Character Analysis: Into The Wild

The romantic notion of condemning society and leaving everything behind is one many have had, but next to none have carried out. While there are reasons for this, Christopher McCandless disregarded them and completed this surreal experience. John Krakauer’s book, Into the Wild, chronicled this journey from Virginia to Alaska. On this expedition McCandless touched many people’s lives, working odd-jobs and hitching rides. He eventually met his end while on his Alaskan odyssey, his most ambitious campaign. Many people think that he deserved this fate because of his disregard for the dangers of the Alaskan wilderness. However, Chris McCandless was independent and he did not care for fitting in. His happiness with his life was uncommon. He was

Authors in many instances use the main elements in the story such as setting and narrative to prove a point in the story. For example, writers often use characters, their actions, and their interaction with other characters to support or prove a theme. In the short story “Our Thirteenth Summer”, Barry Callaghan effectively uses characters to develop the theme that childhood is fragile and easily influenced. One of the ways that Callaghan makes effective use of characters to develop the theme is by describing the tension between Bobbie and his parents. This usage of characters supports the theme because Bobbie’s childhood is no longer free to do what he wishes, but has to bow down to his parents’

The book The 5th Wave is a fictional story that leads the reader through the struggles of the main character, Cassie who strived while surviving a disastrous alien invasion; which is not so much little creatures, as a disease that attacks a persons brain. The world is coming to a collapse and the only way to get rid of this chaos, is to kill off the power source. In the novel The 5th Wave, Rick Yancey centralizes around the idea that courage is key to survival; this is revealed through trusting one's instincts, trusting strangers and believing in oneself.

The story of Chris McCandless has become a pop culture phenomenon. Many are fascinated by his desire to abandon his family and society and “walk into the wild” (Krakauer 69). Newscasts, magazine articles, movies, and books have tried to define what motivated him to give up everything for his Alaskan odyssey; however, the answers died with McCandless. People make assumptions about him without knowing his entire story. McCandless chose to do the unconventional, making people think he was either foolish or brave and determined, but ultimately he was selfish for doing what he did.

Jon Krakauer, the author of the book, Into the Wild only know about Chris McCandless is an explorer traveling to Alaska search for himself reborn. However he isn’t exactly what he really is, but an ignorant, foolish, selfish, and misunderstanding of the world in which he lives. These words that have been used to describe him are based on the idea that he went on a journey to the Alaskan wilderness to seek his own revelation, but not having a firm grasp of reality, he senselessly died a stubborn man, the people mention that he was unprepared to go into the wilderness, didn’t listen to a more experienced person, broken several of state laws, abandoned his family and loved ones, and followed a dream that never existed. Personally believed he is an ignorant fool, selfish, and misunderstand man that throws his life away for nothing but despair.

Hitchhiking across the country, kayaking down the Colorado River, and working occasionally, Chris took it upon himself to be the only one in charge of his life. Whenever he got bored, he just continued to the next exciting adventure. Traveling all along the West Coast, he told many people of his dream to go to Alaska. He had been to Alaska before on an abbreviated trip, it was then that he fell in love with the Last Frontier. Chris had vowed to himself to return to this breathtaking site, which he did on April 28th, 1992 when he walked into the wild east of Denali National Park (Read). Careless of his own personal safety he took off into the wilderness with only a .22 caliber rifle, a ten pound bag of rice, and few tools and utensils. The challenge was to travel with the least amount of belongings and money as possible (Read). More importantly, however, was what he did not take; a topographical map of the area and a compass. His goal was to find the most desolate and wildest place that he could claim as his own, in a world that already had taken claim of everything. Jon Krakauer underlines his intentions by writing, “People don’t get it. ‘He didn’t have a map. What kind of idiot...’ That was the point. There’s no blank spots on the map anymore, anywhere on earth. You want a blank spot on the map, you’ve got to leave the map behind”

In 1992, when Chris McCandless abandoned modern society and fled to Alaska to find himself and, in the long run, lose his life, Americans from all over saw his death as a tragic downfall, and his story as a relatable and moving tale of a young man simply trying to make a difference. On the other hand, others looked at his journey to be an inevitable suicide-trip, considering his lack of supplies and overall experience. However, despite the fact that he was unprepared, McCandless, because of his ideas and motivation for a better world, was justified in shunning society in order to pursue his dream life on the Alaskan frontier.

