The Common Threads in Writing
At first glance you would not think there would be similarities in the novels The Highest Tide and Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Nature: Addresses and Lectures, the poems of Holly J. Hughes and the movie Never Cry Wolf. Emerson was born in 1803 and the author Jim Lynch was born in 1961. Holly J Hughes is a local poet who has worked in Alaska for the last 28 years and Never Cry Wolf is a movie based on a true story written by Kenneth Chisholm. It is amazing that all of these writings have so much in common. All of these works had both storyline and the love of nature, specifically the Pacific Northwest, in common. In all of the writings the protagonist felt more at home in nature than with other people. The heroes of the stories were all dealing with something in their life breaking apart and yet living with these challenges taught the characters that they have more ability to endure then they thought they ever could.
A common thread through all the writings include the protagonist feeling more comfortable and at peace out in nature, specifically the Pacific Northwest. In the novel The Highest Tide the main character Miles spends many hours alone in the bay near his home in Washington State. Although Miles has few friends and very little family support when he is on the beach or on his boat he is completely confident in his ability to handle any situation. Miles said in the novel “The other part was it was hard for me to feel fear or sadness at dawn on the Bay, especially when I knew the sun wouldn’t set for another 15 hours and 32 minutes, and the water was so clear I could see coon-stripe shrimp in the eelgrass near the tavern and the bottomless bed of white clam shells pooled across the sunken tip of Penrose Point,” page 45. This quote reveals a great deal about Miles and his life. He talks about the solitude and quiet of the water being so different from the shrill yelling of his mother and the great escape he found in the ocean. Miles loved being alone in the water with nature.
In the poem Captive by Holly J Hughes the action takes place on a boat at sea. Ms. Hughes lives in Washington state and has worked in Alaska for almost 30 years. Her poetry shows a great love and respect of nature. In Captive a woman is being held against her will, the heroine says “my eyes from drifting out to the color I loved best: blue sea holding captive all the land.” The heroine of the poem sees the beauty and power of the beautiful ocean around landmasses and feels that although she is held captive so are the landmasses by the water and it makes her feel less alone in her predicament.
The novel Nature: Addresses and Lectures by Ralph Waldo Emerson is filled with the authors love of the simplest nature inspired events. Emerson could write an entire chapter about a dew droplet seen first thing in the morning. In chapter one from Nature the author says “I am not solitary whilst I read and write, though nobody is with me. But if the man would be alone, let him look at the stars. The rays that come from those heavenly worlds, will separate between him and what he touches.” This quote portrays a man content in his solitary predicament. The quote talks about never being alone when you have so much beauty in nature surrounding you, even at night.
In the movie Never Cry Wolf the main character goes off to live by himself in Canada and finds peace surrounded by wolves. In the movie Marley says “I can’t really be sad, because it’s here that I’ve began to feel wonder again.” Marley only feels at home in nature, he cannot seem to feel any joy in his life if he is not outside with his wolves. These wolves are more then his friends, they are his whole world.