The Hiking Trip

Sometimes in life, it’s good to take risks and face your fears.

In the short story “The Hiking Trip”, the main protagonist Jeff is

faced with a dilemma to either cower with discontent or be a hero and

save his brother’s life. Since Jeff is young and ignorant, he is

challenged with an internal conflict that eventually drives him

forward with the words of his father as fuel, and the external

conflict of the ragged environment that he struggles to navigate

through.

Jeff is incredibly scared of the situation he was

faced with; his brother was hurt by a snake bite, his father was old

and slow, and the seemingly lovely hiking trip turned into a complete

nightmare. Jeff complained to his father as they were making their

way through the dangerously ragged canyon, whining behind him, “I’m

scared! I don’t even want to have courage!” (Par 3). He says this

because his father is attempting to urge him forward by telling him,

“…have enough love for your brother to think this through!” (Par 4).

With these inspiring and pressing words, Jeff manages to oppress his

fears and get ahead of his father, and he finally ignores the problem

with the canyon beating him down.

As Jeff is pumping with adrenaline, he gets further

and further ahead of his lagging father, and, soon enough, he finds

his father’s car parked where he was told it’d be. Because Jeff is

now excited and proud, he runs to the road, using all his energy, and

attempts to find someone to hitch-hike off of. Fortunately for Jeff,

a tow truck lets him in, and gives him a ride to get help in a town

called Flint. Although he seemed to be pumped with energy, the second

Jeff had a chance to relax in the seat of the truck, he faints from

exhaustion. Jeff woke up in a Flint hotel with his father, and the

first thing he remembers was his brother. “Where’s Mark? Is he OK?”

(Par 18). He was worried for his brother, who, in the end, was really

the reason he was finally able to undergo his paradigm shift. His

father says to him with pride, “You’re a hero, son!” (Par 14), and

“I’m so proud of you!” (Par 17).

In conclusion, Jeff was then able to face his fears

and conquer the rough environment of the canyon. His brother was

fine, thanks to Jeff, and his father got out thanks to the same tow

truck that picked up Jeff. Overall, Jeff’s changes were life saving,

and he was now a man.

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