Synthesized answer
The author describes Yosemite's landscape with formidable elements that emphasize Reuben's escape and the "spell of Ahwahne" by highlighting the sheer, imposing nature of the surroundings. The "granite wall, so straight" and the "sheer gray wall three thousand feet high" create a sense of an almost insurmountable barrier [3, 5]. The landscape is also characterized by "threatening rocks" and a "granite-walled, meadow-paved abyss" [2, 4]. The phrase "daunting Indian Canyon" also appears, indicating a challenging terrain [3].
These descriptions amplify the meaning of Reuben's escape and the author's interpretation of it as "the spell of Ahwahne" by contrasting the boy's ability to navigate such a severe environment with the attempts to civilize him. The formidable landscape, so steep that horses needed to stop for breath and a trail was described as "worse'n 't used to be" [2], underscores the boy's natural prowess, likened to a "wild chamois" climbing a "glistening granite face" to escape enemies [1]. The author's assertion that Reuben escaped "to illustrate the spell of Ahwahne" suggests the valley's powerful allure and its ability to reclaim those who belong to it, overcoming…
Synthesized from the book passages below. Chat with the book on Feynman for follow-up.
From the book
e must go. If it had been my birthday of my eightieth year in Ahwahne, I could not have clung to the valley more fondly. As I looked up to the dark line of firs on either side of the Great Fall, I pictured to myself the form of that six-year-old boy of the Ahwahnechee, who, when the white men entered the valley, was seen climbing, naked, like a wild chamois, on the glistening granite face of the rock-wall, midway between heaven and earth, to escape the enemy. A cruel man of his tribe lured him down and gave him captive to the white men, who christened him Reuben, put trowsers on him, and sent…
as if it might topple at any second. On our right hand—space! nothing more; radiant, sunny, crisp, clear air: across it. I looked over at the grand domes and pinnacles of the southern wall of Ahwahne; down through it I looked into the depths of Ahwahne; away from it I turned, dizzy, shuddering, and found the threatening rocks on the left friendly by contrast. Then, with impatience at my own weakness, I would turn my face toward the measureless space again, and compel myself to look over, and across, and out and down. But it could not be borne for many minutes; even Murphy did not like it. "I…
← My Day in the Wilderness ( 1873 ) by Helen Hunt Jackson → information about this edition From Scribner's Magazine , 1873. (Helen Hunt Jackson, writing as "H. H."). An account of a horseback ride up (and down) the daunting Indian Canyon of Yosemite Valley . On our left hand rose a granite wall, so straight that we could see but a little way up, so close that we had need to take care in turning corners not to be bruised by its sharp points, and so piled up in projecting and overlapping masses that, mountain as it was, it seemed as if it might topple at any second. On our right hand—space!…
n see down the dim vistas of these pine-forests will gleam out the vivid scarlet of one of these superb uncanny flowers. When its time comes to die, it turns black, so that in its death, also, it looks like a fleshly thing linked to mysteries. At last Murphy shouted triumphantly from ahead: "Here's the trail. Fetched it this time; now keep up, sharp;" and he rode off down a steep and rocky hillside, at a rate which dismayed me. The trail was faint, but distinct: at times on broad opens, it spread out suddenly into thousands of narrow dusty furrows; these had been made by flocks of sheep…
wam to-day. "John Murphy, guide," as with quaint dignity he writes his name, stood near me, also looking up at the Fall. "When you come back next year, 's ye say you're comin', but then folks never does come back when they sav they will," said Murphy, "I'll hev a trail built right to the base o' thet upper fall." "Why, Mr. Murphy, where will you put it?" I said, looking along the sheer gray wall three thousand feet high. "There's plenty of places. I'll make it as broad 'n' easy a trail 's there is in this valley," said Murphy quietly; "'tain't half so steep as 'tis up Indian Canyon, where…
More questions about this book
- Analyze the contrasting perspectives presented in the text—the biographer's view of Reuben's escape versus the author's, and John Murphy's pragmatic approach to trail-building versus the narrator's desire for a challenging route. What do these differences reveal about conflicting values regarding nature and human intervention in 19th-century America?
- The narrator states, "If it had been my birthday of my eightieth year in Ahwahne, I could not have clung to the valley more fondly." How does this personal longing connect with or diverge from the narrative of Reuben's deep attachment and ultimate flight from the valley, particularly concerning the idea of belonging or ownership in the wilderness?
- Consider John Murphy's skepticism ("folks never does come back when they say they will") and his quiet confidence in building an "easy" trail. What does his character and dialogue suggest about the evolving relationship between tourists, guides, and the accessibility or "taming" of natural wonders during this period?
- The text opens by distinguishing between Eleanor Roosevelt's "My Day" and Helen Hunt Jackson's "My Day in the Wilderness." Although the excerpt is clearly Jackson's, how might the *idea* of these two distinct "My Day" columns—one personal and reflective, the other syndicated and public—inform our understanding of the author's purpose in recounting her "day in the wilderness"?