Abbey writes, “There will be other readers, I hope, who share my basic assumption that wilderness is a necessary part of civilization […]” (58). Do you agree that civilization needs wilderness? Why, or why not?

Is Edward Abbey an ethical person? How so? How not so?

Of all the secondary figures in the book, whom do you suppose Abbey might describe as his “best friend,” and why? What makes this person seem “closer” with Abbey than any of the others? Is this person the most like Abbey, of those figures mentioned?