Jon Krakauer’s novel, Into the Wild, tells the story of Chris McCandless’s foolish choice to abandon his life and travel the country, lacking proper knowledge on how to successfully survive in the wilderness, severing all connections with his family, and living in the wild with minimal supplies. Although Chris did not have a strong relationship with his parents prior to his departure, it was evident that they still cared a great deal about his well being and his whereabouts. When asked about the death of his son, Walt states, “The hardest part,” … his voice cracking almost imperceptibly, “is simply not having him around anymore. I spent a lot of time with Chris… I really liked his company even though he frustrated us so often,” (Krakauer pg. …show more content…
Krakauer explains “[Stuckey] took the boy to a grocery store, where he bought a big bag of rice, ‘and then Alex said he wanted to go out to the University to study up on what kind of plants he could eat. Berries and things like that.’” (Krakauer pg. 159). Despite his efforts to become familiar with surviving in the wilderness, Chris could not have been less prepared for the new life he was about to lead. Still, going into the wilderness, Chris carried a small load on his back, weighing only about 25 or 30 pounds and holding very few supplies that, undoubtedly, would not last him through the winter. Krakauer explains, “Alex admitted that the only food in his pack was a ten-pound bag of rice. His gear seemed exceedingly minimal for the harsh conditions of the interior... Alex’s cheap leather hiking boots were neither waterproof nor well insulated. His rifle was only .22 caliber, a bore too small to rely on if he expected to kill large animals like moose and caribou, which he would have to eat if he hoped to remain very long in the country. He had no ax, no bug dope, no snowshoes, no
In the wilderness of Alaska, temperatures can drop down to thirty degrees below zero. Christopher McCandless lived in these conditions for four months after traveling through North America for almost two years. It can be seen in the novel, Into the Wild, that during his journey he had many brushes with death and burned bridges with people who deeply cared for him. For those reasons and many more, people assert Chris McCandless was unprepared, careless, and selfish on his personal journey across the United States, culminating in his death in Alaska.
Everyone thinks about escaping from something in their life. Whether it is a test or something as big as reality, Chris McCandless was not an exception. He not only wanted to escape reality and its standards, he also wanted to escape the situations of his family. In Into the Wild, Chris McCandless was a refugee from not only the civilized world, but also his own circumstances, because he escaped his old society that he believed to be a prison and hitched rides to find refuge in the American wilderness.
The father and son conflict is a crucial theme in the nonfiction book Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer. In Jon Krakauer’s book, the main character, Chris McCandless exhibits a lifelong conflict with his father, Walt McCandless. Chris is an erudite, talented, yet stubborn young man. He yearns to leave the typical lifestyle of the upper middle class American family, and after graduating college at Emory, he mysteriously disappears. Walt is a controlling man with a morally unstable past, and his career and money is of more value to him than his family. The theme often appears in the background of the book, representing one of the major motivations for Chris McCandless’ absence. This theme is evident
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.
Peace is defined as freedom from disturbance; quiet and tranquility. This is what many people experience in their final moments on Earth while they are surrounded by their loved ones. But is it possible for someone to die in peace by themselves in the middle of the Alaskan bush? Chris McCandless brought forth this question when he died of starvation on the Stampede Trail in Alaska. His death creates this question because of the fact that he died alone, but was he happy with his surroundings. Chris died at peace because his life had a purpose and he will forever be away from society in the wild.
In the novel Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, Chris McCandless takes a wild journey. Although some believe that his journey and thought process was noble and courageous, he was actually extremely fatuous throughout his journey. Many people that Chris met along the way made remarkable attempts at making him aware of the dangers that he would surely face in Alaska. Chris McCandless knowingly stepped into the treacherous wild without being prepared for what reality would throw his way.
Jon Krakauer’s novel, Into the Wild, is telling the story of a young adventurer named Christopher McCandless. His disturbing past led him into the wild away from society. Although, his desire to abandon society led to his death. In Into the Wild , Jon Krakauer characterizes Christopher McCandless as a rebel and wonderlust.
