Examples Of Individualism In Into The Wild

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.

The Alaskan wilderness knows no mercy nor no forgiveness, out there one mistake could cost a person their life. Chris grew up in a strict household where he was given little to no freedom. As a young adult, Chris found this lack of individualism overwhelming so he disentangled himself from society in a rather abrupt manner. He unfortunately met a premature death, which continues to arouse suspicion amongst readers. However Chris McCandless did not have a death wish, he had already made it this far and still had plenty left he wanted to accomplish. In the book Into the Wild, author Jon Krakauer uses the three appeals through various devices to convince his reading audience that Chris McCandless was a determined individual whose justified choices

Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India once said, “We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm, and adventure. There is no end to the adventures that we can have if we seek them with our eyes open” (Nehru). In the book Into the Wild Jon Krakauer introduces the reader to Christopher McCandless’s, a young man from California with a heart yearning for adventure and a head beyond his years. The reader learns there is no one quite like Chris McCandless, but many people have sought out to seek the “more” from life. Jon Krakauer uses pathos and quirky but also thrilling anecdotes throughout Into the Wild to separate how Chris McCandless perceived himself and how others perceived him.

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.

Throughout history, people encounter a stage in their lives where they feel the necessity to assert their independence and challenge their abilities and self-worth. In the book, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, the author shares his understanding and kinship with the main character, Chris McCandless, a young man who thrusts himself into a life of solitude and a harsh environment during his search for meaning to his life. Krakauer depicts himself and McCandless as modern day transcendentalists with an abundance of competency, resourcefulness and skills as naturalists. Although McCandless chose to experience a life of solitude and face the hazards that nature presents, his lack of preparedness prevented him from completing his endeavor successfully.

Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer, narrates the life of adventurer and free spirit Christopher McCandless, who died August 1992 in the Alaskan wilderness; however, his journey still remains relevant in today’s pop culture due to the unresolved controversy of whether he is a saintly role model or hubristic fool. Krakauer openly states that he “won’t claim to be an impartial biographer” (Author’s Note) due to the parallels he struck with McCandless, and provides a more idealistic approach to the biography. By having this biased point of view, Krakauer readily attracts many critics such as Craig Medred, who wrote the article The Beatification of Chris McCandless: From Thieving Poacher into Saint, which discredits Krakauer’s legitimacy and emphasizes McCandless’s narcissistic personality and naïve nature. He has also sparked many questions including why McCandless’s story is so significant, which writer Laura Moss tries to answer in Why Are We Still Talking about Chris McCandless?. While it is clear that McCandless’s story has affected every reader due to its many interpretations, two distinct sides form: the avid romantics and their counterpart, the pessimistic realists, which provokes the question of which argument is more valid.

“[Chris] was so enthralled by [Jack London’s] tales, however, that he seemed to forget they were works of fiction, constructions of the imagination that had more to do with London’s romantic sensibilities than with the actualities of life in the subarctic wilderness” (44). In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Nature, another writer whom Chris revered, he states “In the woods, we return to reason and faith. There I feel that nothing can befall me in life…. which nature cannot repair.” From these authors, Chris developed his American dream ‒ so disparate from that of his parents. His dream was to see the world in all its pure magnificence and to relish in the incredible freedoms and opportunities granted to all Americans.

The desire to discover and live in the wilderness is seen in most places and a least a little in many people. In Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer, it is clear that Chris McCandless is one of many to have such a desire. Chris McCandless, as portrayed in Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, is a selfish, stubborn young man who abandons everything in a childish, and deadly, attempt for a short-lived grasp at freedom and happiness.

Mark whittle 1B Chris McCandless in Into the wild is a young man who believes living in nature is the best way to live life. In Into the wild , John Krakauer characterizes McCandless as respectable and foolish. Chris McCandless is often described as a respectable young man. During chapter 6, Ron Franz states that Chris was “... polite, friendly, well-groomed.” (Krakauer, 50)

In Jon Krakauer's novel, Into The WIld, he writes about a young man named CHris McCandless. He writes about his stories and adventures of leaving a wealthy life to find his true meaning within nature. In into the wild, jon krakauer characterizes Christopher Mccandless as unmaterialistic and independent.

In the non-fiction, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, Chris McCandless, influenced by the transcendentalist ideas of Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, embarks on a journey across the United States to experience nature, feel self-reliance, and discover himself. McCandless’ family experiences lead him to reject mainstream society to pursue a different life as a morally inclined vagabond. The discovery of his father’s double life around McCandless’ birth leads McCandless to lose trust in mainstream society. McCandless was not an ordinary child: “He tended to see things in black and white.

Chris McCandless faces a man vs. nature conflict when he goes into the wild by himself with little resources for survival. This conflict corrects his arrogance, and in the end, kills him. He follows the fictional stories of Jack London as an example of how to live in the wild, but is indirectly misled by Jack London’s “Call of the Wild”. Chris believes that someone could actually survive in the way that it is described in Jacks’ fictional story. After McCandless enters into the wild, he struggles with the harsh Alaskan wilderness. He goes there alone, and wanders off, unprepared as well as uneducated into the Alaskan wilderness before the onset of a typical harsh winter there. Chris thought he could outsmart nature, but realized how hard it

Would you rather be told what to do, how to do it and when? Or would you rather be individualistic, free of government rules, and self-reliant?

Into the Wild is a modern day exploration of liberty found by eschewing custom and flinging oneself into the literal wilderness. Exploring Christopher McCandless' true story, the film couches McCandless' search for freedom in noble terms, quoting Lord Byron, for example. In addition, both John Stuart Mill and Anne Norton would appear to agree with McCandless' adventure, though there is also the cautionary possibility that McCandless was troubled and selfish rather than noble. John Stuart Mill and Anne Norton both argue for throwing off custom in order to find greater personal freedom. In that respect, McCandless certainly was a man after their own hearts. Unfortunately, it could also be forcefully argued that McCandless was utterly ignorant and lacked respect for the wilderness, for others who knew how to live in the wilderness, and for the family that he put through hell. Even 10-year-old girl scouts know that you should always be prepared but McCandless, a grown, intelligent man, did not bother to prepare himself. Consequently, McCandless could be viewed as a noble adventurer or as a fool.