Despite his youthful exuberance and idealism, his escapade was nothing more than foolish, and in some ways ironically selfish.
From right around the sub-cockle area, Eugene, I disagree: His escapade was human. Deeply human. & apparently it lead him to a meaningful understanding that what matters most in life is that which can be shared with others. But mournfully: Then Springtime in Alaska & a poetic longing to imagine that he was on an uncharted quest (sans a topographic map) chained him to a post. A post with an ever link-by-desperate-link shortening chain of hunger. The malnourishment that ultimately lead him to one ~~ repeat, ONE ~~ irrevocable mistake that cut short his very deliberate, very capable life. That is what we have to go on if we’re to believe the accounts of Krakauer & Penn. Which I do ~~ they put in the man-hours.
Was he arrogant in his spirited youth? Probably. Weren’t you? I know I walked into some disturbing sordid circumstances as a young man; on purpose. Was his attitude towards his parents and the industrialized West out of line? Well, now that is open for debate. Probably his angst was very real. But I’d say he took a courageous approach to winding his way through & around the truth in coming to terms with his sense of self & family & his North American community. If only more people did. Did you ever hitchhike across a state or two back in the 70s-80s-90s? If you did, did you feel all that dubious about it at the time … while you were meeting mostly cool people on the road? I didn’t feel hesitant about it at all. Watchful, yes, but not really threatened by the people picking me up as much as I was disconcerted about the establishment that kept eye-balling me with the look that I was somehow wronging vehicle travelers. Do I hitchhike now? Nah. But I have a car now, & sons & this blue-eyed chick who still digs me (talk about miracles) after all these years, and it’s the 20fucking-first Century where people post mindless videos about murder threats for fun & politics, and …I’m just not quite as feverishly adventurous anymore. Not that I wouldn’t gladly kayak the snake river with an interesting & knowledgeable guide or wander the backwoods with the ghost of Castaneda on a Friday night one more time before I get too old (if the moment is ripe & I’m free of responsibility for all but myself & the band at hand), but then I’m not really traveling two states east on a whim anymore to drink too much (and perhaps speak into the hookah) with my ol’ Corps buddies. …C’est la vie. & I don’t really miss it. Well, a little…perhaps…sometimes. But it meant a whole heck-of-a-lot to me then.
So: (IMHO) No. Not foolish. Passionate; wholly human to the nth degree. Maybe ironic. Certainly a little selfish to begin with, but what adventure of the spirit isn’t to some extent selfish?
Everyday we as a civilization continue to piss more & more of the earth’s blessings away for sake of “paying the mortgage” & establishing dominion over anything we can put lower than ourselves. So every so often a person of substance comes along & tries to make a human connection between self and earth, …& maybe along the way actually meets other humans. Well, Bravo. Like the songsmith said: “Only the good die young”
Hopefully my sons will opt (if applicable) to take topographic maps with them on their journeys ~~ stuff them way down in their deepest pocket…as a last resort in locating bridges that may lead them across whatever chasms to greener and even greener passages.
peaceQuake
