Question

question 5
short answer
identify one passage or event from wild that supports the thesis that healing requires persistence. explain how this event shows the literal and metaphorical meaning of “to keep walking.”
5 in the years before i pitched my boot over the edge of the mountain, i’d been pitching myself over the edge too. i’d ranged and roamed and railed—from minnesota to new york to oregon and all across the west—until at last i found myself, bootless, in the summer of 1995, not so much loose in the world as bound to it.
6 it was a world i’d never been to and yet had known was there all along, one i’d staggered to in sorrow and confusion and fear and hope. a world i thought would both make me into the woman i knew i could become and turn me back into the girl i’d once been. a world that measured two feet wide and 2,663 miles long.
7 a world called the pacific crest trail.
8 i’d first heard of it only seven months before, when i was living in minneapolis, sad and desperate and on the brink of divorcing a man i still loved. i’d been standing in line at an out store waiting to purchase a foldable shovel i picked up a book called the pacific crest trail,

Explanation:

The passage describes Cherly's literal act of physically walking on the Pacific Crest Trail despite difficulties like her mother's death and divorce. This physical perseverance symbolizes her emotional journey of healing. The text mentions "to keep walking" metaphorically represents her emotional struggle and determination to heal and grow, while literally it's her continuous movement on the trail.

Answer:

The event of Cherly walking on the Pacific Crest Trail (as described in the text: "Metaphorically, “to keep walking” represents Cherly’s emotional journey through grief, loss, and self - discovery. Just as she keeps moving forward on the trail despite setbacks, she also pushes through her emotional struggles, her mother’s death, her divorce, and her sense of being lost in the world. The act of continuing to walk, no matter how difficult, symbolizes her determination to heal and grow") shows the literal (physically walking on the trail) and metaphorical (emotional perseverance and healing) meaning of “to keep walking”.