Use Of Chris Mccandless Writing Style In Into The Wild

His mother, Billie, wept, “” I just don’t understand why he had to take those kind of chances”” (132, Krakauer) and his father agonized “” How is it, … that a kid with so much compassion could cause his parents so much pain?”” (104, Krakauer). It was extremely selfish to leave his parents thinking he would be back to see them again, but he never did. Besides his family, he also left many people along the road. “He had fled the claustrophobic confines of his family. He’d successfully kept Jan Burres and Wayne Westerburg at arm’s length. And now he’s slipped painlessly out of Ron Franz’s life as well. Painlessly, that is, from McCandless’s perspective…” (55, Krakauer). After being thrown in jail for hopping freight trains McCandless called Ronald Franz to pick him up, which only deepened his affection for the young man. The most selfish thing of all, was the entire reason for his trip. He went for the same reason the author of Into the Wild went as he says, “When I decided to go to Alaska that April, I was a raw youth who mistook passion for insight and acted according to an obscure, gap-ridden logic. I thought climbing the Devils Thumb would fix all that was wrong with my life. In the end, of course, it changed almost nothing” (155, Krakauer). McCandless went on a multiple year road trip through the Western and into the North to find himself but Death got to him

-- In this quote Eric Hathaway reveals that McCandless was more than just his criticizing persona, He was a caring person who defies the pressures of society, which can be supported with his trips to the underdeveloped parts of town. He is a self-reliant individual who stands for individualism.

​Throughout his adventure, McCandless proves his bravery by supplying himself with an insufficient amount of supplies and making treacherous decisions. McCandless embarks on his route alone with no money or car, only the items that mean the most to him. In order to focus mainly on the nature and his surroundings, McCandless “put a match to” (Krakauer, 29) all his money and “wasn’t carrying anywhere

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.

McCandless was trapped in a society that created an illusion of his own fake happiness while he was looking to discover himself. He possessed a desperate need to find the true meaning that only he could answer. McCandless quotes “I'm going to paraphrase Thoreau here... rather than love, than money, than faith, than fame, than fairness... give me

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.

Initially, Chris willingly renounced his financially comfortable background because of his characterization of being a nonconformist. McCandless believed that it was possible for an individual to acquire too much money and could be a result of unearned privilege which is why “he donated the balance of his bank account to OXFAM” (Into the Wild) and later began to earn his money from labor that he would perform on the job. The actions McCandless made in his life were both equally irregular and bold due to his determination to challenge everything that he has known which instigates to a heroic persona. Furthering what was last stated, a limited amount of individuals have neither the resourcefulness nor initiative to abandon the conformity of their simple lifestyle no matter how imperfect it may be due their uncertainty of what could potentially arise from completely shifting their

The desire to be at one with nature sometimes becomes apparent within some of us. Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer highlights the fact that Chris McCandless is a reckless fool and a narcissist due to his carelessness, ignorance, and incompetence.

In order for readers to distance themselves from making quick judgements about McCandless, the author gives many detailed interviews of people who have spent some time with him before and during his journey into the wild. Those interviews follow a similar structure: they are critical of McCandless at first but are later charmed by his intelligence and determination. In the first chapter, Gallien has picked up McCandless on the highway and he immediately wonders “whether he’d pick up one of those crackpots [...] liv[ing] out ill-considered Jack London fantasies” (4).

“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).

Precise writers make linguistic choices to create certain effects. They want to have their readers react in a certain way. Go back through the text and analyze Krakauer’s use of words, sentences, and paragraphs, and take note as to how effective a writer he is.

To the average person, going off and living off the land is far fetched from the ideal “perfect life” or “American Dream”. To Christopher McCandless, it’s another story, he isn’t the type of person to “stick to the status quo”, he follows the things that he believes could benefit himself. To some people, it may be narcissistic because it’s selfish to only think about what is good for yourself, but to others it could be heroic to have courage to be able to stand out from and break conformity. Chris McCandless, who was well liked and very educated man, left the life that many people desire to have behind and he went off to “live off the land, to survive off of the resources that nature offered he immersed himself in nature to find himself. It takes a lot of courage and guts to go out and “live off the land” with limited supplies but it also takes a lot of skills to do it well, and he underestimated what Mother Nature could do, leading to his death.

This is what was at the core of McCandless' initiative to seek out a simpler life, one free of all of the burdening problems of society. Another key factor was certainly escaping his family, namely his parents, and their ways. Their materialistic ways—which strongly opposed his beliefs—and inability to see eye-to-eye with McCandless had always irked him (108-110). He was surely angry at his parents for being so attached to materialism and their stiff ways; it was no surprise that they had never understood their son. Evidence of his despise for society and cause of yearning to leave it shows when he told Ron: “Mr. Franz, I think careers are a 20th Century invention and I don't want one. You don’t need to worry about me; I have a college education. I’m not destitute. I'm living like this by choice (103).” With this statement one comes to understand

Chris Mccandless thought about life very deeply and lived by standards set in many of

However McCandless often drifted towards individuals as a substitution for his parents: Wayne Westerberg, Charlie, Jim Gallien and Ronald Franz as substitution for his father and Jan Burres, as substitution for his mother. Wayne Westerberg took McCandless under his wing as did Ronald Franz, Jan Burres, and the others. Although McCandless was no longer in contact with his parents he continued to contact these individuals long after they had dropped him to his destination. Westerberg spoke highly of McCandless explaining how much of a hard worker he was and how intelligent he was, “He read a lot, used a lot of big words. I think that maybe part of what got him into trouble was that he did too much thinking” (Krakauer 18). He gave McCandless a few jobs and places to live as well and Ronald was so fond of McCandless that after McCandless died he took his advice and embarked on a journey of his own to “live off the