Doug Character Analysis in Wild

A hiker on the PCT. He and Cheryl become fast friends, and he gives her a raven feather as a symbol of their friendship—the symbol serves as a touchstone for Cheryl throughout her travels, and every time she and Doug encounter one another on the trail or at a resupply outpost, they are happy, excited, and grateful for each other’s company.

Doug Character Timeline in Wild

The timeline below shows where the character Doug appears in Wild. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Albert and Matt tell Cheryl there are two more men behind them on the trail, Doug and Tom, before departing and heading on. Cheryl packs up her camp quickly and hikes... (full context)

Doug and Tom—the two men who have been on the trail behind Cheryl—arrive at Kennedy Meadows... (full context)

Before dinner, Cheryl heads down to the river with some of the guys. Doug gives Cheryl a black feather for good luck. Cheryl tells Greg that she’s nervous about... (full context)

...never see him again. She’s also melancholy to think that she’ll probably never see Greg, Doug, or Tom again, either. (full context)

The next morning, Cheryl sets out from Kennedy Meadows. Doug and Tom accompany her for a little while, but after less than a mile, she... (full context)

...more daunted and frightened of what lies ahead. That evening, as she makes camp with Doug and Tom again, she tells them she wants to get off at Trail Pass up... (full context)

...her that he’s bypassing, too, and together they descend down the trail, meet up with Doug and Tom, and hitch to the nearby town of Lone Pine. Cheryl restocks food at... (full context)

...casino adjoining the Greyhound station. At the sinks, another woman admires Cheryl’s feather—her gift from Doug—and invites her to the Rainbow Gathering at Toad Lake in Northern California. Cheryl says she... (full context)

...she hears a voice call out her name—she turns around and finds herself face-to-face with Doug. They greet one another excitedly and catch up on how they’ve both fared along the... (full context)

...wine, enjoying it as they cook their dinners. They discuss their summers, and Cheryl gives Doug a novel called The Ten Thousand Things to read, but he says he doesn’t want... (full context)

A few days later, Cheryl and Doug—plus Tom and a lesbian ex-couple, who have joined up with them—arrive at the Timberline Lodge... (full context)

...she’d begin writing the story of her hike, and in the process would discover that Doug had died in an accident in New Zealand—but as she mourned him, she would look... (full context)