richard proenneke
Richard Proenneke was an American naturalist, and he is mainly known because he lived alone for thirty years in the Alaskan wilderness. After living a life full of activity, from being a soldier in World War II to becoming a diesel mechanic to being a sheep farmer, he ended up retiring by creating his own log cabin in Alaska and living alone in the wilderness for decades. He hunted, fished, and gathered his own food and supplies, only rarely having supplies flown in for him. For the majority of his thirty years, he almost never left, except occasionally only in order to visit his family. Richard Proenneke cared about the bare necessities of life and denounced excess and greed. He found peace with himself while immersed in nature, living a simple life. His cabin, that he crafted himself, was small, and his material possessions were practically nonexistent. He simply lived off of the land. He gathered all of his food on his own and lived a solitary life, finding himself living by the same philosophies of dedicated ascetics and transcendentalists such as Henry David Thoreau, who lived alone in the wilderness while writing his key novel, Walden. Richard Proenneke found life meaningful when it was lived as it was given to humans thousands upon thousands of years ago, where being greedy over material possessions was not even much of a concept. Richard Proenneke represents the modern American Dream, which is to be able to enjoy life simply and with meaning, leaving aside excess.
Richard Proenneke embodied many aspects of the American Dream, such as wanting and being able to experience nature in a raw, honest sense. Even though he did not have strong ties with other people during his time in seclusion, he had the right mindsets of wanting to free himself from society, and because of these mindsets, he was a great representation of the dream. The American Dream advocates for creating and maintaining close ties with other people, and Richard Proenneke did not succeed all that well when it came to this philosophy. He sometimes exited seclusion so that he could visit his family, but except for these occasions, there were not many times is which he maintained contact with people. This is because he was focused on experiencing the world in its natural beauty and finding the meaning of himself through seclusion and the search for individualism. He was able to do this, by living decades surrounded by the most diverse wilderness in the world, immersed in the Alaskan wilderness. He found himself being able to experience some of the most important aspects of the dream, as he simplified his life in order to live it with meaning, even if that meant that he didn’t have close contact with other people or he didn’t possess a large amount of material goods. He lived life in a raw sense, alone and self-sufficient, and because of this, he was able to experience the American Dream. The philosophies that he had and the experiences that he created while living his life coincide with some of the fundamental aspects of the modern dream, which is why Richard Proenneke is a great representation of what Americans now want to achieve in life.
When Richard Proenneke was alone in the wilderness, he surely experienced encounters with wildlife, though he most likely didn't consider becoming friends with the bears in Alaska. Someone did consider that option, though, and that someone is Timothy Treadwell.
Richard Proenneke embodied many aspects of the American Dream, such as wanting and being able to experience nature in a raw, honest sense. Even though he did not have strong ties with other people during his time in seclusion, he had the right mindsets of wanting to free himself from society, and because of these mindsets, he was a great representation of the dream. The American Dream advocates for creating and maintaining close ties with other people, and Richard Proenneke did not succeed all that well when it came to this philosophy. He sometimes exited seclusion so that he could visit his family, but except for these occasions, there were not many times is which he maintained contact with people. This is because he was focused on experiencing the world in its natural beauty and finding the meaning of himself through seclusion and the search for individualism. He was able to do this, by living decades surrounded by the most diverse wilderness in the world, immersed in the Alaskan wilderness. He found himself being able to experience some of the most important aspects of the dream, as he simplified his life in order to live it with meaning, even if that meant that he didn’t have close contact with other people or he didn’t possess a large amount of material goods. He lived life in a raw sense, alone and self-sufficient, and because of this, he was able to experience the American Dream. The philosophies that he had and the experiences that he created while living his life coincide with some of the fundamental aspects of the modern dream, which is why Richard Proenneke is a great representation of what Americans now want to achieve in life.
When Richard Proenneke was alone in the wilderness, he surely experienced encounters with wildlife, though he most likely didn't consider becoming friends with the bears in Alaska. Someone did consider that option, though, and that someone is Timothy Treadwell.