Wilderness Essay

How we think of the wilderness is greatly varied. Often distorted and Confused by Television and modern media. The story wilderness by Roger Zelazny And Gerald Hausmsn describes two different stories of two mountain men between 1808 and 1823. The first is John Colter a trapper who was chased one-hundred Fifty miles by Indian warriors in what is known called yellow stone national park. The other man was Hugh Glass who was attacked by a bear and crawled one Hundred miles to saftey from the grand valley all of the way to the Missouri river. Each tale filled with different obstacles and hard ships.

Well since it is two stories I chose the one story I liked better. This is from the story of John Colter "He came out of the mountains and staggered into the sea of grass that lead to Fort Manuel Lisa. he limped as he walked with the sun hot on his neck. there were no more mountains to climb, no more bluffs or buttes, no more raging waterways. What was left, wind-driven grass of the great prairie country was the route a blind man might take to the Fort. Colter Knew the grasslands like the back of his hand, having crossed it with Lewis and Lisa, and by himself. He'd been through it in the loud winter winds and in the softness of a summer breeze, but he had never been through it when his bones ached and creaked and his head swam with fever. Now he could not tell if the grass was water or if the water was grass; he could not tell if he was moving and the grass was still, or if the grass was moving and he was still.

He contented himself with the dream of flight. overhead, tremolos sky burned white hot and the dust-motes that speckled it were birds, his brothers. yet he could not join them any longer his breath came is stagnant, wheat-leavened gasps. a hobbling, hopping, stranded thing, he flew no more. the scuffling uncertainty of his fate being drowned in sheaves of grass frightened him more than the pursuit of his foes, the Blackfeet"

The reason I chose this excerpt was because it showed how John Colter went nearly insane. He was so delirious that he was not concerned with the Blackfeet warriors that were coming after him. His story is one almost no one can relate to. Also it says every thing hes been through. He felt as if he was a bird who could not fly; could not see is the grass was moving or if it was him. It really puts in perspective how difficult his journey was. After reading this you should have a good idea what the journey made him. Even when he was on the final leg of his journey he was close to giving up. Most of us would just lie down and die. Although this does not tell exactly what he faced it gives us a feverish account.

I had very few dislikes about this book. I really enjoyed how the writers used words that anyone could understand but used that so they had a really profoundly meaning. There were some parts that had the characters hallucinating and I could not tell the real from the things they made up in their heads. I have always been interested in stories of survival. I thought the best thing about this book is that these are the most outrageous tales I have ever heard but I know they are based on true stories and real people. You cant get better then the truth. In the end is showed Hugh Glass as a kid and he met an old John Colter. Then Colter told him to stay at home. I thought that was that best ending this book could have had.