The story of A Christmas Carol is a classic for countless children throughout the world. The tale is about a man named Uncle Scrooge; a penny-pinching and selfish old geezer whose one goal in life is to collect vast sums of money, even on holidays. On Christmas Eve, Scrooge endures a wild adventure by the three ghosts of time. The ghosts show him his past, present, and future, to show him how much he is missing in his life by being focused solely on making money. The Last American Man by Elizabeth Gilbert tells a similar tale featuring a very different character, who is known as Eustace Conway. Eustace is so consumed by the thought of living a pure rugged lifestyle and spreading his message to people around the country that he loses sight
…show more content…
Arguably, Eustace Conway had it all. An authentic, real, and down to earth man who also happened to be exceptionally handsome. He was the modern age Davy Crockett: A true American man living off true American land. Eustace owned a vast amount of land which was known by the name of Turtle Island and that served as his personal utopia. Every morning he awoke to a beautiful sunrise peeking out over the North Carolina mountains. He labored all day to maintain a simplistic lifestyle most could only dream of living. How could anybody dare be unhappy when they live in a place like Turtle Island? Eustace lacked close personal relationships, especially with women, which affected his quality of life. Girls loved the idea of Eustace; a strong, rugged, handsome man living out in the woods, but once they lived with him and all his baggage that came along with him, girls would leave left and right. Eustace was desperate to find love and settle down, but was disappointed at the age of thirty two to “suddenly notice that, while he had accomplished much through sheer force of will, he …show more content…
The modern day Davy Crockett also had trouble with working with people on his own utopia. Eustace had apprentices working under him at Turtle Island, but nobody ever stuck around for long. Eustace expressed concern that “there was something wrong with him emotionally” to a psychologist because of the fact that his apprentices “were always angry” or “misunderstanding him” when working under him (144). The reasoning behind Eustace’s belief was because of the way others had reacted to his personality and leadership style. An estimated 90% of people working under Eustace who had previously dreamt of living off the land, left after only a few short months feeling unhappy with their experience due to the way Eustace treated them. This feeling of discontent was caused by “his lifelong fear of betrayal” and kept him from “pursuing full intimacy” in his relationships with others, effectively causing Eustace to miss out on having fun and meaningful friendships (206). Once again Eustace is not the only person on this planet to have this problem, rather he is one of thousands. People are afraid to talk in person now because online texting has become a speedy and less up front approach. People will opt to be protected by a keyboard rather than take the plunge and attempt to make lasting real life
Arguably, Eustace Conway had it all. An authentic, real, and down to earth man who also happened to be exceptionally handsome. He was the modern age Davy Crockett: A true American man living off true American land. Eustace owned a vast amount of land which was known by the name of Turtle Island and that served as his personal utopia. Every morning he awoke to a beautiful sunrise peeking out over the North Carolina mountains. He labored all day to maintain a simplistic lifestyle most could only dream of living. How could anybody dare be unhappy when they live in a place like Turtle Island? Eustace lacked close personal relationships, especially with women, which affected his quality of life. Girls loved the idea of Eustace; a strong, rugged, handsome man living out in the woods, but once they lived with him and all his baggage that came along with him, girls would leave left and right. Eustace was desperate to find love and settle down, but was disappointed at the age of thirty two to “suddenly notice that, while he had accomplished much through sheer force of will, he …show more content…
The modern day Davy Crockett also had trouble with working with people on his own utopia. Eustace had apprentices working under him at Turtle Island, but nobody ever stuck around for long. Eustace expressed concern that “there was something wrong with him emotionally” to a psychologist because of the fact that his apprentices “were always angry” or “misunderstanding him” when working under him (144). The reasoning behind Eustace’s belief was because of the way others had reacted to his personality and leadership style. An estimated 90% of people working under Eustace who had previously dreamt of living off the land, left after only a few short months feeling unhappy with their experience due to the way Eustace treated them. This feeling of discontent was caused by “his lifelong fear of betrayal” and kept him from “pursuing full intimacy” in his relationships with others, effectively causing Eustace to miss out on having fun and meaningful friendships (206). Once again Eustace is not the only person on this planet to have this problem, rather he is one of thousands. People are afraid to talk in person now because online texting has become a speedy and less up front approach. People will opt to be protected by a keyboard rather than take the plunge and attempt to make lasting real life