Bill Bryson's A Walk In The Woods

The primary historical event affecting the story happens before Bryson's journey on the trail. The Great Depression was the economic downturn of the United States. It caused the majority of Americans to become destitute and eager to find work to support themselves and their families. The drive to open a personal business was crushed by the harshness of the Great Depression. The empty building Bill saw on his journey were all remnants of the failed business endeavors. The historical setting of A Walk in the Woods also falls under the period where more individuals were leaving their rural lives to find opportunity in the city. The farming regions visited by Bill have been abandoned and forgotten by the people who once lived there. With the withdrawal of the human interference in those communities nature has come to reclaim its lost territory. The

economic instability of American citizens during this time is shown through the remains of once prosperous communities.
The physical surroundings of the trail has a negative impact on Bryon's mental state. Walking among the giant, thick walls of trees makes Bryson feel small and insignificant. Bryson says the trees also make him feel confused and vulnerable. Being infinitely surrounded causes Bryson to become introspective and learn more about himself than he could while in the city. The views captured through the wall of trees only reveal further walls. Not being able to see the end of his journey gives Bryson the feeling of not being able to finish his life altering adventure. A human spirit is revitalized when it has been on a long, arduous journey and the end finally comes within reach. The landscape is an added burden weighing down on Bryson's mental state.
The weather plays a similar role to the physical surroundings in the book. The weather adds to the demoralizing nature of the trees. The most emotionally demanding weather is the unrelenting rain encountered along the trail. Bryson is at the mercy of the elements when he is not attempting to escape them in the shoddy trail shelters. Rain is associated with sadness and defeat; therefore, the incessant rain takes its toll on Bryson. Bryson says the rain drove him half mad. The rain even caused Bryson to end one of his day's hiking early. Every step of the journey, the weather led Bryson one step closer to giving up early. Being constantly soaked by a rainstorm or frozen by a snowstorm would cause any city acclimated person to contemplate retreating to their cozy, safe lives. The unpleasant weather creates an internal conflict of whether Bryson should quit or continue. If the weather was always sunny and beautiful there would not have been a thought of ending the hike early.
Bill Bryson is not fond of the actions of the government or the actions of the agencies in control of the trail.

Bryson believes that the government does not care about the environment as much as it should. He shows this by saying the National Park Service is responsible for the extinction of multiple wildlife species. He also says that the NPS does not do anything but build roads to cover up the nature it's supposed to be protecting. Bryson's journey causes him to gain a greater respect for nature and a disgust for those destroying it. The government is also going through an internal strife and had been through a shutdown in the months leading up to the start of the hike. Congress finds that saving nature conflicts with their plans for solving the country's economic problem. The political climate also shows the affect of religious practices on laws. The legislature trying to pass the law is located in the South and it is a foreign climate for Bryson. The government is influenced by the culture of the people in charge of running it. At this period of time society can take legal action against teaching science to

children.
Religion plays an important role in the dominant culture of this time. The religious culture also affects the laws that are passed. Bryson says that he does not want to be in the South anymore due to the culture being completely different from what he is used. He finds the South's culture to be backwards and behind the times. Bryson also sees the life of a modern era American when he goes to Gatlinburg and witnesses the plump and commodity centric masses. The growing culture of buying goods had turned the once quaint mountain town into a hub of stores and restaurants that are contributing tenfold to the problem. Bryson is disappointed and disgusted at what Americans have become over the years. A majority of people during this time are also superstitious, believing in the magical and unexplainable. Trail Magic is a superstition that many of the hikers believe comes along and helps them in sticky situations. This shows that not everyone has given in to the consumer focused culture, some people still care about actually experiencing Earth and not just living on it. Bryson is a simple man who wants to return to the time when America was not a commodity based culture.