West with the Night | Themes

West with the Night Themes

Adventure

The main theme of the book is about adventure. Beryl Markham's life is set out within the pages of the book like one long adventure, beginning with the search for a downed pilot, suggesting the danger of flying in the wilds of Africa, and ending with a historic flight that ended before its scheduled landing. Beryl was a woman who lived with the natives of a foreign land, hunting in near nakedness beside tribal leaders, killing the dangerous hogs of the region with her own spear and being mauled by wild lions. There was nothing about Beryl's life that was not an adventure.

Even the tone of the memoir suggests that life was nothing but one new challenge after another to Beryl. Beryl talked about raising horses with her father, about falling off the horses and learning to read their spirit. Beryl talked about training horses to win the biggest...
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