The Film Grizzly Man

Following are excerpts of statements/interviews from Derek Randles, a friend known as “The Bear Hunter”, and Justin Smeja. The blogger Robert Lindsay conducted the interviews of “The Bear Hunter” and Justin

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.

The novel “Into the Wild”, by Jon Krakauer, is an excruciating story about a young man facing off against the dangers of nature. The main protagonist, Chris McCandless faced off against many internal and external obstacles that stood in his way of achieving his goal of successfully surviving on his own in the wilderness of North America. McCandless clashed with many lethal and perilous obstacles as he travelled all the way across the continent. The challenges he faced varied from surviving in the harsh wilderness, the difficulties of young manhood, and also the challenge of person versus society.

In Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer explores the human fascination with the purpose of life and nature. Krakauer documents the life and death of Chris McCandless, a young man that embarked on an Odyssey in the Alaskan wilderness. Like many people, McCandless believed that he could give his life meaning by pursuing a relationship with nature. He also believed that rejecting human relationships, abandoning his materialistic ways, and purchasing a book about wildlife would strengthen his relationship with nature. However, after spending several months enduring the extreme conditions of the Alaskan wilderness, McCandless’ beliefs begin to work against him. He then accepts that he needs humans, cannot escape materialism, and can

The gripping tale of a young man who leaves all that he has and goes to live amidst the natural world, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer showcases the two years Christopher McCandless had spent journeying throughout the United States before his unfortunate death. After graduating from Emory University in 1990, McCandless disconnected with all of his past relations and abandoned the majority of his possessions. McCandless’ decisions either seem extremely unwise or extremely courageous. He had a comfortable life with few worries yet he still chose to toss it all away and venture into unknown territories. What many wonder is why he would do such an irrational thing. Maybe, McCandless’ was simply trying to run away from his perception of reality.

In his novel, Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer recounts the true tale of Chris McCandless, a recent college graduate who decided against a professional career and instead opted for a life of adventuring and self-reliance. Readers of Into the Wild have shared differing opinions of McCandless. Some view him as passionate, courageous, and admirable while others view him as reckless, arrogant, and “unworthy of the considerable media attention he received.” (Author’s Note) Though McCandless’ courage and steadfast dedication to his beliefs are admirable, I believe that his hubris, naivete, and his inadequate preparation should be the most important points in any discussion of his trips and subsequent death.

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.

Henry David Thoreau once stated, that “ All good things are wild and free” (from the poem “Walking”). Christopher Mccandless and Timothy Treadwell lived by this ideal and never conformed to society. Despite the fact that they seemed to live by the same ideal they were presented differently by the people who told their story. Jon Krakauer, author of Into the wild portrays Christopher McCandless as a young adult trying to find himself through nature and he sees McCandless’s death as a tragic accident. In multiple areas of the book, Krakauer reveals the struggles Chris had with trying to understand his parents, while he picked up multiple philosophies on life, from transcendentalist and naturalist. Despite the amount of backlash from

Award winning journalist and author, Jon Krakauer, in his book, Into the Wild, analyzes the life of Chris McCandless as well as the events that ensued his death. Krakauer’s purpose is to inform the reader about how and why Chris McCandless decided to embark on a journey into the wilderness of Alaska. He adopts an empathetic tone in order to impart to his readers that Chris McCandless was a very misunderstood young adult.

Nature has been cheated by the outstanding abilities of Coyote. However, the situation does not end like that. The forces of nature triumph once again in order to show a tale's moral. Bear acts in a more natural way. He finally concludes the cycle that his character was intended for, but not before showing an initial naïve personality. This situation creates a first impression on the reader/listener, implying that good convincing skills can defeat what is naturally expected to happen. However, and with full intention of developing a tale moral, these convincing skills only take effect on a temporary basis. The message this tale wants to issue is that nature might be unaware for some time, but at the end, it always defeats any intention of shortcutting the life cycle. This moral is among the most usual used in Native American coyote stories, which were normally told to audiences of young and old people alike. They were sometimes told to teach about cosmology, as instructional stories for the young, to explain history, and sometimes just for the sake of telling and listening to a funny story. In all these different cases, Coyote stories are a reflection for our own lives, pointing out the smallest miseries and the biggest strengths of humans. Unfortunately for him, in the present tale, Coyote serves as the example of a negative attitude, which finally always leads to a tragic end.

Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer, narrates the life of adventurer and free spirit Christopher McCandless, who died August 1992 in the Alaskan wilderness; however, his journey still remains relevant in today’s pop culture due to the unresolved controversy of whether he is a saintly role model or hubristic fool. Krakauer openly states that he “won’t claim to be an impartial biographer” (Author’s Note) due to the parallels he struck with McCandless, and provides a more idealistic approach to the biography. By having this biased point of view, Krakauer readily attracts many critics such as Craig Medred, who wrote the article The Beatification of Chris McCandless: From Thieving Poacher into Saint, which discredits Krakauer’s legitimacy and emphasizes McCandless’s narcissistic personality and naïve nature. He has also sparked many questions including why McCandless’s story is so significant, which writer Laura Moss tries to answer in Why Are We Still Talking about Chris McCandless?. While it is clear that McCandless’s story has affected every reader due to its many interpretations, two distinct sides form: the avid romantics and their counterpart, the pessimistic realists, which provokes the question of which argument is more valid.

Jon Krakauer's novel, Into the Wild, relates a true story of a young man named Christopher McCandless and his remarkable but fatal journey to discover contentment in the Alaskan wilderness. Krakauer wrote a magazine article about McCandless in 1993 and became obsessed with discovering more about the young boy and his death. With his novel, he shares the story of McCandless and hopes to ignite the same interest in his readers as he developed when he first heard of the boy’s enthralling story. He hopes to enlighten his readers’ views on how happiness can be achieved and spread McCandless’s insatiable desire for adventure to young people today who are seeking the meaning of life and the joy that comes along with it. Krakauer’s eloquent writing and candid tone make Into the Wild an authentic, effective tribute to the life of Christopher McCandless.

It has been said that some find life after death. This stands true for Christopher McCandless, the main protagonist in Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. Into the Wild is journalist Jon Krakauer’s narration of McCandless ditching his life of privilege and hitch hiking around America, until he would eventually trek into the Alaskan Wilderness and lose his life due to starvation. After McCandless is found dead, news of his death sweeps across the nation as his untimely departure faces criticism for being deserved, as McCandless went into the wilderness extremely underprepared. Through this novel, Krakauer brings McCandless’s spirit back to life again as he uses anecdotes, ethos, and aphorisms to convince readers that McCandless’s expedition was not an act of craziness, but an act of a free spirit that many can relate to.

The evolution of modern medicine and technology are increasing the average lifespan causing an increase in populations which increases the demand for resources. Particularly impacting animals by destroying forests and food sources essential to survive causing animals to patrol areas once believed to be wilderness. This situation occurs in “The Bull Moose” by Alden Nowlan, the moose after traveling stumbles upon a farm, experiencing fatigue the moose rests. While resting, the townspeople gazed upon him and interact with him like a domesticated animal. As the moose stands its ground, the officer takes aim and fire his rifle. Also in “Bear 71” directed by Jeremy Mendes and Leanne Allison, a bear after being trapped and subdued in Banff

Werner Herzog directed a documentary film called Grizzly Man to show viewers how much interest Timothy Treadwell demonstrated towards human nature and how he demonstrates human nature through himself. Timothy Treadwell spent thirteen long summers in Alaskan Peninsula. He went to go portray his love and protection to the wild life and grizzly bears, which lead him to his miserable death. Herzog creates a sequence of scenes, comments, and interviews from people who is well connected directly or indirectly with Treadwell. His purpose of directing the Grizzly Man documentary through Treadwell’s own film was to convey the viewers the difference of human beings and the wild life animals. Herzog’s main effective argument was to convey how courageous and how insane Treadwell was to spend thirteen summers in the wild life of grizzly bears.