Tuesday, January 17, 2012
“Greetings
from Seattle! I’m a hobo now! That’s right, I’m riding the rails now. What fun,
I wish I had jumped trains earlier. The rails have some drawbacks, however.
First is that one becomes absolutely filthy. Second is that one must tangle
with these crazy bulls. I was sitting in a hotshot in L.A. when a bull found me
with his flashlight about 10 P.M. ‘Get outta here before I KILL ya!’
screamed the bull. I got out and saw he has drawn his revolver. He interrogated
me at gunpoint, then growled, ‘If I ever see you around this train again I’ll
kill ya! Hit the road!’ What a lunatic! I got the last laugh when I caught the
same train 5 minutes later and rode it all the way to Oakland,” (53).
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---Here, McCandless faces a bit of controversy in his enjoyment of life. In the beginning of this letter, he starts his writing by saying “Greetings!” and that he is a hobo now, both with great excitement shown by end punctuation. This really shows just how free McCandless wants his life to be. Most people would not be too pleased with themselves if they were homeless. McCandless, however, accepts the title because of its undisputable freedom with great excitement, as though he is happy to have it. In addition, by identifying himself as a hobo, it puts him at the very bottom of society. It is hard to get many positions lower in stature than one who is homeless, and although it’s possible that it is not McCandless’ intention (not that he cares), he establishes himself below the majority of society. In terms of society in general, McCandless also expresses some basic benefits of it, such as the trains that are ran. He shows great enjoyment in “train hopping,” saying he wishes he had started it earlier. One of the drawbacks of it is the “bulls,” or guards. He describes how one yelled at him and threatened to kill him, underlining and using all caps on the word “kill” to interpret the guard’s tone and his own responding feeling, just because the guard found him sitting in a hotshot. He calls the man a lunatic, but expresses little fear by ending with his departure on the same train just five minutes later. Nevertheless, because it is a drawback McCandless sees, this would be a negative aspect to society.
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