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Halfway Man Character Analysis

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"Nature is a great teacher, and many of the things that happen in nature can guide you in your other avenues." (David Lynch). Nature is what makes planet Earth unique yet it is something too often overlooked by humans in everyday life. It must not be overlooked, though. It should be cherished along with all the teachings it has to offer. In the novel Halfway Man by Wayland Drew, the idea that nature is essential to all human beings is shown through nature’s power to help characters make important decisions, to provide all that is needed and to draw people into itself.
To begin, characters in the novel make their most substantial decisions while in nature. This is demonstrated in Travis’ decision about what to do about Michael Gardner and in …show more content…
Travis spends some time in the city so that he may attend university. He feels as though people in the city disregard nature in all aspects of their lives and have little respect for it. That is until he meets Jenny and she shows interest in his culture and appreciation for nature. Her curiosity and interest leads her to eventually join Travis in Neyashing. “She lifted her pack out of the box and brushed her hair back and looked where Cutler was pointing, up the hill at my place, telling her something, and there was a fresh sound in Neyashing, Jenny’s laughter.” (Drew 33). Jenny had not been involved in nature and she was not living north with Travis, yet she was still interested in, and felt drawn to, nature. Michael Gardner lives his life ignoring the constant desire to go north that is within him. He begins to board a train when he sees 31 swans and is mesmerized by the sight of them flying. Changing his mind about his destination, it is said that “He will not reach his office that morning; he will not return to his empty house that evening; he will not drive south to spend easter weekend with his friends. He will go north.” (Drew 168). This is when Michael fully realizes and accepts this desire. Although he is a well off member of society with a stable job, money and friends, he is drawn by nature to go north and leave his life in the industrialized world behind for a

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