Wild Themes

In the wake of her mother’s untimely death at the age of forty-five, Cheryl Strayed loses more than just a parent and a best friend—slowly, little by little, she begins to lose her family too. As Cheryl’s nuclear family grows more and more distant in the wake of their shared loss, Cheryl begins to believe that that’s simply what loss does: it divides and estranges people at the moment when they should be coming together…

When Cheryl sets out to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, she is at the lowest point of her young life. Ravaged by grief in the wake of losing her mother and ending her marriage, she has succumbed to a barely-manageable heroin addiction, a toxic new relationship, and a cycle of self-destructive behavior that threatens to end her bright future. She embarks on the PCT in an attempt to redeem herself and change her life—but as…

When Cheryl sets off on an 1,100-mile hike through the wilderness, she is an amateur camper and an inexperienced hiker. Along the Pacific Crest Trail, she encounters fallen trees, snowfall, bears, deer, foxes, armies of frogs and black ants, and inhospitable weather. Cheryl is full of uncertainty at the beginning of her journey, but by the end, she feels strong and empowered. Wild uses one woman’s journey of taming—or at least existing within—nature and wilderness…