48 pages • 1 hour read
Michael FinkelThe Stranger in the Woods
Nonfiction | Biography | Adult | Published in 2017A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 12-13Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 12 Summary
Christopher Knight grew up in Albion, Maine, less than an hour’s drive from his campsite. He was the fifth of six children born to Sheldon and Joyce Knight, who had him participate in family projects, such as fixing electronics and automotive equipment, optimizing crop yields, and building a greenhouse using water-filled jugs to create a heat sink. The family kept a library’s worth of books and magazines along with any piece of scrap metal they could find. Aside from some hunting excursions with his father, Knight wasn’t an outdoorsman and never slept in a tent.
The Knights valued “Yankee ingenuity” that stated, “It’s better to be tough than strong, better to be clever than intelligent” (68). Knight said he had no complaints about his upbringing but notes that his parents were strict and discouraged the boys from expressing feelings. One of the few displays of affection he recalled was giving a bouquet of lilacs to his mother. His family was intensely private with a small circle of friends.
Alumni at Lawrence High School said that while Knight didn’t seem strange, he never joined clubs, skipped gym class, and avoided events like prom. One student, Jeff Young, recalls when he and Knight planned to skip school only for Knight to immediately abandon the plan after seeing his father drive by. Young felt that Christopher Knight had both respect and “a little fear of [his dad]” (74). A former outdoors class teacher of Knight’s worried about telling students that it was ok to steal food from a camp for survival, worrying that the future thief took the lesson to heart.
Knight completed a nine-month electronics course after graduation before taking a job installing alarm systems for houses. Less than a year later, however, he suddenly quit and went for an impromptu trip to Florida in a 1985 Subaru Brat he bought with help from his brother Joel. Enjoying the days of watching the world go by, he realized that he is most comfortable when alone. He returned to Maine and took one last glimpse of his family’s home before driving as far the Brat could take him, abandoning it, and wandering into the wilderness.
Chapter 13 Summary
Knight can’t explain why he left, calling it a “mystery” even to himself (39). He wasn’t escaping a broken home, covering up a crime, or questioning his sexuality.
Hermits typically pursue their lifestyle for three reasons. The first reason is to protest social evils. Examples include 18th century French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who preferred solitude and poverty to a wicked society, and Lao-tzu, whose belief that wisdom comes from inaction and retreat formed the basis of the Tao Te Ching. For a more modern example, Finkel lists the hikikomori of Japan who left the nation’s competitive work culture for the virtual world.
The second reason is religious pilgrimage. The stories of Jesus of Nazareth, Mohammad, and the Buddha include periods in meditative seclusion. Hindu sadhus renounce familial and material connections as the final stage before enlightenment. The anchorites of the European Middle Ages spent their lives in cells and advised those who came by. The women who used this path to escape gender roles may represent an early form of feminism.
The final reason is to pursue knowledge, encompassing a list of great minds that include Plato, Vincent Van Gough, Albert Einstein, and Henry David Thoreau. Knight bristles at Thoreau being a “true hermit” though, calling the Walden author a “dilettante” who maintained an active social life while living in the woods and sold his experiences as a book (82-83). While Knight fits none of these categories, he may be a true hermit because of his goal of eliminating all outside connections.
Chapters 12-13 Analysis
Chapter 12 provides the closest look yet into Knight’s upbringing and the origin of his survival skills. The Yankee ingenuity necessary to construct the Robinson Crusoe-like structures at his campsite comes from family projects, and toughness and cleverness are more valuable than pure muscle or brainpower when it comes to enduring the elements. These mantras, however, also help when it comes to invading homes.
Knight respects his family and feels sorry for the trouble he caused them, but some details suggest that his feelings are more complex. Jeff Young’s account suggests that he may be afraid of his father. Even if the Knight household isn’t broken, there could still be tension between Christopher Knight and his parents if his solitary mindset first manifested as a lack of interest in a career or life goals.
Meanwhile, Knight can’t recall what his brothers looked like when they visited him in prison, but he does remember that they nicknamed him “Fudd” after Elmer Fudd, an easily provoked cartoon villain with slurred speech. Knight mentions that people criticize his tone and abrasiveness, which are issues that could have existed before his North Pond stay. His sister Susanna, who has minimal agency due to Downs syndrome, ends up being the one family member Knight misses the most.
Even if Maine families keep to themselves, it’s strange that Knight’s family did not try to find him. Not only does Knight leave without telling his family members, they end up paying for the job equipment and car that he abandons. His brothers assure his mother that he is still alive, suggesting that he’s living out of state, but they don’t try to find out more. Still, it’s hard to conclude, as the Knights are so private that Finkel mentions low sociability could be an inheritable trait.
Knight’s high-school years show that he was a high-performing, if introverted, student who had friends. If his goal is to deal with people as little as possible, however, then the easiest way would be to do what he’s told. This explanation fits with how Knight is a model prisoner after his capture. While his electronics training ironically becomes invaluable to him after leaving society, the fact that he did the same program that two of his brothers did further supports that he lacked a solid career goal. It isn’t until he bought the Brat that escape from social obligations became possible, manifesting first as the road trip. Then, he realized that the car itself was unnecessary and made his way into the woods.
Chapter 13 delves into the reasons why people become hermits and how Knight subverts them. His examples demonstrate the importance of isolation in spiritual matters, the fact that a hermit lifestyle doesn’t preclude one from contributing to society, and the use of hermitage to escape social injustice. Yet Knight’s point about Thoreau demonstrates an irony about famous hermits: These loners are among the most beloved people in history despite their presumed preference for solitude.
