The Unsympathetic Cheryl Strayed Isabell Gerbig College

Cheryl Strayed is an unsympathetic character but a lovable person; this is not a contradictory statement. In her memoir Wild, she stars as a grief-stricken yet naïve young woman, making her the main (and unsympathetic) character of this story. In her podcasts, on the other hand, it is easier to get a sense of who she is as an actual person, and in this context she is lovable, honest, and down-to-earth. It was at first odd that her depiction of herself in her memoir differed so greatly from how she presented herself in her Dear Sugar podcasts. However, after closer inspection, it made sense that the persona in Wild was indeed not the same as the one in Dear Sugar. Not only was Cheryl a static character in Wild, but she also constantly complained despite being in a much more privileged position than she thought. She made life difficult for herself, then proceeded to focus solely on the pains she inflicted on herself during the trip, leaving little time to think about the grievances that pushed her to take this hike in the first place. Despite these factors, the justifications and the admission of her mistakes on her podcast Dear Sugar allow for her to become a more relatable person.

It often seems as though Cheryl Strayed in Wild...