The Importance Of Fully Experience The Life In “A Feeling Of Wildness” By David Gessner
The world is filled with an abundance of experiences that will ignite something deep within the human soul. This is something that may be forgotten or neglected if left to sit idly by, a sensation that is so strong it has to power to open a human up to an elevated mindset and overall enhance their life. Each and every one who is born into this world has a deep-rooted bond that acts as tether grounding humans to all the wonders, it is not until the conscious choice to shut both our minds and eyes to the life unfolding around resulting in the dimming or entirely forfeiting your natural born wildness. In the short story “A Feeling of Wildness” by David Gessner the author claims that is vital for humans to engage with the wildness through life as well as fully absorb the feeling it provides. The claim the author made gains merit in his use of real-world experiences both beautiful and heartbreaking that connect to his audience on a very intimate level, as well as his picturesque and precise word choice that intrigues the audience and makes them experience his claim through the use of his own words.
It is well known that in a lifetime humans will experience moments so monumental and beautiful, but amongst all the wondrous moments there will be ones of devastation, David Gessner takes the raw emotions of both to appeal to the audience's own wildest experiences.
Gessner opens up to reveal his own wild and very candid moments when he describes “Holding my father’s hand while he died...I gripped his hand tight enough to feel the last pulsings of his heart”. The authors chose to employ the use of Pathos by including such a morbid but unavoidable experience in life makes the reader more vulnerable to view his stance on a more personal level. Gessner then adds strength to his argument on the importance of humans fully engaging with the wildness throughout life when stating that “Something rose up in me that day, something deep, animal, unexpected, something that I didn’t experience again until nine years later when my daughter Hadley was born”. Gessner highlights both the good in bad in his life which encompasses the Wildness and unpredictability within life around us, and fully demonstrates that the collisions of both contradicting moments create something so mystifying and difficult to comprehend to the human psyche. It's often believed that as humans in order to explore and experience the wildness of life we must travel far and wide, which for some people is unreasonable.
Although this argument may be valid Gessner is able to diffuse it by acknowledging that there is indeed wildness among the “Untrammeled land along the Alaskan coast’, it can also “Happen anywhere — in the jungle or your backyard, it's not just a place; it's a feeling”. The way Gessner not only diffuses the opposition that comes to mind with his stance, but he also reconnects the wildness that he prevalently speaks about to something much more than just physical places. The Author of “A Feeling of Wildness”, organized his writing by immediately opening with the claim “I believe in wildness, both in the natural world and within each of us”, by opening immediately with this he has already established a relationship with his audience, henceforth his reader is more likely to be immersed into his writing.
Throughout the story, Gessner elaborately describes picturesque and personal scenes such as “I watched the hundreds of snow-white gannets dive from high in the air and plunge into the cold winter ocean like living javelins”. This quote Gessner used highlights the wild he has experienced out in the natural world, but it is quickly contrasted with the wild experienced during the birth of his daughter. David Gessner's recalls that in his personal experience with his wife's pregnancy stating “There was nothing tame about that indelible moment” and how his daughter arrived “in a wild squall”. The contradiction between the two quotes may seem like a hindrance to Gessner's claim, but on the contrary, it adds strength to the idea that wildness is just as prevalently seen in our own personal life’s as it would be out in the far corners of the world.
It is imperative for the reader to open their eyes to the wildness around them, some of the most remarkable and wild experiences will be found within their very own backyard. The Author David Guesser’s choice to employ the use of pathos and picturesque word choice created a bridge between himself and the reader to fully get his point across.
In conclusion
Gessner successfully shows the reader how important it is to fully experience the life unfolding around them, and backed his claim up with facts that ring true into the lives of his readers. There is no need to travel across land and sea to seek out adventure or gain a new experience, simply open your eyes to what's around you, because that is where you truly find your own wildness.
