Part Four:
At the beginning of part four, Cheryl Strayed alludes to the poem "Samurai Song" by Robert Pinksy. The poem is narrated by a man who does not have any possessions, family, or anyone around him. He instead uses admirable characteristics (such as care, perseverance, determination, etc) to replace people and things. He makes the most of what he has instead of reminiscing on what he does not have. Strayed alludes to this poem at the beginning of the section because she is in a similar situation: she has no contact with family or friends, and not a lot of superficial possessions besides the ones she needs to survive, yet still she manages to get by on her admirable characteristics (care, perseverance, determination, etc) and uses what little she has to achieve her goal of hiking the Pacific Crest Trail.
Chapter Eleven:
At the end of chapter eleven, Cheryl finds a pay phone on the trail and calls Paul. They "talked for close to an hour, [their] conversation loving and exuberant, supportive and kind" (Strayed, 189). After the phone call ends, Cheryl analyzes her situation; she misses her old life, yet she doesn't want to go back to it because of all the horrible things she had done. She realizes that this hike has been extremely beneficial. She writes: "...remembering how I'd felt more alone than anyone in the whole wide world that morning after Jimmy Carter drove away. Maybe I WAS more alone than anyone in the whole wide world. Maybe that was okay" (Strayed, 189). Her phone call with Paul helped Cheryl to realize that what she is doing is a good thing. Although she missed her old life, she knows that she cannot go back, and she is okay with that. Cheryl includes this part in the book because of how beneficial the phone call was to her; it allowed her to move forward with her life, while still keeping touch with someone she truly cared about. This section of the book and her story in real life was a milestone for her, so it was important for her to include it in the book.
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