Desert Solitaire

Waterman is a friend of Edward Abbey’s; he’s a student at the University of Colorado who is avoiding the military draft. Waterman drives down to Moab from Aspen to join Abbey on a weekend trip into a cluster of canyons called The Maze. Waterman is well-prepared for their descent, packing plenty of rope and nimbly navigating the steep, rocky path in his jeep as Abbey walks ahead, clearing brush. Like Ralph Newcomb during Abbey’s trip to Glen Canyon, Waterman is reluctant to return to society. But whereas Newcomb’s reluctance stems from his rewarding camaraderie with Abbey, Waterman avoids civilization because he has been drafted by the military. He is essentially a refugee, seeking shelter in the wilderness against an unfair and senselessly violent political system. In this way, Waterman illustrates Abbey’s argument that humans need wilderness as an antidote to the evils of society—not just because periodic isolation benefits society, but also because untamed wilderness is the perfect venue for off-the-grid political refuge and for armed rebellion against totalitarian regimes. Ten years later, at the time of Desert Solitaire’s publication, Abbey expected Waterman’s example to resonate with the thousands of angry protestors who burned their draft cards during the Vietnam War. In addition to his political role, Waterman helps illustrate Abbey’s belief that language is an artificial construct and that it removes people from reality. In one scene, as the two men contemplate distant rock formations, Abbey wants to find names for them, insisting that language helps people comprehend the world. Waterman refuses, arguing that to name something is useless and possessive—a view that Abbey ultimately agrees with and echoes throughout the book.