Christopher Knight, A Man Who Chose Total Solitude

Christopher Knight is a person who from a clinical point of view is classified as “normal”. Still, he did something unusual: he is a man who chose total solitude for almost three decades. It was a completely voluntary option and in his final balance, the protagonist of this story thinks it was a happy experience.

Total loneliness is something that intimidates most people, although hardly anyone has ever really dealt with it. Being isolated from everything and everyone is, in fact, something that many people never even attempt, throughout their lives. Perhaps that is why it is so feared.

Christopher Knight’s story led to the publication of a book called The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit , by Mike Finkel. This journalist was astonished to learn the story of the man who chose total solitude and asked the obvious question: why.

The total loneliness of a hermit

Christopher Knight’s story of total loneliness began in 1989, when he was 20 years old. One day, he decided to go deep into a forest  in Maine, in the northeastern United States. He arrived in a car that he later abandoned, taking only a few basic camping tools with him.

He entered the thicket, until he was lost. At one point he visualized the place that he considered most suitable to become his new home. He simply pitched a small tent, spread a tarp between the trees, and lived there for the next 27 years.

There were some tourist huts not too far from here, and Knight knew it; That’s why he hid and did everything possible so that no one would see him. For obvious reasons, the provisions did not last long, so he had to sneak over and over to where the tourists were. He stole some food from them, fuel for his stove and basic tools. Never something you don’t need to survive.

The motives of a lonely man

The area where Christopher Knight settled was not exactly comfortable. Winters are very harsh and during that season the temperature can reach up to 20 ° C below zero. Still, this man never built a fire at the site, to avoid detection.

How did you endure 27 winters in those conditions? Knight set his alarm clock for 3 a.m., which was the coldest point of the night. Afterwards, he would start walking without stopping until dawn, to keep his body warm. Such was his desire to be in total solitude that he voluntarily submitted to this ritual.

Many people will wonder about the activities that Knight carried out for almost three decades, in the midst of that total loneliness. The answer is simple: basically nothing. He says he read a few books and completed a crossword puzzle, but most of the time he was there, existing. He felt in perfect communion with nature and that is why he points out that he was never bored.

An interrupted experience

Christopher Knight had no particular reason to experience total loneliness. He has said that he was simply not comfortable with people around him and that getting away from everyone was an almost biological necessity for him. During the 27 years he was in the woods, he only greeted one hiker whom he ran into by chance.

As he had to steal food and supplies on a regular basis, tourists began to notice and nervousness appeared. The police took the lead and set him up. So they captured him and he went to jail for eight months. While in prison, he shared his story with journalist Mike Finkel.

When Knight describes his experience, he says he never knew where his body ended and the nature around him began. Although he did not use these words, his was an experience of total fusion with the environment. Therefore, he was not alone. More than ever, he felt part of a context in which he only had to breathe to enjoy the miracle of existing.