The Young & The Reckless When you think of children, what was the first thing that comes to mind? Reckless? Young? Naïve? Gullible? Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer, is a book written about an extraordinary but childlike man who set out on a quest, looking for an adventure of being surrounded by nature. Chris McCandless, who the book is based off of, was a man of wonder. No one was ever certain about what he thought, how he felt, or why he went on this suicide journey. Was it because of his childlike recklessness? Or was it something deeper? Chris McCandless was reckless and along with that came passion, loneliness, and despair. So, can we really judge him when he made the decision to live in the most wild parts of the Alaskan state? …show more content…
He lived a lie for a short time in his life. He been told before that his birth is what started the chaos in his large family. He’d taken himself through college and he was on the brink of starting his life. In my opinion, I think Chris didn’t let go of his childlike personality and reckless behavior because after learning so much about transcendentalism he wanted to do something that he wanted to do because he wasn’t ready to start living in this modern society. Krakauer explains,“It is easy, when you are young, to believe that what you desire is no less than what you deserve, to assume that if you want something badly enough, it is your God-given right to have it,” (Krakauer 155). This excerpt was more of Krakauer’s feelings about Chris McCandless. He doesn’t think McCandless is so naïve or arrogant but sees that Chris was young and that was his main flaw. McCandless’s youth is what was his main downfall. McCandless youth is what caused him to fail. Chris had a very mature mind but he was very young and reckless. Krakauer writes “It is hardly unusual for a young man to be drawn to a pursuit considered reckless by his elders; engaging in risky behavior is a rite of passage in our culture no less than in most others. Danger has always held a certain allure. That, in large part, is why so many teenagers drive too fast and drink too much and take too many drugs, why it has always been so easy for nations to recruit young men to go to war. It can be argued
Hope it’d kill me”(Krakauer 60). Krakauer focuses on the big, important, and nice changes that McCandless made in order to persuade us onto think that he was a good person. In some part of the book Krakauer did talk about Chris McCandless past but most of it was focusing on him being a good kid, Krakauer quoted Carine and it interprets“He wasn't antisocial-- he always had friends, and everybody liked him-- but he could go off and entertain himself for hours. He didn't seem to need toys or friends. He could be alone without being alone”(Krakauer 109).
Another aspect of young McCandless was to challenge himself like never before. Krakauer mentioned that when chris is riding with Jim gallien that chris says he is afraid of water. Many ask themselves why, why was he so scared of water did he happen to have bad experience in the past? In fact the answer was yes he had almost drown testing his limits in Teklanika Mexico. He was so adventures even as a kid wanting to climb the highest up in the mountain on the McCandless family trip says his father Insert quote here. He was always testing himself and that is a main reason for his departure. Readers get this vibe often during the book and it seems to be a clarity to them that one of his main goals was to challenge himself. For instance hunting
McCandless was a very hardworking young man, he did what he was asked to do when he was asked. Chris is very idealistic, who believes life is best lived alone
This quote by Krakauer relates to Chris because he was equally influenced and inspired by the father figures in his life. He became obsessed with nature and the great outdoors due to his grandfather and hiking trips with his dad. Krakauer uses his experience to show that McCandless wasn’t so different after
McCandless’s arrogance is very evident throughout the book. Even as a child his father states that, “He didn’t think the odds applied to him. We were always trying to pull him back from the edge,” (page 109). This continued on with him to high school, where he explains that, “Chris was a high achiever in almost everything that caught his fancy….he brought home A’s with little effort. Only once did he receive a grade lower than a B: an F,”. For
People go into many things to try to escape their life. Some people start eating a lot, while other stop. Some people go into drugs, while others start drinking. Some people go into depression, while others are allured to take high risk actions. Maybe Christopher McCandless took this action because his relationship with his dad was not the best. Krakauer associated his relationship with his father to McCandless and his dad. “Like McCandless, figures of male authority aroused in me a confusing medley of corked fury and hunger to please” (Krakauer 134). Krakauer feels the pressure to succeed and the desire to rebel, because his father constantly pushed him to perfection, like McCandless father. Chris could no longer deal with his life and spitefully left everything he knew for his dad’s high expectations. “I got into my head to climb a mountain called the Devils Thumb” (Krakauer 134). To show his father he can do it, he revealed in the book his thought processes during the climb. At the end he came to the conclusion that his method of thinking could have killed him something that ultimately happened to McCandless. To sum it up, by comparing his own and other people’s experiences the author Jon Krakauer appeal to pathos to give a little perspective on why Chris McCandless is not a young foolish kid as several people assume he is.
