Hero's Journey

Wild is the story of Cheryl Strayed and her solo hike on the Pacific Crest Trail. During this 1,100 mile journey from the Mojave Desert to the Bridge of the Gods in Washington, she comes to terms with her mother’s death, and becomes her own person. Much of the book is devoted to instances that occurred before she began to hike the trail, including the disintegration of her family, her affairs and eventual divorce, and her heroin addiction. She decides to hike the Pacific Crest Trail almost immediately after her husband discovers her infidelity and divorces her, despite the fact that they still love each other. She discovers early on that she is unprepared to hike the trail and almost quits, but she meets many people along the way who are willing to teach her and inspire her to keep going. She suffers many injuries, but she continues on, and along the way she makes her peace with her mother’s death and lets go of her anger and grief. Strayed relies heavily on several rhetorical strategies, but most specifically she focuses on chronology,

Dawn had risen with the Wylie’s castle on high alert, when a scout reported of seeing a rider wearing a Callaghan’s Kingsman uniform, traveling on a black stallion, heading in their direction.

Redemption on the PCT Wild, by Cheryl Strayed, is about Cheryl STrayed’s courageous journey to find herself amongst years of self-destruction. At 22 she was senior in college, along with her 45 year old mother Bobbi who had gone back to school in her later adulthood. At 22 Cheryl’s mother was diagnosed with lung cancer. At 22 Cheryl Strayed was motherless and headed to divorce.

What images come to mind as you reflect on your childhood? Playgrounds, blackboards, and soccer balls may be among the warmest of memories. Yet for many mermaids swim their thoughts, princesses get swept of their feet, and lions roar to their loyal place in the animal kingdom. There is no doubt that today’s entertainment has most of its touch using classical influences. Walt Disney has produced animated films that have captured the heart and imagination of audiences of all ages around the world through the magic of storytelling and imagery. Many of us appreciate the imagination and magic that Disney puts into its animations with out knowing they are based off of classical and traditional storylines

In Cheryl Strayed's Wild, she gives readers vivid exposure to her turbulent and harsh past. She tells her journey from the beginning of what was the turning page in her life- her mother's death. Strayed goes through a roller coaster with unfortunate events both in her control and out of her control. She makes several poor choices, and she shares all her triumphs with pure honesty. Strayed speaks of her past with a distant remorse, as if she is looking at her past in a movie. She doesn't come across as ashamed of her past, but why should she? As all humans do, Cheryl Strayed makes mistakes and suffers their consequences as well. Everyone handles situations differently, and the best anyone can do is learn from the mistakes and apply it to

Wild is an inspiring adaptation of Cherly Strayed’ 2012 memoir. The Legally Blond star Reese Witherspoon gives an outstandingly subtle, un-glamorous and venerable performance as the 26 years old author, who hikes 1,110 miles of Pacific Crest Trail from California to Oregon in the hope of finding reconciliation with herself and spiritual cleansing after a harsh decade of loss and personal meltdown. On Stayed’s impulsive journey alone, she carries impractical weight that includes her brand-new equipment, making it so heavy that she can’t even stand.

What is a hero? What qualities does he or she have? In our modern lives when we think of a hero we think of nurses and soldiers, but according to the American Heritage Dictionary, a hero in mythology and legend is a man or woman, often of divine ancestry, who is endowed with great courage and strength, celebrated for his bold exploits, and favored by the gods. A person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life.

It has never been an uncommon thing for one to retreat to nature in an attempt to ‘find one’s self,’ and somewhat cliché these days is the retreat to nature to ‘find God.’ Hundreds of books, essays, seminars, and retreats devote themselves to helping one understand how to find enlightenment and healing through connecting with nature. It is a phenomenon that transcends religious boundaries—everyone, from Buddhists to Christian Mystics to Quakers, seems to think that the key (or, at least, one of the keys) to enlightenment lies in nature. As one may suppose, this is not a new concept. Throughout literary history, there is a distinct trend of authors praising the virtues of nature,

Have you ever looked to the stars and wondered what was beyond? Looked at a forest and wondered what was within? Seen a nest and wondered what would emerge? Wild by Cheryl Strayed is a novel about her journey on the Pacific Coast Trail (PCT for short) and her drastic answer to these questions. Throughout the novel she faces many trials ranging from physical to spiritual.

When her mother got sick Cheryl took on the role to care for her family and keep them together and strong, unlike her other siblings she didn’t give up on being with her mom. On her first day of her hike Cheryl had thoughts in her head that she could turn back and give up, instead she ignored her thoughts and kept hiking on the trail. One of the most difficult times on the trail was when one of her hiking boots fell off a cliff, and in frustration she threw the other one down with it. With this event she didn’t have any shoes that were good enough for hiking the trail, instead she used her sandals and duct taped them to her feet until the long hike to lodge where she would get a new pair of boots. Cheryl stayed strong through all the hard times in her life, and being able to complete her hike on the Pacific Crest

No matter in what perspective we see it, wilderness offers us a refuge that we can use to escape the cares and troubles of the world, in which our past has trapped us

Being alone on the trail for many miles allowed her to think, she was away from other human beings for days at a time and she was away from the stress of her life and this allowed her to change and grow. The landscapes around her allowed her to reminisce about old times, especially about her mom. There are many times when she's on the trail that she thinks about the memories with her mom, her mom’s horse named Lady, her stepfather Eddie, and her three siblings. For instance, she said, “It didn’t occur to me that my mother would die”(20).

Following the death of her mother and divorce of her husband, Cheryl Strayed, seeking redemption, decided to hike over a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest trail by herself with absolutely no backpacking experience. One could argue that this was not a trip of redemption but of escape from a reality that had become too much to bear for Cheryl. However, upon reflecting over the whole process of her trek, the trip was indeed a time of redemption and she does not come back from the trail as the same woman who started the trek. This movie is very intriguing, not only because it of its redemptive values, but because it blends the story, setting, and overall philosophy together in such a way that one without the other would be quite dull.

The wild and outdoors is such a special place to her and she speaks about how graceful it is and how she expects we all have stories like hers she’s explaining in this excerpt. She states in quotes, “Among the greatest of all gifts is to know our place.” (Barbara Kingsolver, 2002)

Straying away from life as a whole only to be alone, some may say is the strong way to heal themselves when dealing with extreme grief or a major crisis . In the book Wild, twenty-two year old Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost it all. Dealing with the loss of her mother, her family torn to pieces, and her very own marriage was being destroyed right before her very eyes. Living life with nothing more to lose, lifeless, she made the most life changing decision of her life. Strayed never seems remorseful on her decisions to up and leave everything behind while deciding to flee from it all. This being her way of dealing with life, it shows her as being strong; a woman of great strength and character. She shows personal strength, which is