and Elizabeth Gilbert respectively, both books are memoirs that begin with a divorce that pushes these women to life changing adventures.

            Cheryl Strayed, an author who hiked the Pacific Crest Trail, wrote Wild. Her story began when her mother died, moved on to her divorce, and described her hike. Strayed is an award-winning author who has written four books.

            This book was written for entertainment, not information, so it has no specific information. However, there are some word choices and minor details that show that children should not read this book. Strayed did not publish her book immediately after her journey. The book was published in 2012, at which point the author was 43. During the memoir, Strayed was 26. I suppose she felt that her story should be heard.

            This entire book is a narrative, which leads to ethos. Readers believe what Strayed writes because they understand that this is her personal adventure, so she must know what she is talking about. Her purpose is simply to share her story, and readers believe with what she is saying. It is not an argument or an opinion, so we do not agree or disagree, but we can understand her experience and feel sympathy for her pain.

            The author’s purpose in Wild was to inspire readers that this too shall pass. Strayed loses her mother and essentially the rest of her family, goes through a divorce, leaves everyone and everything behind to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, and then is okay. Her life doesn’t end. The world doesn’t stop spinning. Everything worked out in the end. Even though I am only half way through the book, I would say that Strayed does accomplish her purpose. This is because we know that it will get better, and that she is healing.