
The places we visit throughout our lives can sometimes leave a bigger imprint on us than anything else. The novel Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer displays a man, Chris McCandless, who selfishly went into the Alaskan Interior by himself but the places he visited and the way he connected with the people and places around him before and during the journey helped exemplify who he was. The place Chris McCandless died tells us a lot about who he was as a person. Jon Krakauer is telling us how the bus that Chris died in there got there, “The project was halted in 1963: some fifty miles of road was eventually built, but no bridges were ever erected over the many rivers it transected, and the route was shortly rendered impassable by thawing permafrost and seasonal floods. Yutan hauled two of the buses back to the highway. The third bus was left about halfway out the trail to serve as a backcountry shelter for hunters and trappers.” (Krakauer 10) This quote tells us a lot about Chris’ personality. The bus is located in a place where man tried to put roads and infrastructure, but nature quickly destroyed it. I think this directly relates to Chris being an intelligent college educated person but was called back to nature after man tried to build ‘infrastructure’ inside him. Jon Krakauer gives us a description of the bus “A vintage International Harvester from the 1940’s, the derelict vehicle is located twenty-five miles west of Healy as the raven flies, rusting incongruously in
Many individuals decide to live their life in solitary; though, only a few choose to live in the wild. The book, Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer vividly paints the adventurous trek Chris McCandless went on. From the friends he made, to the hardships he went through, McCandless is portrayed as a friendly, sociable person despite the fact that he was a vagabond. Other than McCandless, there are even more individuals that have taken the risks to live in the wilderness such as, Jon Krakauer and Everett Ruess. All three of them had both similarities and differences between their own qualities as a person and their journey.
Chris McCandless' death was not a "foolish, pointless death (Krakauer 71)." McCandless followed his heart's yearning which is a great feat because not many people chase their dreams and go to great lengths to achieve them. McCandless was one person out of a small percentage to do so. McCandless did lack "the requisite humility" to go out into the wild ( Krakauer 72). McCandless embarked on traveling across the continental United States in search of something to satisfy his hunger for simplicity and living and authentic life. Some of his situations tested his grit and he survived on"five pounds of rice and what marine life he could pull from the sea," that experience later convinced him that he could survive in the Alaskan bush on meager rations
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.
It has been very perplexing reading this novel and trying to truly understand the motives one would have to have to make the decisions McCandless made. I am questioning Chris’ motives for cutting ties with his family and travelling all around the country. I think that he truly had a deep love and spiritual connection with nature. It began as a young child when Walt McCandless (Chris’ father) took Chris on many excursions in the outdoors, such as hiking in the mountains. Chris immediately fell in love with nature and all of the pleasures it had to offer. Also, Chris was motivated by his withering relationship with his family. Early in his life his parents worked tirelessly and it was difficult for Chris to spend time and build a solid relationship with them. Throughout his young life he had disagreed with his parents about many aspects of life. It was said that he
The tale of McCandless is read over high schools everywhere. Classes discuss who he really was. Most critics state that he was ignorant, by not being properly equipped with knowledge and tools. However, this shouldn’t make him innocent. Personally, I believe McCandless was arrogant, but not selfish.
Jon Krakauer's "Into the Wild" presents a very complicated characterization of Chris McCandless, a young man who follows through on a journey into the Alaskan wilderness. Krakauer's analysis looks into McCandless's motivations and actions, offering insights into his character and the meaning behind his adventure. While Krakauer suggests that McCandless's journey was driven by a desire for self-discovery and escape from social interventions, I find myself in partial agreement with this analysis, recognizing McCandless's honorable intentions but also acknowledging the recklessness of his actions. Krakauer describes McCandless as a young idealist seeking freedom and authenticity in a world dominated by materialism and conformity. McCandless rejects his wealthy upbringing and embarks on
Picture yourself surviving in the Alaskan Bush without aid, resources, expertise, and with limited food; frigid gale poking at your nerves, hunger penetrating your thoughts, the epitome of prolonged solitude. Jon Krakauer's book, Into the Wild, provides a retrospective narrative of Chris McCandless's experiences as he embarks on a transformative journey, abandoning his previous life to venture into the untamed Alaskan wilderness. Bound by his ideals, Chris was a stubborn young fellow with an idealistic, profound spirit. Despite his passionate nature, he should not be labeled as “a reckless idiot, a wacko, a narcissist,” as some critics have claimed. Yes, some of Chris’s efforts were twisted and wrong, but, in the end, he was a remarkable human being.
