The Last American Man

Gilbert crafts a careful image in her choice to name the book "The Last American Man". This makes three assumptions... that he is somehow the "last" of something, that there is a difference between an "American" man and any other type of man, and an idea of masculinity. That he is the last one could be taken into very simple terms... that in all the future generations, people are becoming more and more inept at being able to live without human commodities and human resources. Therefore, no one will follow in his interest in nature because there will be no nature/ no people with an interest in nature left. However it can also speak of the standards he sets for himself... no one else can follow them, because of how he has trained himself highly for his entire life, and what he doesn't realize is that his perfectionism is not, in fact, natural; the people that he idolizes so much, who he is trying to live like, probably wouldn't have even satisfied his extreme desire for perfection. He would have been disappointed with the very people that he emulates, making either him or them the true "American" persona, and whichever he is, it is the first and last of whatever kind he is trying to create. Also the idea of being "American" comes up here... why is he not called the last frontiersman? America has changed from being a culture looking for freedom and exploration to one of the most materialistic cultures in the world. The life he is trying to live reflects the idea of old America... at least, he wants it to. Unfortunately, it also reflects a desire for attention; just what America today has come to stand for- and an idea of what he does is the right thing and everyone else is wrong. Though this doesn't necessarily reflect modern- day America (many cultures have had this idea for a long time), it isn't positive like he wants it to be.