A Week in the Woods

The New Hampshire Wilderness is a powerful and constant motif throughout A Week in the Woods. It becomes an adversary in and of itself, both in the sense of challenging Mark as he works on Confronting and Overcoming Fears, and also by challenging both him and Mr. Maxwell to survive when they become stranded on the mountainside. The wilderness makes a powerful debut in the story when Mark first pulls up to his new home, for the sweeping property is surrounded by a massive expanse of forests, plains, and hills just begging to be explored. It is not long before Mark feels a deep connection to his new home and to the wilderness itself, and he resolves to become a true outdoors person and learn to survive the harsh New Hampshire winter. As the narrative states, “He felt completely surrounded by nature. […] It was like a big book that had been lying open in front of him all his life, and he’d been ignoring it. Not anymore. Now Mark was determined to read the whole thing” (92).

The more time that Mark spends on his own outdoors, and the more he learns about how to navigate and survive it, the more he comes to appreciate his time on his own, finding it freeing and invigorating.