The Stranger in the Woods

Although Michael Finkel writes most of the story from a first-person point of view, the North Pond hermit is the central figure of the story. The Stranger in the Woods elevates Knight from local myth and news cycle oddity to a cunning but tragic survivalist.

Both an honest man and a thief, Knight represents multiple contradictions. His improbable lifestyle is possible through hyperrational planning. He has no desire for friends and is proud to refer to himself as “lord of the woods” yet remains intensely insecure about how others perceive him (98). He reads voraciously and can quote The Communist Manifesto, but he cares little for intellectuals or high-minded visions.

Most of the book comes from Knight’s interviews over the course of his stay in prison, where a glass panel and telephones separate he and Finkel. He has a slow speaking style with a word choice that is “careful as a poet” (49), and Finkel notes that it can feel more like dictation than conversation. These barriers are necessary for him to feel in control; Knight struggles with