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Into The Wild Rhetorical Analysis

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Into the Wild: Formalist Response Jon Krakauers' novel Into the Wild begins by giving the reader a brief description of what seems like a free spirited young man just looking to catch a ride. Chris McCandless or “Alexander Supertramp” is perceived to be an intelligent and thoughtful young man. Krakauers' formalistic approach to his literature helps the reader understand an in-depth analysis without any research and it emphasizes the value of literature apart from its context. One of the first literary tools used by Krakauer to help analyze this text is through the constantly changing mood of the protagonist, Chris. Another literary tool used throughout the novel is irony. The reality of Into the Wild is different from how it appears to …show more content…

All of these people who found the note were within days of McCandless' death but no one had never noticed his existence in the wild before. This might possibly be because of his personality, making it ironic that no one had come to his rescue until it was too late. Considering that Chris eventually would die of starvation, McCandless' gift of $24,000 to OXFAM, an organization dedicated to fighting hunger, is also an example of irony: “What Walt, Billie, and Carine didn't know when they flew down to Atlanta to attend Chris' commencement-what nobody knew-was that he would shortly donate all the money in his college fund to OXFAM American, a charity dedicated to fighting hunger.” (20). Chris did not care about money but was instead put into a life where his parents did. He was someone who would rather live the hard life over the stereotypical upper-class life style that his parents wished of him. Hence, he donated the money instead of using it to gain a degree at university. Jon Krakauer suggests that some critics feel as if McCandless did not really go “into the wild” at all, which would be ironic because he ultimately died in the wilderness. This is due to the fact that he was not only a few miles away from an abandoned gauging station but also three empty hunting cabins: “Exquisitely detailed, it indicates that half a mil downstream, in the throat of the canyon, is a

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