Allyssa Mikes July 2012 Into the Wild Mr. Fertmann Throughout the non-fictional novel Into the Wild, the author Jon Krakauer catches the reader’s interest early on in the book. Krakauer takes us on a journey, telling the story of young Chris McCandless’ adventures after abandoning everything he owned. Krakauer fully emerged himself into the study of McCandless’ life’s adventures and soon developed a deep understanding of who he was and how he impacted to world. Krakauer connected with McCandless in an unexplainable way. Because of Krakauer’s past endeavors, he was able to capture the mentality of McCandless’ choices and write about them in a speaker and subject dynamic. As the novel progresses, the reader gets the sense of a unique brotherhood between the two, although they had never actually encountered one another. As Krakauer and McCandless’ “friendship” progresses, the reader will gain affection towards McCandless. From the beginning of the novel, the reader gathers how McCandless was an independent man who defied odds and went against society. We soon learn how Krakauer was alike. Krakauer understood the hardships and troubles of McCandless’ journey. At a young age, Krakauer planned to make the treacherous ascent of ‘Devil’s Thumb’. He had massive motivation; not a single man had completed the climb before, which only made him want to do it more. Over the time of his travels, he had met many people along his way. Various short and temporary relationships that only
Into the Wild is a book written by jon krakauer. The book details the life of chris mccandless as he journeys through the american wilds as best as the krakauer could possibly portray it. Despite how he does his best to portray the life of chris, he ultimately has a bias in the story.
Into the Wild, written by Jon Krakauer, is a memoir about how living in the wilderness and how Chris McCandless lived nearly two years in the wild. Throughout the novel, Krakauer relates Chris’ adventures to his own experience in mountain climbing and living on his own. This is not your typical memoir where the author tells a story about their lives. Jon Krakauer is not the main character; however he tells a story of this boy who leaves his well-developed family for no apparent reason. But not only does he tell Chris’ story, he tells his own by fusing them altogether.
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.
“If you take no risks, you will suffer no defeats. But if you take no risks, you win no victories.” (Richard M. Nixon). In his investigative biography, Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer, expresses that even though young people can be ignorant and take treacherous risks, these can be used as knowledge enhancers and can be life changers.
“Happiness is only real, when shared.” - Jon Krakauer Into the wild. Jon Krakauer, the author of Into the Wild told the story of Chris McCandless. Chris escaped reality and went to go live off the land in Alaska, hoping to live a simpler life. In the novel, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, Chris McCandless shared a similar philosophy with Jack London, as they both have a strong passion for Alaska, they both appreciated they beauty of nature, and both wanted to be reborn.
What is it that we find crazy about those who have the courage to do what we won’t? In the compelling novel “Into The Wild” by Jon Krakauer the character and intelligence of the youth in men is questioned. Through the pieced together 200 page novel we are introduced to Christopher Johnson McCandless also known as “Alex Supertramp”. A ripe 24 years of age he chose to question our reality and his meaning of life that is given to us by hitchhiking across America to the Alaskan wilderness, where after four months in the last frontier he is found dead. Krakauer throughout the novel shows that although some admire what McCandless did, others found his final journey “reckless” and “crazy”. Krakauer goes to explain this claim through interviews of those who have encountered McCandless on his adventure and through those who got to know his story.
Jon Krakauer diverges from the story of McCandless’s journey, to inform the readers how all of the other adventures that occurred were similar. He wanted to show how other people were in his situation, that wanted to conquer the world with what the others had with them.
