Christopher Johnston Character Analysis

Chris McCandless is the main character from the book Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, he is a idealistic man who beliefs that life should be spent out in the wild. He took a journey all the way to Alaska by himself leaving his whole life and family behind to pursue his dream. On his way to Alaska he faced many obstacles and got through them with the help of several people whom he met throughout this journey. Jan Burres, Ronald Franz and Westerberg are some of the people whom Chris interacted with leaving them behind with different impressions on each of them.

“There’s a thin, blurry line between humor and tragedy,” Christopher Paul Curtis. In many cases people don’t even see across the line that Curtis has pointed out. Many people only see the humor or the tragedy, or the good and bad of the world. In the book The Watsons go to Birmingham-1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis, Kenny Watson only sees the good in the world until he meets Rufus and goes to Birmingham, Alabama. Kenny doesn’t recognize any of the real horrors in the world because his society has filtered everything in his life.

In this short story by Tim O’Brien, Lieutenant Jimmy cross leads a platoon of men in the Vietnam War. Unable to keep his thoughts from his unrequited love interested, Martha, Cross allowed his platoon to become lax in their duties and mentally removed from the war. The conflict arises when one of his men, Ted Lavender, is killed on a mission. The conflict is resolved when Lieutenant Cross abandons his youthful fantasy world for the reality of the war he is living in. Cross finds new purpose in the vigilant leadership of his men.

Imagine you are a parent. Your child unexpectedly leaves with no explanation. Consider the pain and confusion it would cause. This is what happened when Chris McCandless set out on a journey to find the truth and to find himself. After McCandless had gone on the journey, he realized that happiness was only found when shared with somebody else. Chris McCandless failed to realize that pushing out certain people could cause more harm than good.

A not-so-average girl of Mason County, Jourdan Scott is surely a character. Her interests are broadened beyond many horizons. Jourdan is not a girl that could really be put into a specific category. By category, I mean a popular, mental classification most tend to place others in based on their interests and social groups. This eighteen year old ranges all the way from the gamers to the rednecks, from the introverts to the extroverts, and from the good girls to the rebels. Her way of life differs from most, which is what makes her out to be such a unique individual.

One may say that Chris McCandless was an arrogant fool considering the decisions he made throughout his short life. Others may say he was an incredible inspiration and should be honored beyond his death for his choices. McCandless may have made some questionable choices within his journey, yet he was nothing less of an inspiration to those who feel that they have not ‘found themselves’ and deserves respect for the impact he has made. Although he is respectable, he also had ample flaws that may have led him to his tragic ending.

James McBride went into a downward spiral becoming rebellious and troubled. His mother, Ruth, is a white woman who united with a black man. She always taught James about what was important in life helping him grow into a proper young man. Due to the race of his parents, James is a light skinned boy who has many questions about his and his mother's pasts. His lack of answers about his also late father and racial background has influenced him to make indiscreet choices. He allowed his lack of knowledge about where he came from to influence himself to a life of crime and poor judgement. He managed to involve himself with drugs and stealing along with forgetting all his morals and the importance of family.

n the story on one of the very first pages Tim O’Brien was talking about how in your childhood everyone always thinks that they will amount to be a hero and maintain all of those qualities but all he felt was shame. Following this he was talking about he felt like a coward and how he didn’t think that he had the courage to go against the grain. From all of this I was thinking that he didn’t have enough guts to go to Canada because if he did, I don’t think that he would have regretted his decision. Tim O’Brien would have done not only what he wanted, but what he felt was right for him. Then later on in the story when Mr. O’Brien was expressing how horrible his job was at the meat packing plant was and how the pigs were going to the slaughter

Reverend John Hale from Beverly, Massachusetts was summoned to Salem, a town full of supposed witches, manipulative children, a corrupt government, and depraved leaders, yet he takes on an impossible task of saving the wicked from themselves. Playwright Arthur Miller's 1950’s play, The Crucible, displays static character John Hale as a determined, willing, young man who stays true to his morals and remains righteous and compassionate throughout the work. Beginning to end, John Hale exhibits consistent traits as an eager and zealous individual, although at times ingenuous; additionally, Hale displays honesty and morality through the four Acts that complete his compassionate and trusting personality.

In the novel In The Lake of the Woods O’Brien wrote “He didn’t talk much. Even his wife I don’t think she knew the first damn thing about him … well, about any of it. The man just kept everything buried” (qtd. in O’Brien, 8) which, in a way, shows readers how much the past has and is still affecting John Wade. He has gone through fighting in a war and has seen death, and even caused it in some cases, and even though he survived it still sticks with him and influences his actions. Many things affect the actions of John Wade, including the Vietnam war, his father's death, and losing the election.

When Gilbert moved back in with his father, why did he become disenfranchised with the American way of life?

Fate means different things to different people in the novel. Fate within the book is often tied to God being in control, with the boys thinking about if things could turn out differently and why certain things happen, "Rawlins lay watching the stars. After a while he said I could still be born. I might look different or somethin. If God wanted me to Born. I’d be born. And if he didn’t you wouldnt (McCarthy 27)”. Fate is also tied to feelings of responsibility throughout the book. John Grady is in a constant moral conflict of wanting to leave Blevins versus feeling responsible for him at the same time. The novel often shows two approaches to dealing with fate. There is Alfonsa who learned to just accept fate as it is and John Grady Cole who

Jacob is also in the Journalism class and is committed to Cal State Fullerton to play baseball. Jacob is very excited and looking forward to attending college. He is also a huge fan of the LA Dodgers. This year Jacob was nominated for Senior Prom Court, but instead of going to the prom he attended a Dodgers game. Overall Jacob is a super fun and great friend to have at school, and is a proud Husky!!

The moral compass of virtue rest in social programs of a good paying job, homeownership, and public safety providing security to maximize health and protection of private property. John, a charismatic and pragmatic objectivist has the potential to attract and gravitate businesses to San Bernardino. The virtue of R. Carey Davos showcased boarded buildings, pack and stack housing, the mushroom of marijuana shops, homelessness, low life developers, instrumental in silencing public voice, outsourced the fire department on bend knee, and cheerlead Measure L. The current manager, Mrs. Miller and John Valdivia encompass a moral vision of virtue to secure good paying jobs, homeownership, rental control, and negate the spirit of dependency into independence

Foster emphasizes that when a character goes on a trip, one must decipher whether the trip contains three things: adventures, growth, and experiences. If the trip indeed possesses at least one these items, the trip is no longer a trip, it is a quest. When assessing if a character embarks on a trip or a quest, one must take into consideration that a quest oozes essence, where as a trip is relatively bland. A trip resembles traveling from point A to point B. A quest resembles traveling from point A to point B, but it focuses on everything between the two letters, and sometimes instead of our destination being point B, it may evolve into point C. Foster explains this journey quite well by saying that a quest consists of 5 things: "a quester, a