Into The Wild Persuasive Essay

Chris McCandless was a very unique individual. In Jon Krakauer’s book, Into the Wild, he tries his best to make sense of McCandless’ journey to the Alaskan wilderness. However, he never really figured out what McCandless’ purpose of the trip was. Looking at McCandless’ life throughout the book, I believe that Chris McCandless went on his journey to find happiness within his own life and did achieve it in the end.

This was a challenge because he would go all across the continent trying to escape the materialistic world. These journeys caused McCandless to encounter the danger of isolation. This was a challenge for McCandless because if he had not made the decision to enter the lethal wilderness of Denali Park in Alaska by himself trying to escape society, he could have lived. It was his fearlessness of isolation and disapproval of society that created a large obstacle for him to overcome. Another reason how McCandless’ attempted escape from society became an obstacle was how he rejected all the help that was offered to him. On page 46 McCandless was offered money by a woman named Jane Burres but he would not accept the money and acted very offended. This would eventually become an obstacle for him because once he had finally made his way up the far northwest state of Alaska, he had no money to buy the much needed equipment and food that he so desperately needed. Overall, it was McCandless discontent towards society that lead to his downfall as he never feared isolation and often wanted to be alone, and also how his rejection of all material wealth made him less prepared for the dangers of the wild because he could not afford proper

Throughout the novel, Christopher McCandless’s character changed over time. Up to McCandless’s death, he wanted to live with the wild and to be away from civilization as far as possible. He changes his mind when he writes “HAPPINESS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED” (189). His purpose of living in the wild is to live with freedom and do whatever he wishes to do. However, he realizes he was a “refuge in nature” (189) and intended to abandon his solitary life and rejoin the human community. It is assumed that McCandless died a preventable death because of his unpreparedness, but it is now undeniable that his adversity is what caused his mortality. “…McCandless simple had the misfortune to eat moldy seeds. An innocent mistake, it was nevertheless

Thoreau wished to live with only what was essential. He felt that how people in society were living was not how a man should truly live. At one point Thoreau described how most people go through the day as people who are sleeping.The text reads”The millions are awake enough for physical labor; but only one in a million is awake enough for effective intellectual exertion, only one in a hundred millions to a poetic or divine life. To be awake is to be alive”(14).The people who are sleeping just go about their day not really living, but just getting by. In order to keep himself awake, Thoreau distanced himself from society and decided to “drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms.”(16) McCandless held a similar view. He wanted to get out of the simple suburban life he had been raised in and live on his own away from others. In a letter to Ronald Franz, one of the many people touched by McCandless’ company, the young man encourages the older man to drop everything and do the things he may never have thought of doing before. he continues in saying,”So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure

Into the Wild is a novel about Chris McCandless who left everything, and everyone he knew after college and essentially disappeared into the wild. A commonly asked question at the end of Into The wild is why did Chris McCandless do this, why did he abandon his college education and everyone he knew. Many have tried to figure out just this question but with the help of the memoir Walden, a book that heavily inspired McCandless, it is easy to see why McCandless left his conventional life. These reasons are that He wanted to be more like nature, to go with the flow and not let every little thing throw him off, Chris took this to the extreme and literally joined nature to get a better understand of it. He also wanted to live a simpler life, Chris again took this to the extreme by leaving everything that was extra or unneeded in his life. The final reason is that he wanted to see what reality and real life must offer, he didn’t want to see and live with the reality that other people imposed on things.

First things first, Chris Mccandless followed his dream to escape society and live in nature. Once he got out of society and was on the road he delighted, "McCandless was thrilled to be on his way north, and he was relieved as well—relieved that he had again evaded the impending threat of human intimacy” (Krakauer, 55). Chris had the capability of escaping the society where he could go off on a journey to find himself. Chris is one of the few people out there that has the mindset of doing whatever it is to achieve his dream. Not many people in this world are able to do that especially if it is going out into the wild to fulfill your dream, maybe they will swim 50 miles in an ocean

However, McCandless has “always been unsatisfied with life as most live it” (Into the Wild) and desired to “live more intensely and richly” (Into the Wild) and decided to act on his vision which vastly differentiates himself to the majority of individuals who were unwilling to take the

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.

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.

McCandless once again misunderstood what Thoreau said in “Walden” about leaving society. As stated in Into The Wild, “Near the end of his trip, it turned out, Chris had gotten lost in the Mojave Desert and had nearly succumbed to dehydration” (Krakauer 118). Chris had been too stubborn to believe he could not achieve something since he had proven to be good at everything he tried. Chris’ hubris would have to be his arrogance in believing he could do anything he wanted to. By McCandless going into the Mojave Desert was absurd because it was too far from society. Being too far from society can have consequences especially if you need help. Chris’ mind was too clouded to see or think that throughout his entire life. Chris McCandless misinterpreted Thoreau’s writing and he was crazy to shun society, which also help build on the idea that McCandless misunderstood “Self Reliance” and he made actions that ended up being hypocritical later on in his life.

McCandless does not value any of the materialistic ways of society or the way his actions affect other people. Many people rely on their loved ones for emotional support but McCandless was different in that he was perfectly comfortable with leaving society behind: "McCandless was thrilled to be on his way north, and he was relieved as well—relieved that he had again evaded the impending threat of human intimacy, of friendship, and all the messy emotional baggage that comes with it. He had fled the claustrophobic confines of

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.

Hunting is the way many Alaskans fill their freezers with organic, lean and overall environmentally friendly meat. Hunting is a fantastic way to build bonds between generations and between mankind and the environment. Many rural Alaskans would starve if they didn’t have a steady supply of big game and could hunt it. Hunting is a commendable sport if you use the whole animal, meaning meat and hide, and abide by all federal and local guidelines and regulations.

“Your assignment is to write a persuasive essay and present it to the class in a week. You will be graded based on how convincing it is. Today we will be choosing topics,” announced Mr. Bowerbank, my 7th grade English teacher and ruler of classroom 110. My class simultaneously groaned at the prospect of work. I simply lifted my head with intrigue as it was already May and about time we had our first essay. He then proceeded to give examples of topics we could choose and gave us some time to think before we had to tell him our topic. My classmates were already rushing to tell the teacher their idea lest someone else steal it. That meant the usual abortion, death penalty, or drug use topics were out. I really couldn't think of anything and the teacher was slowly making his way through the remaining students like an executioner beheading criminals in a line. I have always thought that he would make a marvelous supervillain if he had a curly mustache, a tophat, and a cape. Eventually my name was called. I slowly dragged myself over to his desk. Even sitting down, he still seemed to tower over me. “What is your topic Cindy?” As usual in such desperate times, my mind turned to food. “Waffles are better than pancakes.” I figured that a waffle was just a differently shaped pancake with a nicer texture. “Hmm. Excellent topic. I look forward to your essay!” I survived to live yet another day.

It had been a wonderful two weeks filled with hot days at the beach and new exciting foods, but summer was coming to an end now, and we had to go back home. As Macey and I pulled into the driveway and walked up the steps, I was hit with the reality that school would be starting in a couple of weeks, and I had a whole lot of preparing to do. While we were gone, a pile of mail had been collected with our names all over them. Bank...Boring. Enroll Today!...Boring. Back-to-School!...Boring. But one specific envelope caught my eye. It was smooth and white, with only the words “Clue #1” written on it.