Into The Wild Chapter 6 Analysis

Chris McCandless was in no way, perfect, but he was passionate for his beliefs and had the courage to follow through with his dreams.

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.

A majority of the book’s first half is spent as Krakauer follows the steps that McCandless took on his journey from around the Southwestern United States all the way through the Yukon and into Alaska. Krakauer interviews the people Chris spent time and lived with through all the years leaving those who knew him to describe what the boy they knew as Alex was like. Although nearly all those who knew him have to say was positive things, Krakauer didn’t cherry pick it to be that way he included all people were able to give him both good and bad. People such as Ronald Franz who saw him in incredibly positive light and at the same those such as Lori Zarza who just thought he was kind of a bum. As

Seven billion people in the world, all with unique personalities, on this earth to serve a purpose in their own life, or someone else’s. Chris McCandless was a man with unique qualities, and served to please himself and coincedently others as well. In the book “Into the Wild” the author, Jon Krakauer, explains the adventures and mishaps Chris McCandless went through in his life. Krakauer admired Chris for his personality, and his ability to be determined and hardworking at everything he did. Chris McCandless was an admirable man, with his individual view on life, and the way he could touch a person’s life and impact them forever.

On Chris’s journey to Alaska, he met a gentleman by the name of Ronald Franz, and is able to leave a lasting impression on him that Ron is not able to reciprocate to Chris. In the book, author Jon Krakauer states “McCandless made an indelible impression on a number of people during the course of his hegira, most of whom spent only a few days

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

McCandless led what many consider a great life for a student. Matthew Power describes Chris as a “...24-year-old honors graduate, star athlete, and beloved brother and son ... cut all ties with his family, gave his trust fund to charity, and embarked on a two-year odyssey that brought him to Alaska... where he could test the limits of his wits and endurance.” Based off of Power’s quote, McCandless seems like he led the best life that he could have led an almost perfect life. He also gives the impression that McCandless did not have an apparent reason to abandon his life and live in the wild. Peter Christian, an Alaska park ranger, brings another idea into view when he says, “The tragedy is that McCandless more than likely was suffering from mental illness and didn't have to end his life the way he did.” He brings another perspective into the mix because he suggests that Chris actually had a mental disease that caused him to feel drawn to the wild rather than his

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.

Chris McCandless’ was well liked by the many people he met while he was on the road, he made an impact on everyone that he met, as Wayne Westerberg said, “A lot of folks here in town got attached to old Alex. Kind of a strange deal what happened to him.” (Krakauer 16), People loved and adored Christopher McCandless, even though he left to go live in the wild by himself, that didn’t make him antisocial. He also liked

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.

First off the impact chris had was bigger than Adam’s impact. Throughout Mccandless’s journey to alaska he impacted others that he met. Chris met a couple named Jan Burres and Bo and helped them out with their relationship problems. Soon after he impacted their lives because he made it better for them. Chris had a major impact on a old man named Ronald Franz. When Hitchhiking into town Mccandless met Ronald. He stayed with Ronald for a little to get to know him. Ronald is a retired army veteran who had a drinking problem. Ronald taught Mccandless about leather working. Mccandless and Ronald got really close. Mccandless left but came back soon after and had a meal with Ronald. Ronald then old mccandless about his son's death and that he was the last of his family's generation. Ronald didn’t want that ,so he told Mccandless if he could adopt him while tearing up.

Hope it’d kill me”(Krakauer 60). Krakauer focuses on the big, important, and nice changes that McCandless made in order to persuade us onto think that he was a good person. In some part of the book Krakauer did talk about Chris McCandless past but most of it was focusing on him being a good kid, Krakauer quoted Carine and it interprets“He wasn't antisocial-- he always had friends, and everybody liked him-- but he could go off and entertain himself for hours. He didn't seem to need toys or friends. He could be alone without being alone”(Krakauer 109).

Adventurer and journalist, Jon Krakauer, in his novel, Into the Wild, shares the story of McCandless’ journey. Krakauer’s purpose is to convey that McCandless was in fact an idealist and not insane to his Outdoor Magazine readers. In chapters 1-7, McCandless encounters several people as he goes along his journey. Krakauer uses the rhetorical strategy of characterization to explain McCandless’ personality to the readers.

Chris McCandless’s odyssey was nothing more than an adventure to prove to society that his ideals and way of living was the correct way, driven by his narcissistic disposition. On McCandless’s journey he left many remarks on the people he came in contact with. Ronald Franz, a retired army veteran that has a drinking problem caused by the loss of his family, leading to a life that has lost much of its purpose. Though Franz did not have much of a reason to go out and change his lifestyle,

Christopher McCandless was an adventurer no doubt. He spent the last few years of his life living purely off the land and exploring, doing what he felt called to do. However, to venture off on such an intense, dangerous, and wild journey, a person most likely has some deeply thought out reason as to why he or she is embarking on the mission. Chris himself seems to have had some reasons, besides his curiosity, as to why he explored. However, he made a decision to leave without truly thinking about just how dangerous his journey was going to be. Due to his rash actions, Chris eventually died in an abandoned bus out in the wild. Now, some folks today think that Chris was a hero for doing what interested him and for doing his own thing without worrying about the trivial things in life. However, I have reason to believe that Chris was indeed not a hero. Instead, I believe that Chris McCandless’s journey into the wild was rash, ludicrous and foolish.