Wilderness, Myth And American Character Analysis

Some people find themselves in the wilderness by eliminating all distractions from civilization and experiencing the beauty that wilderness has to offer. Others receive inner peace from wilderness because the wilderness gives them a sense of belonging and silence to channel their inner emotions. Some people get the sense of accomplishment by proving to themselves that they can do anything by staying in the wilderness for an extended period of time with or without the help of others. While they are in the wilderness for this extended period of time, they start to believe in themselves and get confidence in themselves. All people receive something different from wilderness, and we all what we receive from the wilderness. Since people are affected

Marvin Henberg, retired president of The College of Idaho, writes “Wilderness, Myth, and American Character” which is about how the wilderness affects Americans and the myths that Americans believe in about wilderness. Emily C. Cook, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Rhode Island College, and Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry at Yale University of School of Medicine, writes about a study that was done on male adolescents that studied the change in self-evaluation after being in the wilderness. There are many effects that wilderness has on people, and they are all very necessary for humans; we need to keep alive the wilderness that we have left

Henberg ends his argument by saying how we can be richer if we let nature abide wildly through out different portions of the earth. He goes on to say if we do destroy nature generations to come will not have the wonder of wilderness anymore; “We will not only secure a future for coming generations, we will secure stories for them—stories of wonder, of kinship with other living beings, and of richness and fecundity from a prodigal source.” (Henberg). Coming out of the wilderness, people have stories to tell about their experiences no matter if they are good or bad. The stories can be carried on generation after generation; the stories can be altered by new generations adding in their own personal experiences. If there is not any wilderness left to go and explore, people will not have their own stories to tell to their children. Humans will be missing something if they ever let the wilderness be destroyed, “Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed” (Henberg). Humans have had wilderness in their lives for as long as humans have been on Earth. If the wilderness gets destroyed, then humans will be missing something that they have had for millions of