Krakauer's Journey Into The Wild

As Chris breathed his last breath, he was finally able to find his inner happiness through the Alaskan wilderness. In chapter 18, Krakauer notes about Chris’ final photo of himself, describing Chris as, “[he] was at peace, serene as a monk gone to God,” (199). The way he was described in this picture shows that Chris has in fact found the happiness that he was looking for and was able to leave this earth in peace. Then again, in chapter 18, the last words of Chris McCandless wrote, “I HAVE HAD A HAPPY LIFE AND THANK THE LORD.GOODBYE AND MAY GOD BLESS ALL,”(199). Although he was in severe pain, from starvation, he was still able to find the bright side of things. He was able to die in the one place that he had desired to be at.

Before writing Into the Wild krakauer had himself gone into the alaskan wild to try his luck in surviving out there whilst he climbs a large cliffside. In krakauer's journey a few mistakes had nearly gotten him killed from hypothermia. Similarly in chris’s journey he had died from presumably some minor accidents. These past experiences gives krakauer a bias towards chris’s experience since he had gone on an arduous journey and had nearly bit the dust himself.

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.

Lastly, Chris Mccandless got to fulfill his dream, live his own life, and now he even got to find his inner self, find out who he truly is. Chris was the kind of person that lived dangerously unlike most people, he was different “It is hardly unusual for a young man to be drawn to a pursuit considered reckless by his elders...Danger has always held a certain allure. McCandless, in his fashion, merely took risk-taking to its logical extreme” (Krakauer, 182). Chris’s true self-was one that was riskful and daring until he could finish the task. Furthermore, he was different from others and throughout his journey, others could see that. In the end that was the kind of person Chris Mccandless was, and this is the person he became after fulfilling his dream and living his own life. In contrast, others did

Furthermore, another example is when Chris’s former co-worker at McDonalds talks about Chris’s time as an employee when he says, “He always worked at the same slow pace, even during the lunch rush, no matter how much you got on him”(40). This quote describes Chris’s work ethic while he worked at McDonalds, which is very surprising considering past reviews about him. However, he did not work very hard and did not to seem to care one bit about his job at McDonalds because his focus was all on Alaska. Chris’s arrogance is shown in this quote because he has given up on society. He just doesn’t care anymore and all he wants to do is go to Alaska. He is completely ignoring the fact that people are living normal lives and that not everything is about his adventure. Also, Chris is being very selfish because people that are actually a part of society who need things, but he is ignoring everybody that he does not associate with. That works when you are in the wild with no responsibility but in the real world, Chris needed have a sense of urgency. He was ignorant toward society because he does not think and function like everyone else that he was around. Since Chris didn’t fit into society he decided to run away from everything. Krakauer message is present because Chris couldn’t fit into society because he can’t handle responsibility. He could not fit into society and Chris was so ignorant toward society, so he just left the whole thing behind to go start a new life.

One method Krakauer uses is characterization. He uses this technique to draw parallels to himself and the main character. The author convinces the reader just how similar he and Chris are for example, “As a youth, I am told, I was willful, self-absorbed, intermittently reckless, moody. I disappointed my father in the usual ways. Like McCandless, figures of male authority aroused in me a confusing medley of corked fury and hunger to please” (Krakauer, 134). This quote directly describes how similar Chris and Krakauer are. The author’s goal in writing this story was to tell Chris’s saga and give life to a truly eccentric man. He succeeds by describing how both his and McCandless’s journey had a huge impact on their personality and feelings towards society. During much of his trip, Chris avoided close relationships with people and had very little interaction with other human beings. As the reader learns more about the character and his life, we learn that he matured a great deal on his sojourn. Towards the end of his journey, he realizes, “happiness is only real when shared”. (McCandless, 189) By adding this quote, the reader feels sympathy for Chris because he is in such poor condition. At this point in the novel, the reader feels connected to the main character and his exuberant personality. Krakauer

For example as stated on page 4, “ Our house would be white with trees around it, a great big yard and grass growing without a fence. This was the house Papa talked about when he held a lottery ticket and this was the house Mama dreamed up in the stories she told us before we went to bed. But the house on Mango street is not the way they told at all.”.When the reality of her parents expectations didn’t go the way hoped it created the initial reason for Esperanza’s dream about leaving Mango Street . If their house wasn’t that much of a downgrade to what they have wanted ,Esperanza may not have felt the need to dream about a whole new house of her own. As her character continues to grow, her reason of wanting her own house becomes much more meaningful . Essentially, Esperanza's house will not only show her taste in real estate, but her true self . In other words , her house will act as a safe haven , the place she can escape to express herself and show her true nature. Illustrated on page 87 ,” One day I’ll own my own house, but I won’t forget who I am or where I came from. Passing bums will ask,Can I come in? I’ll offer them the attic, ask them to stay, because I

In Jon Krakauer’s book, Into the Wild, he goes on to tell a story about a young man’s journey to find himself. Chris Mccandless, is determined to find himself despite that he is not fully prepared in the Alaskan wilderness. The way Krakauer writes Into the Wild is an adventure itself because even though we are fully aware of the ending, he gives a rich story on how Christopher found himself there.

