Most Insightful Theory

After finishing the final part of the book Wild, I am satisfied with the whole book. I enjoyed the whole book, and felt like I was always engaged in it. I never felt like it was homework, it was both interesting, engaging, and educational. I was actually interested by Cheryl’s journey, and the novel made me feel like I was with her. It made me fully picture the trail, allowing me to feel like I was walking beside her. This book made it easier to apply the reader response theory, the archetypal theory, and the feminist theory. All the aspects needed to apply these theories are present in the novel, making it easier to complete to analysis. By applying these theories, it helped me build my understanding of the text, with the characters, setting, plot and themes. Looking at all the perspective, I think that the theory that most helped me to gain the most insight in my book would be archetypal theory.

Archetypal theory helped me gain the most insight because it helped me fully understand the characters and what motivated them to do certain things. Archetypal theory allowed me to understand the recurring symbols and characters in the book, but it also helped me understand the plot of the book. It made me look harder at the symbols in the book, and how they related to the overall plot of the text. An example of this is how Cheryl refers to her backpack as “Monster”, it made me think about how there is a deeper meaning to that name. Once I took the time, and stopped reading for a minute, it made me think about what the symbols really mean, and I got to fully understand the text and gave me the ability to find the hidden meanings in the text.

When I originally read the text, I viewed the characters as either nice or evil, I did not look at them as archetypal characters. When I started looking at them, in a more in-depth view, it made me fully understand what motivates them. Once I started doing this, I started connecting the characters to other characters in other books. I made a connection with the character Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games and Cheryl Strayed. They both started in poorer families, and were raised primarily by their mothers. With most their time spent was in the outdoors trying to “save themselves”. A difference in the characters would be that Katniss is literal trying to save herself from being killed, while Cheryl is trying to save herself from “not letting herself go back down the terrible road she just got out of” (52). Both characters are the archetypal view of a hero, both want to find themselves and have a lot of obstacles in their place.

By looking at Cheryl in an archetypal view, it helped me understand why she wanted to go onto the trail. She has been through all these barriers, her mother’s death, her drug use, and her divorce, and has made it through. A main aspect of the archetypal character that made me realize who Cheryl really is, is how she had these opportunities to turn around and give up, and yet she pushed through her own thoughts and stayed. A hero is someone who continues to persevere through all the barriers in their way, and uses those barriers as life lessons. An example of her heroic nature is, “because the point of my trip is that I’m out here to do it alone.” (Strayed, 122). Being alone on this trail took a lot of bravery. This theory really helped me understand Cheryl’s characteristics, and why she is doing this. The only main character in this book is Cheryl, so understanding her is an important aspect in full understanding the book. This theory made me discover things about the text that helped me make connections between different texts and the world.

Strayed, Cheryl. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2012. Print.

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