The “Man in the Woods” by Ashley Powers appeared in The Sunday Long Read on June 5th, first appearing in The California Sunday Magazine. It is a chilling and sadly memorable account of a mind unraveled, a life gone terribly wrong. There are plenty of victims, including the killer himself. It is also a dramatically told story of the manhunt to find – and ultimately take down – the tormented young man.
It is most certainly a story rather than a report, without question. According to Clark, a story gives the reader an experience, not just provides information. This piece most definitely takes the reader on a journey, with emotional peaks and valleys; it propels the reader toward the end (noted as key in Blaine’s text).
Distinctive parts and subparts are important, according to Clark. This piece contains 14 sections, I believe. They are not identified by headings but are separated by space between sections or by photographs (at least that’s how they appeared online).
The pattern of sections is worth noting because there is some amount of repetition. They are as follows: 1. Scene setter lede, beautifully written, almost poetic; 2. Key “anecdote” that becomes the crux of the story – Aaron, young man in the woods fires at and kills men investigating his drug operation; 3. Lure of the Redwoods and their attraction to various fringe type individuals and groups; 4 Look back at the early life of Aaron; 5. Manhunt begins; 6. Back to Aaron’s story, progressing forward in time; 7. Second week of manhunt; 8. Introduction of sheriff in charge of manhunt, including his back story of having a brother experiencing mental illness with some similarities to Aaron; 8. Look back at Aaron’s earlier life, again progressing forward in time, with his arrest for behavior related to delusions; sister’s recognition of the darkness of her brother’s life; 9. Exposition about laws regarding involuntary commitment to psychiatric facility, learning how the system failed in this case; 10. Third week of manhunt; 11.Look back at Aaron’s life, forward to the point where his father was relieved to hear he was moving into the woods, which he thought would keep him safe; 12. Closing in on Aaron and shooting/killing him; 13. Reflections from each party in Aaron’s life (except his mother, for some reason); 14. Reflection from the Sheriff who hunted him down, carrying out his responsibilities but still seeing the tragedy of Aaron’s life and humanity. To note from this breakdown is that each aspect of the story moves forward, with the sections interspersed.
Two other tools from Clark to note are use of internal cliffhangers and putting coins along the path. Each section ends with a cliffhanger, to be returned to after the next interspersed section. The coins along the path, to me, are beautifully worded ideas that hit hard. For example, the writer states about Aaron that in the woods, “he was a woodman, not a lost boy.” The thought of hiding his brokenness by removing himself from others and merging into the woods is jarring. We know it won’t work. There are a number of others that make the reader stop and ponder what it must have been like for this “lost boy.”
Something else to mention is juxtaposition. A number of the photographs show natural beauty of the setting juxtaposed with the horrific events taking place. The photograph of Aaron as a young man, handsome and well groomed, juxtaposed with description of how he was regarded by others, despite his relative good looks – “that something about him warned – stay away.” And that same photograph juxtaposed with his mug shot just cries out, “What happened??” Of course, we learn that the real villain of the story is the mental illness which has stolen his mind.