John Krakauer 's Into The Wild

Throughout Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, there are many details that help give the reader a deeper, more profound, meaning of the book's intended purpose. Krakauer is one of the most renowned American writers, publishing many books focused specifically focused on nature, and people’s struggles in nature. Through much of the book, Krakauer incorporates many examples of diction and imagery to help the reader grasp the essence of the book. By using a wide range of literary techniques, Krakauer is able to communicate the events that transpired throughout the book.

In the book Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer explains how Chris was an individual who didn’t have a liking for materialistic things. He was a person who was in it more for the experience and not for the materials he gained from doing things. He wanted to “have an endlessly changing horizon” as he said in his letter to Ron Franz. He thought it would be good to go out and escape the restraints of society and civilization to truly value what life was giving him and what everything else was taking away from him. Many believed that the only reason that Chris wandered off into the wilderness of Alaska was because he was tired of society holding him back and wanted to experience the greatness the world had to offer.

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 a man who had everything to have a successful life. However, Chris McCandless decided to leave it all behind. Chris thought that he was going to go leave all society behind to go live in the wild. Chris thought that it was going to be very hard. Krakauer He was arrogant and ignorance toward the nature and society. In Into the Wild Chris leaves his life behind to live a life alone in the wild. In Into the Wild Krakauer’s message from Chris’s journey is for people to never get too ignorant or too confident because anything can go wrong at anytime.

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.

Throughout his journey, McCandless met several people who genuinely wanted to help and befriend him. However, he was so committed to his Alaskan Odyssey that he felt like human relationships were just a distraction, not a necessity. One of these people, Ronald Franz, enjoyed McCandless’ company so much that he wanted to adopt him. McCandless reacted to this proposition by pursuing a job offer and discreetly slipping out of Franz’s life. Once the job offer proved to be a fluke, McCandless desperately called Franz and asked for a ride. By asking for help in the form of a car, McCandless demonstrates that his journey was beginning to challenge his beliefs. Although McCandless was initially against materialism, he was beginning to realize that it was also beneficial to his journey. By abandoning his old beliefs, McCandless demonstrates that exploring nature is an experience that can significantly change one’s beliefs.

“If you take no risks, you will suffer no defeats. But if you take no risks, you win no victories.” (Richard M. Nixon). In his investigative biography, Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer, expresses that even though young people can be ignorant and take treacherous risks, these can be used as knowledge enhancers and can be life changers.

Throughout the book, Krakauer documents the intoxicating life and death of Christopher McCandless, aka Alexander Supertramp, a young hitchhiker who embarked on an Alaskan Odyssey to explore himself and the wilderness. Like many before him, McCandless thought that he could give his life meaning by pursuing his “impractical fascination with the harsh side of nature” (Krakauer 85). At a young age, Chris lost his habitude for monotonous security and thus adopted an irrational and impulsive style of life. He believed that suppressing human relationships and deserting the materialistic world would strengthen his bond with nature. Christopher once wrote to his close friend that too many people were unwilling to change their troubling life and debatable circumstances because they were “conditioned to a life of security, and conformity, and conservatism.” Following up his conclusion he stated that this type of “secure future” brought peace to their mind, but in reality it was the most damaging thing that they ccould do to the adventurous spirit, being the very basic core of an individual’s passion (Krakauer 57). Christopher McCandless with his astounding spirit, the aspiration to succeed, and the longing to make things happen was determined to be free. He desired to live by his own moral code, without anyone putting shackles on his psyche. His plans went beyond what anyone could ever

“Happiness is only real, when shared.” - Jon Krakauer Into the wild. Jon Krakauer, the author of Into the Wild told the story of Chris McCandless. Chris escaped reality and went to go live off the land in Alaska, hoping to live a simpler life. In the novel, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, Chris McCandless shared a similar philosophy with Jack London, as they both have a strong passion for Alaska, they both appreciated they beauty of nature, and both wanted to be reborn.

What is it that we find crazy about those who have the courage to do what we won’t? In the compelling novel “Into The Wild” by Jon Krakauer the character and intelligence of the youth in men is questioned. Through the pieced together 200 page novel we are introduced to Christopher Johnson McCandless also known as “Alex Supertramp”. A ripe 24 years of age he chose to question our reality and his meaning of life that is given to us by hitchhiking across America to the Alaskan wilderness, where after four months in the last frontier he is found dead. Krakauer throughout the novel shows that although some admire what McCandless did, others found his final journey “reckless” and “crazy”. Krakauer goes to explain this claim through interviews of those who have encountered McCandless on his adventure and through those who got to know his story.

Many people wish they can drop everything important to them and isolate themselves from society; very few people will even attempt this, but Chris McCandless breaks societal norms to accomplish this goal. In Into the Wild, John Krakauer tells the story of this young man’s life to inspire the audience to chase their dreams through the use of logos, involved sentence, and anecdotes.

Krakauer presents many of his own assessment of McCandless’s emotions and rationales that may seem very factual to readers. These assertions allow him to further romanticize McCandless’s experience in the wilderness and reassure the characteristics he assumes about his subject. The biographer gave an authoritative voice over McCandless when he claims “the desert sharpened the sweet ache of [McCandless’s] longing, amplified it, gave shape to it” (32). This portrayal given by the author exemplifies McCandless’s attraction for nature. And when McCandless left Franz for the second time, Krakauer claims, “McCandless was thrilled to be on his way north, and he was relieved as well” because he escape the “threat of human intimacy, [and] of friendship” (55). There is little evidence to suggest that this statement is written in McCandless’s diary, but this explanation helps to sharpen readers’ perception of McCandless’s escape from human intimacy.

Much of the human race live their lives in accordance to what society sees as acceptable, but Christopher McCandless disregards societal norms in the novel Into the Wild. Within the novel, Jon Krakauer explores the story of Christopher McCandless’s journey to Alaska and investigates the events leading up to his death. Krakauer tells the story concerning McCandless’s life in a fashion that reveals a truth about nonconformity. Krakauer sends a message to common readers that nonconformity is not possible and the only way to survive the world we live in is to conform to our surroundings. Jon Krakauer express’s his ideals on nonconformity within Into the Wild through his non-chronological organizational structure, the use of logical reasoning,

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.

Christopher McCandless may be one of the most intriguing characters in nonfiction literature. In Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer, Chris McCandless gives up all of his worldly possessions in order to move to Alaska and travel alone into the wilderness. Chris seemed to lead a very privileged life, as he came from a fairly well off family. Chris was intelligent, having graduated from Emory University with a degree in anthropology and history. There is much ambiguity as to why Chris suddenly decides to leave his family behind and travel by himself -- although it is clear that Chris’s initial belief was that the best way to live life was alone, surrounded by nature. The overarching question is whether Chris intentionally tried to kill himself when he traveled alone into the heart of Alaska. Those who believe he did contend that he did not make enough of an effort to extract himself from the negative situations in which he found himself. They argue that Chris felt that he was betrayed by his father, and that he tries to kill himself in order to get away from his family as a whole. Yet Chris McCandless did not in fact have a death wish, and his death was the result of his miscalculating how difficult living in the wild would actually be. This resulted from Chris’s excessive pride. His main motivation to go into the wild was to run far away from his family -- who by blinding him, indirectly caused him to miscalculate.