Most people go into the wilderness to go camping for a week or less and then leave. Some people stay for more than a week. Chris McCandless was in the wild for at least one hundred days.“ I’ve decided to live this life for some time to come. The freedom and the beauty of it is too good to pass up.”(pg.92) He went into the wilderness to experience adventure and to find things he was searching for nature, the path to happiness and freedom. Chris’ determination, self will, pursuit of happiness and the urge to break free are all explored. He did everything he could to make so people would be able to find him. Changing his name to Alex Supertramp, eliminating everything
Krakauer also makes it clear that Chris was very privileged, having experienced a comfortable upbringing in a rich, well-educated family that loved him. When Krakauer describes the state Chris’ dead body was found in, he states that the body was “wrapped in a blue sleeping bag that Billie had sewn for Chris from a kit” (104). It is interesting that Krakauer included this detail about the sleeping bag; that it had been sewn for him by his mother. Why would Chris keep this with him if he was trying to reject materialism and live solely off of nature, and why would he keep something that could
The book about Chris McCandless’s journey into the Alaskan bush, Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer, received a lot of criticism about Chris being foolish for being unprepared. From the articles that I have read, most of the sources do believe that he was poorly prepared for his journey. But there are a few people who believe he was prepared mentally, and an even smaller amount believe he was fully prepared. I believe that Chris only knew what he was doing mentally. He did not have the correct tools or the developed skills to survive, for an extended period of time in the wild. But, he did know what he was about to get himself into. He planned out the trip and knew exactly what his risk factors were. Chris McCandless was either prepared
Award winning journalist and author, Jon Krakauer, in his book, Into the Wild, analyzes the life of Chris McCandless as well as the events that ensued his death. Krakauer’s purpose is to inform the reader about how and why Chris McCandless decided to embark on a journey into the wilderness of Alaska. He adopts an empathetic tone in order to impart to his readers that Chris McCandless was a very misunderstood young adult.
In Jon Krakauer’s nonfiction book, Into the Wild, we follow how humans love the wilderness, the strain of father son relationships, and for the majority of the book a young adult named Chris McCandless. We see mostly through Chris’ eyes just how much the wilderness can entice young adults as well as how important crushing news of one’s father can change your life. McCandless was an angry pseudo adult who couldn’t handle a sizeable change in his life. He was too stuck on it being his way that he rarely could bring himself to accept help and improve his ability to actually survive. However, there was some good about McCandless. His search for himself and the truth were great intentions despite the flawed approach.
Once deciding that he would not bring all the required equipment, it took many people scolding him before he even considered letting other people assist him. McCandless set out on the journey alone, and wanted to prove to himself that he could in fact make it alone in the wilderness. This is one of Chris’ critical faults. Too proud to admit defeat, Chris only lets others help him when in dire circumstances, eventually accepting clothes and other supplies from friends. At the end of his life, a very gaunt Chris finds it increasingly difficult to find game and records how butchering is “extremely difficult” (166). If Chris was adequately prepared for his trip, he would have taken th steps to learn these skills, and may not have resorted to the seeds that killed him. Another crucial mistake made by McCandless was not accounting for when he would not be able to get game. He went into the wild with a small bag of rice and the “heaviest item in his half-full backpack was his library” (162). While it is extremely difficult to read the last chapter of the book without feeling compassion and admiration for Chris, his death could have easily been prevented. His complacency towards “the Wild, the savage, frozen-hearted Northland Wild” proved to be his biggest mistake (9).
After reading Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, many wonder why Chris Mccandless felt the need of living off the land. While reading this book, it is hard for readers not to identify with Chris’s running away from his family, (specifically his father), and authority. Many readers can think back to their teenage/younger years, and can relate to Chris’s rebelliousness towards his parents. All these actions relate to many Romantic traits, but no trait relates to how much of a nonconformist, self reliant individual Chris was. Chris’s practice of Nonconformity had a negative effect on his life, and the people that surrounded him.
Chris faced difficult and emotionally damaging challenges with his family dynamic growing up and wrote that he felt the most comfortable when his family took camping trips in nature. Chris’s father, Walt, was angry very often and used to make Chris and his sister, Carine, watch him beat their mom, Billy. Chris’s relationship with his sister was the only valuable and authentic relationship he had in his life. The epigraph in chapter seven of “Into The Wild” is the most important epigraph in the book because it provides a brief, yet accurate representation of Chris McCandless’s drive behind leaving his old life in society and pursuing a new life in the wild.