Analysis Of Into The Wild By Jon Krakauer

McCandless, when faced with that choice, joined the group of people who chose the path of challenge over the path of convention. “McCandless was hardly unique; there’s quite a few of these guys hanging around the state, so much alike that they’re almost a collective cliché” (71). Some believed that McCandless was like the other guys hanging around, but the people who got a good understanding of McCandless will say he is unique. He went to Alaska for different reasons than the guys hanging around the state, he had something to prove and find for himself. What makes McCandless different is that he was a hero, he went out to Alaska unprepared with nothing and wouldn’t take people’s help because he didn’t want to rely on anyone but himself. He wanted to create his own life and make his own

In the book, Into The Wild, a journalist who was known as John Krakauer tells the story of Christopher Johnson McCandless, rather known as Alex.

In 1990 at the age of 22, Chris McCandless started his journey to travel the country and live off the land alone. He survived well until he hitchhiked to Alaska in 1992. Chris thought that if he could make it there, he could make it anywhere. Four months after going off the grid in the Alaskan wilderness, his decomposed body was discovered by a party of hunters. The nonfiction novel, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, is his story. It has many important themes that define the life of Chris McCandless. A couple themes, for example, are having the feeling of ultimate freedom and seeking happiness through a personal challenge.

Chris McCandless constructs identity through his actions during his life journey. In April 1992 Chris disappears into Alaska and tries to live in nature without any preparation and when his body is found no one knows who he is (Krakauer 7, 14). This action contributes to his identity because

In Jon Krakauer's novel Into the Wild, the main character, Chris McCandless, seeks nature so that he can find a sense of belonging and the true meaning of who he is. However, it is the essence of nature that eventually takes his life away from him. At the end of his life, he is discovers his purpose and need of other people. After Chris McCandless death in Alaska, Krakauer wrote Into the Wild to reflect on the journey that McCandless makes. Krakauer protrays McCandless as a young man who is reckless, selfish, and arrogant, but at the same time, intelligent, determined, independent, and charismatic. Along with the irony that occurs in nature, these characteristics are the several factors that contribute to McCandless death.

Chris McCandless was just a victim of his own obsession. The novel "Into The Wild" written by John Krakauer revealed the life of a young bright man named Chris McCandless who turned up dead in Alaska in summer 1992. In the novel, John Krakauer approached carefully McCandless's life without putting too much authorial judgment to the readers. Although Chris McCandless remained an elusive figure throughout the novel, I can see Chris McCandless as a dreamy young idealist who tries to follow his dream but failed because of his innocent mistake which prove to be fatal and irreversible. Still, Chris McCandless's courage and passion was something that we should all be proud of.

A majority of the book’s first half is spent as Krakauer follows the steps that McCandless took on his journey from around the Southwestern United States all the way through the Yukon and into Alaska. Krakauer interviews the people Chris spent time and lived with through all the years leaving those who knew him to describe what the boy they knew as Alex was like. Although nearly all those who knew him have to say was positive things, Krakauer didn’t cherry pick it to be that way he included all people were able to give him both good and bad. People such as Ronald Franz who saw him in incredibly positive light and at the same those such as Lori Zarza who just thought he was kind of a bum. As

Chris was a very stubborn individual and never wanted to compromise his morals to please others. Chris never listened to suggestions or advisement of others as he was on his journey. His incompetence and inability to take other people’s advisement into account was ultimately was caused his death. Gallien tried to warn McCandless of the rough conditions by telling him “the hunting wasn’t easy where he was going, that he could go days without killing any game” (Krakauer 5). Gallien is just one example of someone who tried to help McCandless realize that living alone in Alaska would be very gueling, but McCandless assumed that if he could survive for a month in the Gulf of California, he would also be able to thrive in Alaska. Of course Chris ignored Galliens advice and did things his own way because he’s stubborn. One of Chris’ flaws was that he had very strong opinions that were so different from the rest of society and was fiercely independent. Chris’ beliefs and points of view led to him going into the wild without anyone aware of his whereabouts. Chris never wanted help from anyone and he expressed this when he said, “I won’t run into anything I can’t deal with on my own”(Krakauer 6). Chris also “hadn’t spoken to his family in nearly two years”(Krakauer 6). Both of these quotes emphasize the fact that he felt the need to be utterly alone. If Chris had told someone his real name and his desired destination then he wouldn’t have died alone in Alaska. Chris would’ve been better off if he had listened to the advice he was given and if he had told people about his whereabouts.

