Walls In Into The Wild

In the mid-nineteenth century Romantic trend in American Literature, authors often used the idea of “walls’ that human beings place between themselves and others both physically and symbolically. Unlike a fence of gate, which imply a way in or out, a wall is a sound structure. A wall is a barrier to block someone else out, or is it used to block yourself in?

On the other hand, for those he did care about, he left a positive impact on their lives. Chris was raised in an environment where“...hideous domestic violence hidden behind a mask of prosperity and propriety” (Mcalpin). While some believe that going to Alaska was a way to take revenge on his parents, it is hard to imagine those actions taken by Chris who is someone independent and holds neoteric ideals. It is more presumable to suppose that Chris just wanted to cut off ties to those he thinks contravenes with his ideals and ambitions. On the other hand, for everyone he met on the journey, he built a positive relationship; he maintained those relationships up until his death, even telling Wayne, “‘Till then I’ll always think of you as a friend” (Krakauer 33). He consistently sent postcards and shared his current status and new thoughts to Ron, Wayne, and Jan Burres. In his long letter to Ron detailing his pilgrimage, he gave heartfelt thanks and sincere hopes to see him again, writing “Ron, I really enjoy all the help you have given me and the times that we spent together….But providing that I get through this Alaskan Deal in one piece you will be hearing from me again in the future” (Krakauer 56). What makes this letter so special is the fact that Chris

Butler first employs the wall on an institutional level. Lauren Olamina lives in a walled neighborhood, largely shielded from the violence and crime of the world outside. At the beginning of the novel, as Lauren begins to set the scene of her cul-de-sac community, she comments on the wall’s presence as she and her stepmother look out at the sky, “The neighborhood wall is a massive, looming presence nearby. I see it as a crouching animal, perhaps about to spring, more threatening than protective.” (Butler, 5) The personification of the wall serves to show that walls are manmade, and therefore incredibly

Some have said that Chris “marches to a different drummer.” I disagree and agree because when Chris visits different places on his journey, he would get help from people in that community to help him and when he was on his own he would push himself to do more because he knows he wasn’t at his fullest potential. When Chris was going to Alaska, he got helped on his way there, “On October 28, he caught a ride with a long-haul trucker into Needles, California. Overjoyed upon reaching the Colorado River,” (32). By describing Chris’s nomadic unencumbered life he didn’t do anything on his own because on his journey, he met many people that would help him get to his destination. This passage also suggests that Chris never wanted to do anything on his own, he just wanted the thrill of excitement on his adventure. Later on his journey in someplace new he met someone and became friends, “When he returned to McCandless’s camp and launched into the self-improvement pitch, though, McCandless cut him off abruptly. Look, Mr. Franz, ”(pg 51). Launched into the self-improvement pitch this to me means that he is trying to help Chris make new changes into his camp. Also when Chris cut of Mr. Franz “abruptly” he was probably thinking that Mr. Franz was trying to exploit something of his camp. Chris may have thought that Mr. Franz had a zeal obsession in making changes to his

If not for the reasons above, he was clearly selfish due to the fact that he made relationships with people only to leave when they were no longer necessary for him. On Chris’s selfish quest for “ultimate freedom” he had a tendency to form bonds with people and allow them to provide for him. A few examples are, Wayne Westerberg. Chris meet Wayne and Wayne offered Chris a job. Chris kept intact, even when he was not working for Wayne. When the time came for Chris to go to Alaska he knew he had a job so that he could buy supplies and leave. Another example was when Chris went to the trailer park. After just a week “a seventeen-year-old named Tracy, fell in love with McCandless” (44) Another example of how Chris selfishly formed relationships to leave was with Ron Franz. Ron had formed a strong bond with Chris. The first time Chris left Ron, Ron felt great sadness but when Chris called Ron for help, Ron could not help but be relieved of some of the sadness. When Ron heard Chris’s voice, “it was like sunshine after a month of rain” (53). Chris, did not feel this kind of bond though. Chris only needed Ron for a place to stay and a friend until it was time to go to Alaska. Ron felt such a strong bond that he asked Chris if he could adopt him. Then without a solid answer Chris “slipped painlessly, out of Ron Franz’s life as well… Franz became so attached to McCandless so quickly, but the affection he felt was genuine, intense, and