I was pleased to have attended a lecture cosponsored by the Ethics Center, the Fresno State office of the president, the Fresno Bee and Valley PBS. The lecture began with Dr. Castro recognizing a few leaders on campus, including a past Fresno State president, Dr. John D. Welty and campus volunteer Mary Castro. Dr. Castro then mentioned a few things about Mr. Brooks stating that he is a columnist for the New York Times and an analyst for the PBS “News Hour” and NPR’s “All Things Considered.” Dr. Brooks also teaches at Yale University, one the finest university in the country. Dr. Castro continued by saying that he learned that Mr. Brooks office hours are from 9am to 1pm and how “cool” it sounded to him. I was surprised how many people attended the event. I was fortunate to find a seat. David Brooks mentioned how he has some remote roots in the Central Valley because his father grew in Chowchilla, CA but Mr. Brooks grew in New York.

Jimmy knows too well the agonies of abandonment. First, when his mother, Cecilia, ran away with Richard to pursue a better lifestyle. Then, due to his father’s, Damacio Baca, alcoholisms and violent behavior; he also had to leave Jimmy behind. In spite of the drawbacks from abandonment to being a maximum security prisoner in Arizona State Prison, Jimmy preserver’s the darkness of prison by overcoming his illiteracy. However Cecilia and Damacio is not as fortunate as their child; Cecilia is shot by Richard after confronting him for a divorce and Damacio chokes to death after he is released from the detox center(Baca 263). Therefore the most significant event in this section of the memoir, A Place to Stand by Jimmy Santiago Baca is the death of Jimmy’s parents.

Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, describes the adventure of Christopher McCandless, a young man that ventured into the wilderness of Alaska hoping to find himself and the meaning of life. He undergoes his dangerous journey because he was persuade by of writers like Henry D. Thoreau, who believe it is was best to get farther away from the mainstreams of life. McCandless’ wild adventure was supposed to lead him towards personal growth but instead resulted in his death caused by his unpreparedness towards the atrocity nature.

Henry David Thoreau once said, “live the life you dreamed.” To follow the words of one of his biggest influences, Chris McCandless did exactly that, live his dream. After graduating college, McCandless embarked on an adventure across the United States, living as a rubber tramp to a leather tramp. In May, 1992, he finally set off on the adventure he most desired for, and trekked into the Alaskan wilderness. There, McCandless would live completely off the land away from society, so he could find himself. Just like Thoreau did during his time at Walden Pond. Sharing many of the same ideas and beliefs, McCandless included much of Thoreau’s views into his own philosophy; such as, a rejection towards society, a need to simplify, and a respect towards nature.

Trekking along the cold dark trails of the Alaskan interior famished from society, family, and food the average person could not help but ponder why they are in that situation. Chris McCandless however, would say otherwise and probably give you a list why that is his, ideal lifestyle. McCandless’s death in 1992 has baffled the world in numerous ways and has received very mixed reactions. Many questions have been asked about Chris McCandless’s ideology. In the novel, “Into the Wild” John Krakauer has presented his own ideas on what may have been McCandless’s motivation to leave everything behind.

In the first passage of Jon Krakauer’s nonfiction novel, he argues that Christopher McCandless was thought to be an avid survivor of all terrain. In his two year journey, McCandless learns to live off  “wild plants,” experiencing his “adventurous spirit” across North America. He encounters many people from Mexico to South Dakota, who set a trend of wonderment in what a “twenty-four-year-old vagabond” could be doing traveling the country with nothing but a backpack. His “figure out all on his own” attitude suited his “nomadic” life well. The “radical” lifestyle provides McCandless with a sense of newly found “solitude” until his unfortunate “great Alaskan odyssey,” that ultimately ends his life.

In 1996 Jon Krakauer wrote a book called Into the Wild about a young man who embarked on a great journey across the United States and the Alaskan wilderness. In this book Krakauer gives an account of Chris McCandless’s short life and he searches for clues that could lead to the cause of McCandless’s of death. As the story develops and McCandless goes further into his journey, his ideas about many things, such as money, change.

Over the course of this quarter and challenge, I have learned about how important the past is to your current self. Our focus text, A Long Way Home by Saroo Brierley, showed this statement and taught me its importance. Saroo states that his “experiences have undoubtedly shaped who I am today” (Brierley 217). Like Saroo, I too believe my past and experiences led to the formation of my current self. My past influences how I think, how I speak, and how I deal with emotions and situations. Because of reading A Long Way Home, I learned the incredible journey of Saroo’s life and how his past changed him. Applying this to my life, I think of the neighborhood I grew up in, so much like Hobart, and how it affects me presently. Growing up in Mt. Pleasant