Comment on language

The language of the story mirrors the Community’s emotional approach to life in the Wilderness: straightforward and simple. Cook’s diction is direct, often to a point of deadpan description of death and distress. The effect of this matter-of-fact language is chilling, removing any emotion—and with it, any sense of humanity—from details of Community members being mauled to death, babies dying, and decapitated fingers and toes. This diction is first apparent through Bea's reaction to Caroline's death: "Caroline, presumably still on the rope and most certainly dead, rushed downriver," a style which is further developed when she writes that the group continued to cross that spot shortly afterward, "despite Caroline's demise" (16). Later, Cook writes that after Thomas died, "the Community took a moment to say some nice things about him and then they walked on" (22). During a chilling exchange between Ranger Bob and Bea, Ranger Bob asks Bea to describe how they had lost members of the Community that year. Her responses are as terse as "Becky. Cougar Mal" and "Dan. Rock slide" (35). There is rarely figurative language or sensationalized description.