The Other, Post 5

In the latest section of The Other, by David Guterson, John William’s lifestyle in the backcountry of Washington state becomes even more extreme. He insists on staying in his cave through the harsh Washington winters, and only accepts food and other necessities from his friend Neil because he needs them to survive. As he spends more time away from society, John William also begins to seem more incredible and far-fetched in his beliefs. When Neil is visiting him one night, John William tells Neil that he is going to continue living in the woods because “Life’s short. Eternity’s long. I’m going to slip past God—he can’t get me” (159). This pronouncement shows that John William believes he is escaping some kind of curse that society has upon it. John William has always thought that he will be rewarded for following his beliefs instead of society’s ideals. Initially, he thought that living in his cave would be gratifying in and of itself, but this hasn’t proved to be the case. Therefore, he seems to have convinced himself that he will be rewarded in an afterlife. The evolution of John William’s reasoning for living in a cave hints that he is beginning to run out of motivation for his hermit-like lifestyle. This idea is also supported by Neil’s impressions of John William from Neil’s occasional visits to John William’s cave. Increasingly, Neil finds John William in a bad mood, and notes on one visit that John William seemed “just depressed” (173).

Neil is prone to making up excuses for John William’s radical ideas, and says that he hopes that John William is just going through an odd stage. Neil probably tends to justify John William’s strange beliefs because he is still nursing a hope that John William will rejoin society and prove himself to be a normal human. Whether or not John William is normal was a question that Neil grapples with constantly. After finding a story with a character similar to John William in it, Neil discusses this character with his high school English students to try to find insight into John William. Neil says, “I could discuss ‘The Miracle of Purun Bhagat’ with my students as if our discussion was an exercise in literary history, instead of a veiled way for me to ask myself if John William made sense” (167). However, both the readers and Neil know that this story is just one of many things that Neil uses to try to reconcile his friend’s strange behavior. Neil wants to see John William recover from his cave-dwelling phase because he is a loyal friend, and still he likes and respects John William. This is also why Neil continues to bring John William food and to visit him. Furthermore, Neil seems to feel a sense of responsibility to John William, because he knows that John William would die in his cave without Neil’s help. Since Neil is the only person aware of John William’s existence in the forest, Neil considers turning John William in to the park service or to John William’s father. However, Neil feels it would be disloyal to John William to do so, and even convinces himself that John William would rather die in his cave than be forced back into society by the park service or by his father.

The decision to keep John William’s cave-dwelling existence secret is one that Neil questions heavily after John William finally does die in the woods. Neil is heartbroken and distraught when he finds his friend, who probably starved, dead near his cave one day. The burden that John William’s death brings to Neil’s conscience is significant, because Neil was the only person (other than John William) who had the power to save John William from his death. Even after John William dies, however, Neil doesn’t tell anyone that John William used to live in the woods and has now died. I think that Neil’s decision to keep John William’s death secret is in part caused by his guilty conscience, and in part caused by his desire to honor John William’s wish to be completely separate from society. Eventually, however, John William’s cave and remains are discovered in the backcountry. Neil is interviewed by a newspaper, and the story is made into a huge production in the paper. Knowing that he has helped to turn John William into a gripping newspaper headline only adds to Neil’s remorse about the situation.

Work Cited:

Guterson, David. The Other. New York: Random House, 2008.