Tiffany

Wild, by Cheryl Strayed, is an adventurous, unpredictable, and unforgettable novel. Cheryl Strayed decided to pack up and hike the Pacific Crest Trail after the death of her mother. She decided she wanted to leave and hike the trail because she was all alone and needed something to do with her life to try and move on. Many things happened in her life where she needed to start a new chapter. Her mother had just died; her siblings are distant with her, a divorce with her husband, and her drug use. This novel does use rhetoric effectively. It uses rhetoric effectively because it has a clear message, clear audience, and the story can happen in real life to that she’s trying to get the message across to.

         In this novel there is a clear message that is spread to a bunch of people that read it. Cheryl’s message in this novel was even when you’re going through a hard time you still have to believe in yourself and never give up. This message shows that there’s effective rhetoric in this novel. Even though she was having a very hard time with some of the things that were happening in her life, she wanted to try something new like hike the Pacific Crest Trail. She had perseverance and set her mind to achieve this goal she set for herself. During her hike she got hit with some obstacles. When the tough times hit in her life and even on her hike, she still didn't give up on herself. She pushed through it and continued to fight through what she was going through. This is an example of rhetoric in the novel because there is a clear message that is presented. It shows people that you shouldn’t give up on yourself even when times are tough. You have to keep your head up high and know that you will be okay in the end. That’s how Cheryl got through her hike on the Pacific Trail Crest. She knew that she was going to make it all the way to the end and try her hardest every single day she went hiking. She pushed all the way to the end and did what she wanted to achieve. People could argue though that she made some poor decisions as she was growing up. She got into drugs and fights with her husband. Not all of her bad decisions were her own fault. She did lose her mother and her siblings just disappeared from her life. Even though she made those poor decisions she still became very successful at the end of this novel. 

         As well as a clear message to this novel, Wild has a clear audience that it’s trying to get the message across to. This novel is suitable for teens and even adults can read it for an inspiring boost to help them achieve what they want to achieve. This shows rhetoric because when there’s an audience, the audience will read the rhetoric and try to understand it. This novel also relates to rhetoric because it’s a true story that can actually happen in real life. It happened to Cheryl and it can happen to other people as well. It’s rhetoric because this is reality. The reality of Cheryl’s experiences can happen to us people too. Everyone goes through multiple hard times in their life. When hard times hit you have to accept what’s happening and try not to give up on yourself and conquer whatever it might be. Cheryl had to learn to get over and move on from the problems she was having with her own family. She also had to get through the problems that were happening to her on her hiking adventure. Reading this novel, you get drawn into what’s happening and you can sometimes relate to some of the things that Cheryl went through with your own life. This novel was very effective in showing rhetoric.

         In conclusion, Wild showed effective rhetoric due to the clear message, clear audience, and how the story can happen in real life. This was a true story so that tells you that, things like this can happen to you. And when you’re going through a hard time always remember to never give up on yourself. You have to believe that you can get through whatever it is you’re going through. Reading this novel taught me this clear message and it’s a great example of rhetoric. It was a great novel that taught a sincere message and for people that haven’t read it, it will be a great read for you if you want some motivation.