Jon Krakauer reveals the good in McCandless that is hidden from all his other previous mistakes. Although McCandless struggles with the concept of intimacy, he is gifted in the act of perseverance. Another thing McCandless has learned is survival, as presented with how long he stayed alive with limited resources. McCandless is a hard working individual as Krakauer as stated through the theme of perseverance. McCandless has many travel experiences, he’s traveled across vast parts of America, which is quite challenging especially with the lack of money because the world is a very materialistic place. His adventure through Mexico is another example of his survival skills as he only had very limited amounts of rice as food. Lastly, before he died
“As a youth, [Krakauer was] told, [he] was willful, self-absorbed, intermittently reckless, moody. [He] disappointed [his] father…. Like McCandless, figures of male authority aroused in [him]…confusing medley of corked fury and hunger to please. If something captured [his] undisciplined imagination, [he] pursued it with a zeal bordering on obsession, and from the age of seventeen until [his] late twenties that something was mountain climbing” (134).
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.
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is a biography about the life of a young man named Christopher McCandless and his journey into the wild. Into the Wild follows the journey of Chris McCandless that lead him to his death in 1992. Krakauer investigates the journey that McCandless took and tries to discover the reason McCandless did such thing and the meaning of his trip. Chris McCandless develops his identity as a stubborn and independent person through his actions, interests, and his values and beliefs.
In the book Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, a man named Chris McCandless, who left is family to travel the world. He went through the hottest and the coldest places. He even climbed mountains. He met some new people who became his new family and friends. (When he died in Alaska) a lot of people started to act like Chris by leaving home and living off the wild. But before Chris was even born a man named Everett Ruess did the same thing but whose body was never found. “Everett, who was born in Oakland, moved from state to state as a child. Eventually they finally settled in California where Everett had his first alone adventure. “As he grew up and started to take more deadly adventures, one finally leads to his disappearance in Davis Gulch” (krakauer 89). Even though Chris and Everett were born in different times they had similarities. They both went through hardships with their body and they both wanted to be alone. Along with
Into the Wild, written by Jon Krakauer, is the story of a young man named Christopher Johnson McCandless who ventured off to Alaska and tried to survive in the wild. McCandless grew up in Annandale, Virginia where he attended school and made very good grades, rarely bringing home anything below an A. His father, Walt worked for NASA for a little while, before starting his own business with Chris’s mother, Billie, out of their own home. They worked hard and for long hours to get the business up and running and it finally paid off. The McCandless family was wealthy, but had many emotional problems. After graduating from Emory University in 1990, Chris McCandless donated twenty-four thousand dollars from his savings account to charity,
As quoted in Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, “The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure.” Adventure is what takes you outside of your comfort zone. It’s what sets us apart from every other species. Unlike any other animal, we can enjoy partaking in adrenaline-inducing activities that no other animal has the consciousness for. Adventure is exhilarating and spirit-magnifying. It’s is the essence of what it means to feel alive. Adventure to me is about finding excitement and giving our lives flavor. Without adventure, I think my life would be rather mundane. There is little thrill in safety and conformity. I think it’s extremely healthy and even necessary for the human spirit to not always feel assured
Jon Krakauer’s Into The Wild chronicles the journeys and events leading up to the death of a young man named Chris McCandless. Chris was a vagabond who traded friends and family in exchange for adventure, but ultimately wound up dead in the Alaskan wilderness. Within this recollection readers can discover various themes. Primarily, the subjects of materialism, ultimate freedom, and even man vs. nature all recur in this text. Materialism refers to the desire for money or possessions rather than spiritual or ethical values. Chris McCandless denounces this desire. After he left home, he rejects all forms of luxury similar to that of his family’s wealthy situation. While traveling, he insists on only carrying the bare essentials to survive and he regularly refuses any aid that would compromise this doctrine. He even goes as far as burning one hundred twenty-three dollars, which shows just how little he cares for it. On the other hand, McCandless displays a yearning for “ultimate freedom” throughout his travels. Eventually, he would like to find a place where he does not have to obey anyone’s rules. In chapter one, when Jim Gallien asks Chris if he has a hunting license, McCandless describes his distaste for the government’s rules, stating, “How I feed myself is none of the government’s business.” Also, Chris’ constant traveling shows his reluctance to settle down or become tied down to one place. He avoids developing relationships with