Chapter 8 response Last American Man

Eustace’s apprentices dislike Eustace for the main reason that he is not what they expected him to be. Eustace is a man, and all men have flaws, which is something that is not expected by Eustace’s apprentices, like Jason. All of these people flock to Eustace because they’re attracted to the idea of Eustace, which is very romantic. He is a lamp that attracts lost souls like mosquitoes. But instead of being Lollapalooza, Eustace is John Wayne. His work ethic and instead of being high, he is always down to Earth to such an extreme that it could be his flaw as well as his strength. I wouldn’t want to work for Eustace for the fact that I hate the woods and I don’t think he would let be independent while I’m on his property. I’m not afraid of hard work, I’d rather do manual labor instead of a corporate job, but I’d imagine Eustace would find one of my flaws and constantly draw conclusions as a result of the flaw. 

Chapter 7 Last American MAn

Eustace is first drawn to horses due to their natural beauty. He is naturally gifted with them, and he is so drawn to their beauty he purchases ten of them. He starts riding horses around the area of which he resides, and he suddenly stumbles upon a large, poorer, black family reunion to which he is invited. He is well received by the family and they treat him like a king. He realizes that the reason he was invited by this family, people who are almost the exact opposite of himself, because of his horse. The revelation to him is that, he needs the horse, as an “icebreaker”, for the reason it gives people that have little or nothing in common with each other, a starting point of getting to know each other. He rides his horse all over the south, and he comes into contact with people of all races in the south, telling him of some of their experiences of living in the south. Eustace realizes on the trip that that unique southern culture and drawl is beginning to disappear, to what he theorizes is the media and information being available everywhere. He notes that the generational gaps in southern society are beginning to become very distinct. It reminds me of the gap that Eustace has with his father. Both Eustace and his father, like the young and old, have a lot in common, but the little things, such as vocabulary or interests, are driving them further and further apart.

Chapter 6 blog Last American Man

In chapter 6 we see that the responsibilities, financial and otherwise, are finally catching up to Eustace. He has continued his nation wide tour, which has inadvertently led to his girlfriend having an affair with another man, while he is gone. Along with his being gone, I think Eustace’s dominating and extreme personality have caused Valerie to do that. Also, in order to expand Turtle Island, Eustace was “forced” to buy land from some very shady people. He could have potentially put himself in a very delicate position of paying his father and simultaneously the shady businessmen whom he purchased more land from. Also, another problem Eustace could face is his new marriage. Along with all of his other positions, motivational speaker, camp counselor, etc., he is now a husband. I don’t know if Eustace can keep this going, due to his constant falling in love with many different women and his “my way or the highway” personality. 

Chapter 5 blog Last American Man

The pressures felt by Eustace of running Turtle Island are tolls that affect him constantly. When Eustace is not running across the nation yelling at audiences of people he cannot relate to and he loathes, he is busy working in his 107 acres of land. We learn that when Eustace finally has a 40 day break from his public presentations, a very rare occurrence, he decides to build an office in his land, which he spends all most the entire day doing. Eustace would spend all hours working on his building, only getting three or fours hours of sleep a night. When he wasn’t touring the country or constructing buildings, he would host children and adult camps, in which he would teach his campers how to live in the world, pray, and about the new world they are living in. All of this work would make him question his relationships with those closest with him, such as Valerie. In Valerie’s case, Eustace would question as to whether or not he could be with her forever and with his workload that took away a lot of time from their love life. Most of these burdens, such as the ones for money, all stemmed from Eustace’s estranged father. Eustace had to convince his father to loan him enough money to purchase Turtle Island, a near $80,000 investment, and o pay him back with considerable interest.