For Tuesday: Johnson, “The Hungry Jungle” (37-47)

 

For Tuesday: Johnson, “The Hungry Jungle” (37-47)

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: Why do Angela and Suley want to get married in such a dangerous, inaccessible place in the world? What does it represent to them as a couple, and how does the author try to explain it to the reader?

Q2: The author agrees to tag along because, in her words, “My future was a cloudy mess, but I knew this: I am an adventurer” (39). What do you think she means by this word, given that she is not an experienced adventurer, at least in the sense of exploring foreign lands? Why might this word be an important part of her self-identity?

Q3: The essay is entitled “The Hungry Jungle”: how is this phrase both literal and symbolic in the essay? Also, how does this essay reveal some of the darker realities to ‘adventure’ travel that we often don’t think about?

Q4: Toward the end of the essay, the author writes, “I have never felt anything close to the bond these women share. Merging with another person requires a kind of faith I’ve distrusted and resisted. But this alter was made for transformation” (44). How is this essay, like many of our food essays, also about relationships? How is travel a way to examine our relationships with other people—and ourselves?