To add on, Krakauer claimed that “His life hummed with meaning and purpose,” but he rebukes it with an important notion: “the meaning he wrested from existence lay beyond the comfortable path: McCandless distrusted the value of things that came easily. He demanded much of himself—more, in the end, than he could deliver,” (Krakauer 136). Chris’s delusion pushed him to pursue the outlandish and the conventionally unachievable. It's truly heartbreaking that the young boy passed away before he could truly leave his mark on the world, but it's evident that Chris possessed an immense amount of untapped potential.
One thing he said was “But I believe we were similarly affected by the skewed relationships we had with our fathers. And I suspect we had a similar intensity, a similar heedlessness, a similar agitation of the soul.” Him and Chris had similar experiences with their harsh fathers, they also shared the same hatred of conformity and society. Krakauer really does understand McCandless better than anyone else could because of all these things. You may not believe that Chris was courageous or intellectual, but it’s hard to deny the relationship between him and Krakauer.
In the book Into the Wild the main character, Chris Mccandless, made a rational decision to exclude himself from human society because he believed that going beyond what his parents, and society wanted, he would live a happier life. Chris wanted to leave society and venture into the wilderness to find the true meaning of who he was. Chris Mccandless was neither crazy or ignorant to live off in the wild where there was no people or anything to interact with, but nature. Chris wanted to find his inner self and not only was he a role model for kids all across the country, but he also followed his dream. Even though it was selfish of him leaving his family, Chris Mccandless was not crazy simply because he
Chris McCandless came from a very different lifestyle compared to that of Perry Smith and the Clutters. He was obedient and listened to his parents for the most part. However, Krakauer viewed McCandless’s parents as too demanding and ultimately implies that part of his death was brought on by his parents. Chris’s relationship with his father was stressed at best and Krakauer equally “believe[s] we were similarly affected by the skewed relationships we had with our fathers. And I suspect we had similar intensity, a similar heedlessness, a similar agitation of the soul" (159). Chris was a highly opinionated and willful young man with little room for negotiation with his father sharing those same qualities. His criticism towards his parents eventually turned to outright anger, and after his father’s secret double life is revealed Chris begins viewing his father as a
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.
Christopher Johnson McCandless is a respectable man in so many ways but, yet such a foolish man in many others. Chris McCandless possessed a seemingly ever-lasting bravery that constantly shined through his unique and matchless character. He was very righteous in himself to the point in which he kept himself from any sin or evil, committing his life to what seemed like an idea of celibacy, not just in refraining from any desire of flesh but also in all lusts of life with his diligent power of will that constantly shined through his exterior. Onto the contrary of his good characteristics, McCandless remained to be very foolish in his decisions and under takings, whether it be by his arrogance of sheer narrow mindedness.
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.
Proctor. For the first and only time in the play we see Abigail as her
Not only did Chris McCandless sacrifice so much for the future that he wanted, but he remained focus on his goal and he never ever regretted a minute of it. Even close to his death he was always smiling in the pictures he took and he never looked for a way out. He came into the wild and learned to be one with it. He respected it and learned from it all while staying at his peak of happiness. Chris McCandless’ did not necessarily have a bad life, but it was clear that he was not always happy. When he was truly happiest, he was alone. His disapproval of modern day society is evident throughout the book; “I told him ‘Man, you gotta have money to get along in this world’ but he wouldn’t take it” (46). He realized he needed to be separated from these people and live on his own. He decided to change his course for the future into an isolated lifestyle all without notice to the people that loved him. He was set up for a great life, but he ended it all to follow his dreams and fulfill his purpose. Not