Jon Krakauer's novel, Into the Wild, relates a true story of a young man named Christopher McCandless and his remarkable but fatal journey to discover contentment in the Alaskan wilderness. Krakauer wrote a magazine article about McCandless in 1993 and became obsessed with discovering more about the young boy and his death. With his novel, he shares the story of McCandless and hopes to ignite the same interest in his readers as he developed when he first heard of the boy’s enthralling story. He hopes to enlighten his readers’ views on how happiness can be achieved and spread McCandless’s insatiable desire for adventure to young people today who are seeking the meaning of life and the joy that comes along with it. Krakauer’s eloquent writing and candid tone make Into the Wild an authentic, effective tribute to the life of Christopher McCandless.
Chris then, after graduating from Emory University, donated most of his savings to charity. He then took a path to the vagabond lifestyle and worked when necessary as a restaurant food preparer and a helping hand for farming. A good contrast between McCandless and Shepard, is that McCandless was not interested in the knowledge of wanting “...to know what day it is, or where i am. None of it matters” (Death of an Innocent 1). Once McCandless was on his way to Alaska, he did not want to take part in knowing what time or day it was when on his voyage. McCandless is well-known for his stubborn personality, while also having a different to abnormal thought process when finding solutions for solving worldwide problems. Chris was only 24 years of age when he died out in the abandoned bus. His survival out in Alaska lasted 4 months, where he ate a very poisonous plant that forced the human body to starve, no matter how many calories you
The book “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer is a story about a man by the name of Chris McCandless. He is a man who grew up in a DC suburb, graduated college and decides to change the ways of his life. He journeys across the country, and finds his way to Alaska. His means are to leave the material lifestyle and become at one with nature. During Chris’s adventure he seems to neglect all communication with his family and over look the fact that they care about his health and future.
“In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. His name was Christopher Johnson Mcandless. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself.” Into The Wild is a book about a young man who travels across some of the most unforgiving terrain to find his place in life. He travels through the tough Alaskan landscape running from Christopher Johnson Mcandless, and embracing the new life that is slowly coming to him. As Chris runs away from his family, and travels along vast areas of terrain, he makes a
Into the Wild, written by Jon Krakauer, is a memoir about how living in the wilderness and how Chris McCandless lived nearly two years in the wild. Throughout the novel, Krakauer relates Chris’ adventures to his own experience in mountain climbing and living on his own. This is not your typical memoir where the author tells a story about their lives. Jon Krakauer is not the main character; however he tells a story of this boy who leaves his well-developed family for no apparent reason. But not only does he tell Chris’ story, he tells his own by fusing them altogether.
The places we visit throughout our lives can sometimes leave a bigger imprint on us than anything else. The novel, Into The Wild, by Jon Krakauer, displays a man, named Chris McCandless, who selfishly goes into the Alaskan Interior alone. The places he visits and the way he connects with the people and places around him before and during the journey help exemplify who he is.
Into the Wild, written by John Krakauer tells of a young man named Chris McCandless who 1deserted his college degree and all his worldly possessions in favor of a primitive transient life in the wilderness. Krakauer first told the story of Chris in an article in Outside Magazine, but went on to write a thorough book, which encompasses his life in the hopes to explain what caused him to venture off alone into the wild. McCandless’ story soon became a national phenomenon, and had many people questioning why a “young man from a well-to-do East Coast family [would] hitchhike to Alaska” (Krakauer i). Chris comes from an affluent household and has parents that strived to create a desirable life for him and his sister. As Chris grows up, he
In Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer explores the human fascination with the purpose of life and nature. Krakauer documents the life and death of Chris McCandless, a young man that embarked on an Odyssey in the Alaskan wilderness. Like many people, McCandless believed that he could give his life meaning by pursuing a relationship with nature. He also believed that rejecting human relationships, abandoning his materialistic ways, and purchasing a book about wildlife would strengthen his relationship with nature. However, after spending several months enduring the extreme conditions of the Alaskan wilderness, McCandless’ beliefs begin to work against him. He then accepts that he needs humans, cannot escape materialism, and can