Perspective

The book, JOURNAL OF A TRAPPER, is written from a first-person perspective of Osborne Russell's observation during his nine years around the area from the Salt Lake to north of Yellow Stone Lake. Russell warns the reader in the beginning that this JOURNAL is formed by his observations over nine years in the northern Rocky Mountains. Very little of the JOURNAL characterizes whether people are happy or prosperous. There is little characterization of other people's thoughts or motives. Even Russell himself concentrates on a narrative of his life and actions in the wilderness and seldom describes himself as exceptionally happy, sad or angry. There is mainly a feeling of a man who is slowly acquiring knowledge about how to successfully deal with his life in the wild. First, Russell has to learn how to hunt animals for food and trap beaver. Then, he has to learn how to...