Man and Wilderness

The two quotes that start off "Into the Wild" have very opposing views. Estwick Evans And Roderick Nash both set the mood for "Into the Wild" by describing man going out into the wild, however, the similarities end there. The quote by Evans is almost entirely in the first person, except for the last statement dealing with "the season of snows." Evans describes how he wishes to acquire "the simplicity, native feelings, and virtues of savage life." The use of savage points out a discontinuity with civilization, since it means uncivilized. Evans claims that getting away from civilization with remove the "factitious habits, prejudices and imperfections" associated with it. There is no question about it; Evans directly claims that going into solitude and away from civilization will rid man of the imperfections associated with it, and as such, Evans is making his own grandiose claim. After all, how can one be sure that going into the wild will grant a "more correct [view] of human nature and of the true interests of man?" Where Evans' quote is largely claim and in the first person, Nash's quote is more in the passive tone. The wilderness as described by Nash is merely an escape for those who cannot deal with society. It was a way for Romantics, as Nash notes, to explore their own artificial triumph that solitude grants them. However, as the main difference between the two quotes, Nash implies that going into the wilderness will not yield triumph over civilization; it simply is the "perfect setting for either melancholy or exultation." Rather then a large claim as Evans had, Nash is merely stating the obvious: either the Romantic individual will find a new outlook on life, or disappointment from the buildup that an escape from civilization that may not result in anything.