TOW #23 - Wild

Wild, From Lost To Found On the Pacific Crest Trail, is a nonfiction story about a woman who hiked the Pacific Crest Trail. Following her divorce, Cheryl Strayed hiked the PCT, facing many obstacles along the way. Strayed is an award-winning author who has written four books. This book is written in first person, allowing readers to fully understand Strayed’s journey.

This book was written to tell a story for entertainment, so it is not informative. However, this book is not for everyone. There are details and descriptions that make Wild unsuitable for children. 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.