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

Although Chris McCandless’ controlling and toxic family environment was a major motive for his escape, his deep-seated internal battle was simply an irresistible impulse for discovery and liberty. Chris’ journey shows a new level of freedom; what true independence holds. He set out into nature alone without support of family or friends, searching for a path unlike those of most, and running from a barred cage of conventional living. Unsatisfied and somewhat angry with himself and his life of abundance in money, opportunity, and security, his preceding experiences and determined character lead him to an inevitable flee into no-mans land. Throughout the novel, Krakauer wants the reader to understand that there is more to Chris than his habit of criticising authority and defying society’s pressures. He needed more from himself, and more from life. He wasn’t an ordinary man, therefore could not live with an ordinary life. Krakauer demonstrates this by creating a complex persona for Chris that draws you in from the beginning.

In the book, Into The Wild, Chris McCandless, is a person who seeks happiness in nature but this soon leads to his fall. In Into The Wild, Jon Krakauer characterizes Christopher McCandless as strong willed and rebellious. Throughout the book we see how strong willed Chris truly is. ¨ If you don't take it, I'm going to throw it away¨ pg 7. This quote shows how he goes by what he says and he won't change his mind. ¨he changed his name and donated his twenty-four thousand dollars to charity¨ pg 45. This quote really goes to show how much he didn’t care what people thought of him and how he wasn’t in it for just the money. If not for his strong willed nature, Chris never would have gone out to Alaska and pushed himself to the end. As well

He had dreamed of staying in Alaska with not a single person visible for miles. Chris was actually surviving pretty well out in the wild. He was hunt and getting enough food to survive. As weeks went on Chris had began to eat what he thought were potato seeds, but was actually poisonous wild sweet pea seeds. On July 30th Chris writes in his journal saying “‘EXTREMELY WEAK.FAULT OF POT. SEED’”(Krakauer 191). Chris had realized that he had mistaken the potato seeds for wild sweet pea seeds. This left him extremely weak and vulnerable. Chris had made a simple mistake that even the most skilled people could have made. Towards the end of his journey many people argued that he was selfish and stupid for exploring the wild Alaskan bush without informing anyone. Chris was not stupid but brave for what he had done. Chris wanted to be on is own and show society that he could live without a materialistic life, which he

Often times if there is no way to understand the emotion Chris had, Krakauer would relate the event to one of his own to give us a better idea of what Chris might have been thinking. The comparison of Krakauer’s life to that of Christopher allows the audience to fully comprehend the emotion and thought that might have been running through Chris’ head at the time. The movie, however, does not use any of Krakauer’s experiences to explain Chris’. Because of this lack of comparison the movie takes it into its own hands to show Chris’ sometimes as crazy, in some scenes talking to himself, and as an inspiration figure, as it seems everyone he meets has their life immediately changed for the better. In the many scenes where Chris is with Jan Burres and her boyfriend Bob, the couple is shown to have been having some problem in their relationship, as shown when Bob attempts to comfort Jan, but she pushes him away and dismissed his complaint.

Krakauer can relate to Chris in a way few people can. He has lived the life of Chris. This makes him able to speak on behalf of Chris and say what has been left unsaid.Krakauer has done similar things to Chris and they have shared experiences related to transcendentalists ideas.When I decided to go to Alaska that April, like Chris McCandless, I was a raw youth who mistook passion for

The author’s main purpose for writing Into The Wild was to explain exactly what happened to Chris on his trail and find a motive for why Chris decided to do this. Krakauer also wanted to provide reasoning for McCandless's actions, or at least provide more detail about McCandless's personal life. Also Krakauer wanted to motivate readers to do what makes them happy by providing justification for Chris’s actions. A quote that describes this is, “Make a radical change in your lifestyle and begin to boldly do things which you may previously never have thought of doing, or been too hesitant to attempt." ( Page 56 ) Krakauer also explains “many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation.” (Page 57) This doesn’t mean that you should go out into the wild like Chris, unprepared. The author just wants to identify that going to Alaska isn’t a horrible idea, a person just needs to be well equipped and go along with friends because he doesn’t want nobody to go through what Chris had to go through.