When Chris settled in at Bullhead
City, he liked it there. Something about
that town made him want to slow down for a while. “Maybe it was his affinity for the
lumpen, who were all well represented in
the community’s trailer parks and campgrounds and Laundromats; perhaps he
simply fell in love with the stark desert landscape that encircles the town”
(39). For whatever reason, Chris decided
to get a job with his actual name and social security number, and even open a
savings account. I think he was tired of
traveling with no reliable place to sleep and no steady stream of money or
food. It was also winter, so he wanted
to settle down and lay low for a while until spring comes and his “itchy feet”
come back. I was a little surprised at
this new change in Chris, but I know that even though he roams around
nomadically he still is a sane person.
He still has some hidden goal and some destination he wants to receive
or reach. I don’t think he totally
resents conventional life, he surely doesn’t like it but he can deal with it to
an extent. Some of his colleges at
McDonalds considered him a very hard worker and reliable, but others thought he
was gross and didn’t shower. I don’t
think they altogether didn’t like him; they wanted to help him. It is just hard to communicate with someone
like Chris. He has a very different personality
and he has gone a fairly long time without regular human interaction. If I worked alongside Chris I would think
that he had some personal problems, maybe going through a rough spot in
life. I don’t know if I would pry at him
though, I’d like to just keep the situation light and as comfortable as I could.
Chris's relationship with Jan and Bob is quite unique and special. Jan thinks of Chris as her own son and sees similarities between the two. She mentions that her own son ran off that she would want someone else to look after him like she looked after Alex. Maybe she thought that if she took him in good karma would go to her son and put him in good hands. Bob Burres enjoyed Alex's company too. He sticks up for him and respects his privacy. The three of them cared for each other and made sure too help one another out. Alex made sure to never take advantage of them and I think that shows his good character and another piece of evidence that he's not totally insane at all.
In the letter that Franz writes to the magazine, he describes a little of his interaction with Chris. It is isn't much at all but chris must have done something remarkable to leave this impression on him. Maybe Franz gives him some advice on how to survive in Akaska, since in the letter he is a little mystified by Chris being hurt given the tools he had. This puzzles me because he must have not know the extent of Chris's adventure in Alaska and how long he would be there. I assume Chris showed another point of view about life to Franz, since he does that with most people, and helped him in a sincere way.
Chris's relationship with Jan and Bob is quite unique and special. Jan thinks of Chris as her own son and sees similarities between the two. She mentions that her own son ran off that she would want someone else to look after him like she looked after Alex. Maybe she thought that if she took him in good karma would go to her son and put him in good hands. Bob Burres enjoyed Alex's company too. He sticks up for him and respects his privacy. The three of them cared for each other and made sure too help one another out. Alex made sure to never take advantage of them and I think that shows his good character and another piece of evidence that he's not totally insane at all.
In the letter that Franz writes to the magazine, he describes a little of his interaction with Chris. It is isn't much at all but chris must have done something remarkable to leave this impression on him. Maybe Franz gives him some advice on how to survive in Akaska, since in the letter he is a little mystified by Chris being hurt given the tools he had. This puzzles me because he must have not know the extent of Chris's adventure in Alaska and how long he would be there. I assume Chris showed another point of view about life to Franz, since he does that with most people, and helped him in a sincere way.
Great blog. Very explanatory and descriptive. I especially agree with your views on the situation at McDonald's. It would be very strange to work with him. I hadn't really thought about the fact that he hadn't had a ton of human interaction in the time before he was in Bullhead City. Also, I would definitely not pry into his business either. His life would be none of my business.
ReplyDeleteMadisen I enjoyed reading your different perspectives very much! I like how you brought up that Chris and Franz could have possibly shared survival skills with each other. I also think that Chris just wanted to lay low and settle down for awhile due to his high strung life style and the ever aproaching winter season.
ReplyDeleteI think your blog post was very well written and I agree with you completely. I especially like what you had to say about the Burres and them hopefully receiving good karma.
ReplyDeleteI like what you said about Chris in your first point. I agree that he was tired of roaming around the land working hard everyday just to survive. I would be too. I also completely agree with what you said about his underlying reason to this journey. He is still in need of something.
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