After reading the book "Into the wild" it was pretty amazing and the way Mcacandless got to live with life the way you wanted and got to explore different things was amazing to read. McCandless is a very outgoing, smart, funny kid who loves to explore and travel on his own and didn't depend on anyone. He lived who's life with freedom. In chapter 4, it talked about who McCandless met and some of the adventures McCandless had gone through. For example, " He hitchhiked around the west for two months. While hitchhiking he met a man known as "crazy Ernie" who offered him work at a random ranch in Northern California. After working at the ranch for 11 days, however, McCandless realized that Crazy Ernie was never going to pay him, so he left the
Chapter 7: Chris McCandless travels to a town called Carthage in South Dakota. He is in need of a job for a while to gather money. The money will buy McCandless new equipment for his journey in Alaska. McCandless works for a man under the name Wayne Westerberg. He owns a grain elevator.
In the beginning of the book “Into The Wild” by Krakauer, Krakauer admits that his bias opinion on McCandless will show throughout the book. This could be seen through descriptions the actions of McCandless. Krakauer portrays McCandless as noble due to his description of the decisions and encounters McCandless faces.
Along with making the mistake of neglecting his family, Chris was very overconfident as well. Without doing his research about Alaska and its environment, he was convinced he would be able to survive in the wild. According to Jim Gallien, the man who transported Chris from Fairbanks to the Stampede Trail, McCandless’s equipment “seemed exceedingly minimal for the harsh conditions of the interior, which in April lay buried under the winter snowpack” (Krakauer 5). A ten-pound bag of rice, poor leather hiking boots, a .22 caliber rifle, and a shabby state map were Chris’s only possessions. Gallien did his best to convince Chris to not go into the wild, especially during that time, but nothing changed Chris’s mind. Keeping this in mind, Krakauer
This expresses how McCandless was a dreamer we all were because he abandoned everything in order to escape the problems he faced in his home. For instance, his family was verbally and physically abused by his father at a young age and was not able to do anything about it. As a result, in order to escape from the tension at home, he decided to seek a safe place away from the abuse in the wilderness. McCandless also decided to hit the road because he hated how his parents lived a very materialistic life, so when his parents tried pushing that life onto him he grew more and more distant from them. I believe McCandless was seeking for a gateway from the materialistic life and the abuse, so he went into the wild where money does not play much of a role and he wouldn’t get too attached to people he met along the
Many people have different opinions on McCandless’ journey. There are some that believe that he was inspiring and adventurous, while there were others that believed he was foolish and selfish. Personally, I believe McCandless did the journey due to a mental illness and family problems. According to the book, McCandless had difficulties getting along with his parents and just wanted to disappear from Carthage, South Dakota. In the book “Into the WIld”, Krakauer quotes McCandless saying,”I think I’m going to be disappearing for a while” (21). This is what McCandless told his parents about him going away after he graduates. Krakauer also listed the different letters that McCandless sent to his sister and parents. In his letter to his sister, Carine, McCandless
In the novel, Into the wild, author Jon Krakauer follows the journey of Chris McCandless. Chris McCandless is a twenty-four year's old boy who graduated from college when he decides to leave his family to go into the wilderness. Although Chris McCandless’s journey proves fatal, he lives on through the ongoing debate whether he was ignorant or not. According to the article, “The beatification of Chris McCandless”, Medrid shares the feelings of many readers who believe McCandless was selfish, arrogant, and ignorant. However, Chris McCandless was not what people thought of.
Chapter ten flashes forward to McCandless death, and it was published in the New York Time and Anchorage Daily News. The media wrote of how foolish and ignorant McCandless was for going into the wilderness so unprepared. Once the death is being investigated by the police the police begin to question Sam, McCandless’s half-brother. To identify him he shows them a picture with long hair and a beard. This made me question who was the man in the picture, was it really McCandless? He wasn’t reported as having long hair, ever. As the half-brother informs his parents of McCandless death the parents respond in devastation. I find it weird that the police contacted his half-brother first and not the parents. Oddly enough I find myself agreeing with the media more than I do with the author. I cannot seem to grasp the thought of going into the wilderness, and not being overly prepared. While I understand that it is a brave action, it is also foolish and somewhat stupid on his part. I also find him to be very selfish. In chapter eleven the author starts to interview McCandless parents, and starts to question the family’s dynamics. The father is very similar to McCandless in the aspect that he is very intense and highly intelligent. Chapter twelve is a continued exploration of McCandless’s character. The author wants to know what made McCandless, McCandless. He finds that he took a road trip to the desert the summer before his freshman year of college, and nearly died of dehydration. I
Chad Bagwell, a 2005 graduate of Pickens High School and native of the Jerusalem area, said in a phone interview Monday that he might be this generation’s Chris McCandless, (the main character of the book/movie Into the Wild).
Despite how well off Christopher McCandless seems to be with easy access to money and a high quality education, but his life wasn’t always perfect. He went through a dysfunctional family while growing up, which was possibly a key cause in why he went into the wilderness. Also he showed signs of philosophical beliefs by how he didn’t follow anything hardly of the law. McCandless was strongly against the fact of being controlled, he made that clear by stating to Gallien when he asked if he had a hunting license “Hell no, how I feed myself is none of the government’s business. Fuck their stupid rules” (Krakauer 6). This is possibly another problem that convinced him to go out on his own away from the two issues he had.
The tale of McCandless is read over high schools everywhere. Classes discuss who he really was. Most critics state that he was ignorant, by not being properly equipped with knowledge and tools. However, this shouldn’t make him innocent. Personally, I believe McCandless was arrogant, but not selfish.
McCandless was very intrigued with literature and related it to his own life as many ways as possible. When McCandless read a piece of literature that he felt
In the summer of 1990, Christopher McCandless dropped off of the face of the earth. McCandless ended all contact with his family, told no one where he was going, changed his name, and abandoned all ties to his previous life. There have been many disputes as to why McCandless chose to embark on his adventure. Based on the information presented in Jon Krakauer's novel, Into the Wild, it seems that Chris McCandless’s ultimately unsuccessful journey was spurred by his desire to escape his emotional baggage and monetary stress from his life in Virginia.
for excitement, adventure, and freedom. All of these people have one thing in common, which is
Chris McCandless was a complex, if not contradictory person. He was warm and friendly towards others, yet he avoided long-term relationships with those he met on his journey. Also, he was strongly independent, yet graciously accepted rides as a hitchhiker. Chris was also a paradox in that he was ashamed of his wealth, yet was successful at making a profit. However, Chris was above all, a sojourner. He sought to live apart from human civilization, apart from government authority, and liberated from a life that was dependent on a multitude of material possessions.
The author clearly has a strong like for McCandless, and he tries to use the story to make readers feel the same way as he does. McCandless isn’t as great as Krakauer makes him seem. He’s just some rich kid who has always been able to do whatever he wants. He was sheltered, he was mean, he only cared about