First impressions
How can “the sightseer” recover an ability to actually see things? Well, he can recover it “in any number of ways.” It may be restored by “leaving the beaten track.” Let’s imagine that out sightseer is a tourist. The said tourist “leaves the tour, camps in the back country.” He “arises before dawn” and “approaches the South Rim” through “a wild terrain” where “there are no trails” and “no railed-in lookout points.” In other words, he will see the place by “avoiding all the facilities” for sightseeing. Nothing is going to distract him from observing the beauty of nature. This imagery is supposed to show how evasive and short-lasting the feeling of awe is. People get used to picturesque landscapes, wonders, and even beauty, tending to ignore it in the future.
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“Suppose a man” is “a castaway on an island.” However, it is should be mentioned that he is “a special sort of a castaway.” He has neither recollection of himself nor “recollection of where he came from”, for he has lost his memory “in the shipwreck.” The only thing he knows is that “one day he finds himself cast up on the beach.” Our hero doesn’t even know “who” he is. Luckily for him, he soon discovers that “the island is inhabited” and that the islanders “have a remarkable culture.” This imagery evokes a feeling of alienation.
Numerous questions
Though we are lucky to be born in a century of the advanced technologies and democracy, many people feel terribly “sad.” There is no clear answer why man feels so “bad” in the very age when, “more than in any other age,” he has “succeeded in satisfying his needs” and “making over the world for his own use.” There is no reasonable explanation why we continue entering “an orgy of war, murder, torture, and self-destruction.” What the author tries to find out is why people “often feel bad in good environments” and “good in bad environments.” This imagery evokes a feeling of confusion.
