Forgotten People of the Blue Highways Essay -- Blue Highways

Forgotten People of the Blue Highways Journeying along the back roads of the blue highways of the road maps, William Least Heat Moon discovers the forgotten people of America in Blue Highways. In the beginning, his trip seems to be motivated by anger and disillusion. But when readers look deeper into the story, they see that Least Heat Moon focuses the attention on how to "climb out of a world which he realized was impersonal and materialistic" (Lyons 63). By avoiding the large cities, he focuses his attention on the forgotten civilizations. His ability to convey feelings with his storytelling doesn't commercialize the people or the stories. According to one critic, "Least Heat Moon has the judgment to step aside and let them tell their own often remarkable stories in their own words" (Perrin, 858). By mapping out his route, Least Heat Moon goes full circle from his hometown of Columbia Missouri to Othello, New Jersey, and back. Feeling as if his life is going nowhere, Least Heat Moon starts his journ ey in the middle of America. Throughout the novel, t...