Throughout his novel Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer’s own perspectives shape the way he tells the story of Chris McCandless. Krakauer’s writing style allows for varying interpretations of the primary motivations of his protagonist, ranging from sympathizing with Chris to perceiving him as selfish. This is especially evident when Krakauer describes an interview with Walt McCandless about his son’s death seven weeks after Chris’ body was found. However, various interpretations of Krakauer’s work can lead to differing points of view on the subject. While Krakauer’s description of Walt’s emotional reaction to his son’s death could indicate Chris’ selfishness in abandoning his family, it could also serve to justify Chris’ decision to embark on his journey into the Alaskan wilderness.

Equally important are the details and imagery that give readers a special connection to Chris and the setting of the story. Krakauer uses great description and imagery from the very start of the novel. Especially when describing Alaska and the Stampede Trail, Chris’s place of death, Krakauer uses great detail as he describes the “icy stream whose waters are opaque with glacial till” (Krakauer 11). After this beautiful description of the trail, Krakauer cuts to the sight of the late Chris McCandless and describes how “Virtually no fat remained on the body, and the muscles had withered significantly”

“On the northern margin of the Alaska Range, just before the hulking ramparts of Mt. McKinley and its satellites surrender to the low Kantishna plain, a series of lesser ridges, known as the Outer Range, sprawls across the flats like a rumpled blanket on an unmade bed”(Krakauer 9). Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is true story based around Chris Mccandless. Chris ultimilty left normal society and everything he owned to go on a road trip around the country and end up in Alaska. Here in Alaska he meet his end in the harsh winter. In Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, Chris McCandless believes that self-reliance is key to survival, while Ralph Waldo Emerson also believes this based on his work “Self-Reliance”.

Through at times Krakauer allows his emotions regarding Christopher McCandless to be known, his account of Chris’s journey to Alaska and possible motivations is impartial enough, to allow the reader to form their own opinion on McCandless. Author, and narrator Jon Krakauer, introduces Into the Wild by presenting the circumstances surrounding the death of Christopher McCandless: “In April 1992, a young man from a well off East Coast family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. Four months later his decomposed body was found by a party of moose hunters.” (Krakauer, Author’s Note) Jon Krakauer’s introduction, reads like a newspaper article by stating facts.

It was not unexpected that Chris died. Although, it is indeed very disappointing to see that such an inspiring pilgrim did not survive his ¬¬¬inspiring journey. His strong will and his determination to live had saved his life many times such as when kayaking down the Colorado River or when nearly drowning in the Gulf of Mexico (Krakauer 5). It is sad to see that his obsession and craving for the natural world would eventually lead to his death. Innocent mistakes such as eating moldy seeds and not having a map handy killed a great soul. One of his final acts, before his death, was to take a picture of himself where he had spent most of his time under the Alaskan sky, Bus 142. His face looked meager, almost like that of a skeleton, yet he still

Chris McCandless is a young man who feels lost because of family troubles regarding Chris’ father, Walt and a possible affair. Chris was a firm believer in transcendentalism and felt as though he needed to divorce his parents and live a nomadic life… and going to Alaska to live off the land for a while. Jon krakauer, author of Into the Wild, wrote about Chris home life, as well as his adventures and travelers he met on his way. Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer characterizes Christopher McCandless as Determined and spontaneous.

Throughout Chris’s adolescent years, there was something inside of him that drew him to the wilderness. A desire to leave behind his past perhaps, or just a passion that could only be satisfied through nature. As a young boy, his family would take camping trips every year. This was one of Chris’s favorite memories with his family. Walt, Chris’s father, reminisces and explains, “Chris loved those trips, the longer the better” (108). Everyone recognized his fascination with the wild. A yearly camping trip however, couldn’t fulfill his need to be in the wild. As Chris ventured into the Alaska wilderness, he discovered the happiness he was looking for his entire life. The happiness he was longing for was finally achieved.