Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed is the story of a women breaking free from her past by hiking the PCT. There are many examples of how archetypes have been used throughout the novel in order to give the reader a better idea of what the characters are like and what the world they live in is like. In this blog I will be analyzing these archetypes and explaining how the characters and world match them.
I believe that Cheryl fits the hero archetype because she went on a difficult journey to find something, and that something was herself. While some heroes go on a journey to discover a new place, Cheryl went on a journey to re-discover who she is. Like most heroes, the start of her journey was a tragic one. Her mother died of cancer, she divorced the man she loved, her family fell apart, she had to put down her mother’s horse, and she messed around with heroin. Cheryl also goes through a lot of trials during the hike, she gets attacked by a bull, loses several toenails, has to carry a “monster” of a pack, gets rubbed raw from the pack, and is in almost constant pain/discomfort while hiking. The fact that all these challenges haven’t stopped her from hiking the PCT proves that she’s both brave and determined, as most good heroes are.
Cheryl reminds me of Tris from the novel Divergent by Veronica Roth. Both characters bravely venture into a world mostly unknown to them, they both get beaten down and grow stronger from the challenges their faced with, and they both persevere despite their inner doubts of not being good enough. For Cheryl, the unknown world that she ventures into is the PCT. She has no real hiking experience, she hasn’t read the books she should have, and she doesn’t really know how to use the tools that will help keep her alive. For Tris, the unknown world is the Dauntless faction. She grew up in Abnegation, and so she’s never been their before, she doesn’t know their customs, and she doesn’t even know what training to be a full member will entail. Both characters get beaten down by the vast amount of physical strength and endurance needed to survive in their new environment, and both characters grow stronger because of it, both physically and mentally. Due to dauntless training, Tris ends up gaining so much muscle that her clothes don’t fit anymore, “I try to pull a pant leg over my thigh and it sticks just above my knee. Frowning, I stare at my leg. A bulge of muscle is stopping the fabric.” (Roth, 167). Cheryl and Tris don’t think that they’re good enough to complete their goals, Cheryl because she has no experience, and Tris because she’s the smallest initiate and only ten can succeed. They both continue to fight their way through challenges and never give up on themselves.
When reading the novel, one character that really stood out as a mentor to Cheryl was Greg. Cheryl really didn’t know what she was doing, but Greg was always willing to give her a helping hand and teach her the skills she would need to survive on the PCT. He taught her how to use the ice axe, he gave her the motivation to continue hiking, and he gave her companionship when she needed it. Without Greg Cheryl probably wouldn’t have continued to hike the PCT, and even if she had without his guidance she could have very well died in the snow due to not knowing how to use the ice axe.
Greg reminds me of Brom from the novel Eragon by Christopher Paolini. Both Brom and Greg are mentors to the hero character of their respective novels, they both teach the hero valuable skills that might have saved their lives, and they both end up out of the picture. While Greg taught Cheryl how to use an ice axe and general hiking tips, Brom taught Eragon how to use magic and fight with a sword. Greg ends up out of the picture because he decides to quit hiking this year and just come back next year, Brom end up out of the picture because he dies to save Eragon. While they’re very different reasons for why they stop being in the main character’s life, they do both end up gone and are no longer able to teach the hero anymore.
Cheryl’s mom really jumped out at me as being the good mother archetype while reading the novel because she always tried to protect Cheryl. She left her abusive husband to protect her children, she always tried to use natural remedies to help her children, she never let her children worry about their lack of money, and she always tried to make their lives as happy as possible. Her mom taught her patience, she was always kind to her, and she never stopped loving her child.
A character that reminds me of Cheryl’s mom is Sally Jackson from the novel The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. Both mothers tried to protect their children from the outside world, they both did their best to keep their children happy despite their lack of money, and both ended up leaving the main character which caused them to take on their journeys. Cheryl’s mom tried to hide her kids from her abusive husband, and she ended up leaving him for their safety. She didn’t want them to know about the bad things in the world. Sally married an abusive man in order to protect her son from monsters, as they would have trouble scenting him past the stench of her husband Paul. She tried her best to hide Percy from the truth of his heritage so that he could be safe. Both families didn’t have a lot of money, but the moms did their best to make their kids happy. Cheryl’s mom made them special drinks of sugar and food colouring in water, telling them that they were fancy drinks for them to enjoy. Sally would bring home blue food from the candy store that she worked at, as Percy loved all things blue. Cheryl’s mom left her because she got lung cancer that ultimately killed her. Percy’s mom left him because she was kidnaped by Hades. Losing their moms is the reason why both characters when on the journeys that they did, Cheryl having to find herself again and Percy trying to find and rescue his mom.
Spring has always been associated with new life and rebirth, as it’s the time when the world itself seems to be re-born after the long and cold winter that came before it. Since Cheryl started her journey in the spring, it symbolizes how the trail is forcing her to start from scratch and re-invent herself. Cheryl is faced with completely new challenges, and so she has to mold herself into something new in order to face the challenges. Cheryl is able to slowly let go of the emotional turmoil she was in prior to starting the trail as the trail’s challenges are all that she can focus on, “As I did so, it occurred to me that I’d not cried once since I’d set foot on the trail. How could that be? After all the crying I’d done, it seemed impossible that it was true, but it was” (Strayed, 173). While she used to cry a lot before starting the PCT, by being on it she’s been forced to focus on the toughness of the trail, which has allowed her to slowly forget about her sad past.
In many religions water is a symbol of purification. It could be in the form of holy water or it could be used for a baptism or any other example of it being used to purify something. In the novel Cheryl doesn’t get to clean herself very often, and so when she does it’s almost like she’s purifying herself from all the hardships she’s faced so far so that she can be ready to face the challenges in her future. Her cleaning always seemed almost religious to me, as it wasn’t a common thing and every time she did it she was thankful for what she had. By cleaning herself Cheryl was not only cleaning her physical self, she was also cleaning her emotional and spiritual self.
Gardens represent a paradise or a place of innocence, as they’re often filled with harmless, beautiful plants and used for either enjoyment or to grow food and herbs. When living with her mom in the woods there was a garden that the family worked together to build. That home in the woods was like a paradise to Cheryl. She had lots of animals, her family was whole, and she genuinely enjoyed her life. After her mother died the garden started to go to ruin. The garden going to ruin symbolizes how after her mother died she lost her paradise, she lost the place she could be innocent and live happily.
By understanding what archetypes characters are based on, it helps you to predict what they will do in the future. For example, by knowing that Cheryl fits the hero archetype, I think that she will overcome her demons and finish hiking the PCT, as heroes complete the goal they set out to do.
Works Cited
Strayed, Cheryl. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail. 1st ed., New York, Vintage Books, a division of Random House, inc., 2013.
Paolini, Christopher. Eragon. Alfred A. Knopf, 2005.
Riordan, Rick. The Lightning Thief. Miramax Books, 2006.
Roth, Veronica. Divergent. Katherine Tegen Books, 2011.
Wear the Hiking Boots from Wild. Digital Image. Lockerdome. Web. Dec 2 2017.
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