Why, Gilbert, why?

Elizabeth Gilbert greatly admires Eustace Conway. She respects his way of life and how he has attempted to complete his dreams. Eustace’s Turtle Island impresses and amazes her. She is in awe of him, which is clear from her first meeting with Eustace, when she meets him in New York. She writes, “It seemed curious to me that somebody who eats possum and wipes his butt with leaves could have managed to acquire a thousand acres of pristine wilderness. But Eustace Conway was, as I would discover, a most cunning man (11).” Later in the book, she writes, “My initial reaction on witnessing Eustace Conway’s life was relief. When I first heard of his life and his adventures, all I could think was Thank God. Thank God somebody in America was still living this way. Thank God there was at least one genuine mountain man, frontiersman, pioneer, maverick out there (125).” Her use of “maverick” and “cunning” show the scope of her admiration. Gilbert is taken with Conway and so wants to spread his story. She thinks readers will find Conway compelling, and so her story benefits both Conway and readers, by informing readers about this Man of Destiny and by giving Conway free publicity, to use a crude term. Gilbert also seems to want to challenge herself as a writer. Conway is a complicated man, one who is both pitiable and admirable. Readers may dislike Conway, with his narcissism and his perfectionism, but they can also be swept up in Gilbert’s terms of affection and see Conway as respectable, strong, and tender. Gilbert, by writing "The Last American Man," challenged herself to present a full picture of Eustace Conway’s personality, with all his faults and merits, and she tried to explain both his cruel streak and his gentle side. One could argue she tries to get the reader to see Conway as she sees him, but I think she mostly wanted to write a character study about a man whom she finds great.