Janine Marill Post 2

Sometimes, Bryson’s comments are an effective way for communicating with the reader. His description of the management (or lack thereof) by the Forest Service helps the reader understand the conditions on the trail, and the problems that it faces. The environmental problems that Bryson discusses are a serious threat to the trail. However, Bryson rambles frequently, and ends up spewing statistics for pages. Therefore, instead of captivating the reader with useful information, Bryson bores the reader to death.

However, some of the cultural facts and references were more interesting than the environmental information. In chapter 8, Katz mentions an article he saw in the Nashville Tennessean that grabs his interest. The article explained that the state legislature was in the process of banning evolution from science curriculums. Katz gives his strong negative opinion of people who support forbidding evolution education. He proceeds to describe the history of the evolution issue in Tennessee.

Bryson wove this issue into the story because he had a strong visceral reaction to it. Bryson could not understand why anyone wouldn’t teach evolution in schools. To some extent, Bryson’s opinion of the issue gives the reader some insight into Bryson’s beliefs. However, Bryson has already been outspoken about his values throughout the book, and discussing this issue is unnecessary, and does not relate in any way to the hike. Bryson could have mentioned the article without going into a long history of the issue of evolution education in Tennessee. Bryson’s snide comments and rambling about an irrelevant issue detract from the story.