Theme Of Nature In Into The Wild

Significance of Nature

As I was reading Solar Storms, written by Linda Hogan, I began to see many comparisons between this novel and the novel Into the Wild, written by Jon Krakauer. The storylines and main messages in the two novels are very different, but both novels have similar interpretations of nature in the world. Both main characters venture into nature/ “into the wild”, which are far from the places that most people would call a traditional society, like a large city or suburban area; in hopes of finding who they truly are as a person. Therefore, although both novels have very different storylines, they both have many similarities when it comes to the significance of nature.

In Into the Wild nature serves as a place where people

In Solar Storms, the significance of nature differs from the Into the Wild significance because it does not focus on the relationship between society and nature, but rather focuses more on the value of nature. It does however, still serve as a place for Angel to find herself as she says “I was returning to the watery places in order to unravel my mind and set straight what I had lost, which seemed like everything to me” (Hogan 72). From this it is seen that nature was a place where she could go to be herself and truly discover who she was as well. Similar to Into the Wild, nature in Solar Storms was also a calm, peaceful, and simple place. It was a place where people like Angel could go to get away from all the distractions of the world and solely focus on themselves. Overall, in this novel, nature was also a place of simplicity, where people could get away from the negativity of society and could truly find themselves because they were not distracted by the outrageous expectations of the materialistic

Throughout the novel, Angel talks about nature as a person, rather than just a piece of useless land. She refers to nature as being alive as she voices “the world was alive, as the people there said. The lake was alive. I was sure of it. Not only when it was large-hipped and moving, but even when it was white, contracted, and solid” (Hogan 129). This demonstrates the significance of not only nature, but the world as a whole in the eyes of Angel. If the world was insignificant to her life, she would not take the time to emphasize that it was alive. In her proclamation she even goes further proclaiming “The Perdition River flowing beneath moving ice was alive. So was the ice itself. And even the winter that sang itself into our bones” (Hogan 129). In this proclamation, it is seen that she values nature and the world to the point where she even says that the ice and winter are alive. If she did not value nature, Angel would not mention the little things in nature, like ice, that no one ever thinks about. Further, she would not give specific details about nature, like winter singing, if she did not value nature. Angel would not waste her time talking about it. However, it is seen that she does value nature and thus, takes the time to mention the little things in the world