"the wanting was a wilderness and I had to find my way out of the woods" (pg. 27) (Metaphor)
Cheryl uses a metaphor to compare her desire for her mother to a wilderness. The metaphor is powerful because it shows that grief is like a place where someone can lose their way and wander around, not even realizing that they cannot find their way home. The metaphor also helps the reader to understand the parallelism at work in the memoir: Cheryl is on a literal journey to follow the trail and arrive in Oregon, but she is also on an emotional journey to resolve her feeling of loss and accept what has happened.
"he was as certain as the sky" (pg. 144) (Simile)
Cheryl uses this simile to describe a fox she encounters on the trail. She compares the animal to another natural phenomenon, the sky, to show that she sees the fox as a being who is totally in-sync with his environment. Cheryl does not yet feel that she belongs on the trail, nor that she has the resources she needs to complete her journey. She is humbled and awe-struck to see a creature who is totally at peace with who he is, never experiencing self-doubt or self-critique. Part of Cheryl's journey involves learning to be more similar to the fox and to see herself as part of nature.
"She would always be the empty bowl that no one could fill" (pg. 267) (Metaphor)
Cheryl uses this metaphor to describe what it feels like to face a life without her mother. She feels a deep sense of loss and does not believe that anything will ever make her feel complete again. This metaphor gives a reader a concrete sense of an intangible feeling, and it is also very relatable if one has felt a sense of loss and grief in one's own life. The metaphor also shows how Cheryl initially misunderstands the way to heal from grief. She thinks the pain will only go away if she can fill the bowl with something else, explaining why she seeks out drugs, sex, and even the hike itself. In time, she learns that the point is not to fill up the loss but rather to learn to live with the gap it has left and to be happy in spite of it.
"handsome groups holding glasses of chardonnay and pinot gris like pale yellow jewels" (pg. 273)
Cheryl uses this simile when she describes watching tourists drink wine at a fancy mountain lodge. This simile explains the color of the wine, creating visual imagery for the reader, and it also reveals how Cheryl's values have changed during her time on the trail. A simple glass of wine is something she would once not have thought much about, but now it seems like a rare and precious luxury. By comparing the wine to jewels, Cheryl highlights how special it seems to her after her long journey in rugged conditions.
It seemed like a miracle that I finally had the river in my sights, as if a newborn baby had just slipped into my palms after a long labor" (pg. 308) (Simile)
Cheryl uses this simile to explain her feelings as she approaches the end point of her hike. She compares the sight of the river to a newborn baby. In most ways, the river seems like an ending: it shows Cheryl that she has reached her destination and that a chapter of her life is coming to a close. However, the simile shows that Cheryl feels like something is beginning: she is being spiritually reborn because she is finally released from her grief and can start to live her life fully again.