Chris’s family and teachers knew early on he would always be considered mature for his age. Chris never quite fit in and fully embraced that quality of himself. Charlie reports, “Nice guy, yeah, a pretty nice guy. Didn’t like to be around to many people though. Temperamental. He meant good, but I

In this case, Franz is tring to describe Chris as a respectable young

The summer of 1990, Chris had packed up his items and dropped out of sight for the nest two years. Chris had donated all of his money to charity, abandoned his car, and gave himself a new identity as Alexander Supertramp. Life as Alexander, Chris still made friends easily and had a strong effect on them even with a short amount of time spent with them. Ron Franz was among one of those people Alex made a strong impact on. With a small amount of time they had known each other Franz tells Alex, “my mother was an only child,’ he explains…. so I asked Alex if he would be my grandson” (page 55). Alex left a deep impression on Franz to the point where Franz wanted him to be family. Chris made many friends like Franz while he was on the road, but no one was more affected by him then his mother

Lots of people don’t know how to handle their own emotions when it comes to personal things that they haven't faced before. For Chris when learning about his dad having another kid with his ex wife after Chris was already born made Chris very anger thing was something that he couldn't deal with. Chris was always pushed by his parents to go to college and he felt like he had no control of his life. When Chris went out in his journey he took a camera with him and before he died he took one last picture of himself and Jon said “he is smiling in the picture, and there is no mistaking the look in his eyes: Chris McCandless was at peace, serene as monk gone to god.” When talking about Chris growing up they mention how he would looked annoyed in the pictures that were taken of him and he would never smile in them. Him being away from all his problems made him smile for the camera. When Chris would take about going to Alaska most people would think he was just going to die but to Chris he never thought about dying he just wanted to run away from his

He was self absorbed and cared about no one else’s feelings. There may not be textual evidence but it’s true; Chris only cared about his view, his goal. He knew the risks and he took them anyways. Did he even consider the repercussions of doing this? His parents were going crazy searching for their son, his sister included, Ron Franz denounced his religion when he found out Chris died in the wilderness. Chris was just narrow-minded; all he thought about was his own goals. When working at McDonalds he didn’t work fast, why? Because he didn’t want to… he worked at his own pace and didn’t follow rules. “…he cooked in the back- but he always worked at the same slow pace... he wouldn’t understand why I was always on his case.” (40) Chris was just selfish, couldn’t see past his narrow, self-absorbed,

Hitch-Hiking to Hell In the book Into the Wild, John Krakauer Talks about a man named Chris McCandless who was inspired by a famous author named John London to “live off the land”. Chris immediately set his dreams to live off the land in Alaska by himself and survive in the wilderness. Chris McCandless was a great man who could have been a brave role model and hero for others, but was selfish, unprepared, and careless.

This makes Chris appear as someone who is so unable to sympathize with his parents to where he couldn’t come to the realization that a mistake made years ago didn’t make his parents deserve months upon months of anguish wondering if their child was alive. This treatment isn’t a one-time occurrence. When Ronald Franz meets Chris, he goes and treats Chris like his own grandson, describing his voice “like sunshine after a month of rain”(54). He then goes and asks Chris if he can adopt him, to which Chris avoids the question, responding with “We’ll talk about it

Walls can highly affect people internally and externally. Robert Frost and Ronald Reagan are two people who wrote about walls affecting lives in these ways. The view points if the stories have great meaning to them. These walls separate things and that affects people, their countries, and their civilizations.

“Mending Wall” by Robert Frost defines the walls that people have a tendency to build into their lives to keep other people out. People the majority of the time attempt to respect their neighbors’ barriers, and will assist in conserving their boundaries by respecting their personal space. Nevertheless, some outgoing neighbors will attempt to tear down these walls while still continuing to respect their neighbor. Additionally, if a friendly neighbor is able to establish unwanted holes in one’s wall, they will in all likelihood help mend these holes so as to keep the integrity of the relationship. Altogether, individuals in today’s society are afraid to allow strangers into their personal lives.

Today, they’re building a wall, a big, dividing stone wall, and a barbed wire fence (C2). I feel trapped, and everyone had fear in their eyes, even Udom, my neighbor and the bravest man I know.