Mccandless Entering The Wild Rhetorical Analysis

--These words gives a clear and rational explanation of McCandless’s decision to venture into the wilderness. It shows that he was allured to the wild journey because of the pleasure it would provide him, tempted by a primal desire that could not be fulfilled by a mere human.

In his novel, Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer establishes young Christopher McCandless as a heroic and brave figure. Krakauer supports his portrayal of Chris by utilizing a narrative form and focusing on the relatable, human aspects of Chris, and by contrasting his story with the cautionary tales that are scattered throughout the history of the Alaskan wilderness. The author’s purpose is to promote his own theories and opinions on the boy’s life and death in order to establish what he believes to be the truth. The author writes in a fond tone for aspiring wilderness explorers and their critics.

“We can leave the mountain anytime we want but those with ALS are prisoners in their own body”-Alex Williams. People with ALS start losing their ability to move as the disease goes through their body. In the Book Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom Morrie Schwartz has ALS and he tries to give away all of his wisdom before he dies. Morrie teaches people to live life through showing love to family, not hiding or being scared of aging and accepting that Death is natural.

This postcard builds suspense in the reader’s mind. Alex saying that this adventure could kill him makes the reader interested in finding out more. “If this adventure proves fatal and you don’t ever hear from me again I want you to know you’re a great man.” (Krakauer 3).

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.

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.

Jon Krakauer, fascinated by a young man in April 1992 who hitchhiked to Alaska and lived alone in the wild for four months before his decomposed body was discovered, writes the story of Christopher McCandless, in his national bestseller: Into the Wild. McCandless was always a unique and intelligent boy who saw the world differently. Into the Wild explores all aspects of McCandless’s life in order to better understand the reason why a smart, social boy, from an upper class family would put himself in extraordinary peril by living off the land in the Alaskan Bush. McCandless represents the true tragic hero that Aristotle defined. Krakauer depicts McCandless as a tragic hero by detailing his unique and perhaps flawed views on society,

To begin with Equality believes his eventual assessment of his sins are wrong. He is too tall and too smart. He feels so absolutely terrible about how he looks. He truly believe he is sinning by looking the way he does. He discovers electricity, he wants to tell the Council of Vocations. He is very scared that he is going to get into a lot of trouble and be banished. Equality wants to be a scholar, but he knows that the Council of Vocations will not allow that. Equality states “we know that we are evil, but there is no will in us and no power to resist it.”(Pg. 18) This statement proves that Equality honestly believes he is evil, terrible, and a horrible sinner.

A key technique that Tim O'Brien used in order to express his attitude towards the war, was the one of repetition. We see a young Tim O’Brien try to justify his reasons for fleeing the USA by crossing the border to Canada and trying to explain his feelings by saying, “What would you do? Would you jump? Would you feel pity for yourself? Would you think about your family and your childhood and your dreams and all you're leaving behind? Would it hurt? Would it feel like dying? Would you cry, as I did?”. We see repetition predominantly used throughout this passage and it gives us a clearer indication of what his attitude towards the war actually was. The use of repetition makes the reader think about how they would have reacted in a similar situation.

To add on, O’Brien lacks the knowledge and skill to help others, making him egocentric. It is sensible to state this due to his inability to be selfless and rid his mind of vain thoughts. O’Brien strongly believes that he “was too good for [the] war, he was too smart, too compassionate, too everything” (41). This hyperbole, an exaggeration, exhibits that O’Brien only thinks of himself and does not want to go to war because it does not benefit his future at all. He is unable to understand the nation’s need for his presence in Vietnam due to his uncontrollable anger which blinds him from an opportunity to help those who are hurting and are in need of help from people such as him. Additionally, his anger also resonates from his envious thoughts, which is caused by what he suggests is an unjust government.

The Vietnam War is one of the most controversial wars the United States has ever been involved in. This is due to the lack of reason for the United States’ involvement in the conflict; it was not necessary to have Americans fighting in Vietnam (Cornish). Regardless of the lack of need for soldiers, young men from the United States were still drafted to fight and were shipped off to Vietnam, despite not knowing what they were fighting for. While there, most of them experienced horrific events that ended up following them after Vietnam, resulting in a condition called post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which would weigh on the veterans’ shoulders for the rest of their lives. Tim O’Brien, author and Vietnam veteran, is not an exemption to

The novel Into the Wild follows the life - and eventual death - of Christopher McCandless, a young man seeking enlightenment on a journey across North America. Throughout the story, author Jon Krakauer uses a variety of stylistic techniques that help reveal his attitude toward McCandless. Krakauer’s tone towards McCandless transitions from objectivity and indifference to one of empathy and relatability. Through the entire course of the novel, however, the author maintains an attitude of respect towards McCandless.

On September 6, 1992, a group of moose-hunters discovered the remains of Chris McCandless’ body, which, through abject starvation, had withered and decayed in the unforgiving Alaskan bush. Upon discovery, Chris’ corpse became a symbol of misguided passions and misinterpreted values and inspired many to explore and document his story of demise. In Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, the story of Chris, attempting to achieve ultimate freedom and independence is told. On this journey, it is evident that Chris McCandless’ shunning of society was unjustified because he took the transcendentalist ideas expressed in Henry David Thoreau’s Walden and Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Self Reliance and radically misinterpreted them. Because of his analytical error, McCandless was unable to attain freedom and independence, despite his support for these values; egotism overcame individualism, and McCandless’ hubris and extreme risk-taking resulted in foolish isolationism and rendered his journey useless.

The second conflict, man versus man, is also an external conflict. This conflict is just between the two head of each family. The hatred toward the opposite family was passed on to the current heads of each family: Ulrich, the head of the Gradwitz family, and Georg, head of the Znaeym family. The two men hate each other due to their family