Into The Wild By Jon Krakauer: Chapter Analysis
Zoe Engel
6-19-23
Mr. Selfridge
Period: 2
Stepping Into the Wilderness
The work of nonfiction Into The Wild, by Jon Krakauer, tells the true story of Chris McCandless, an adventurous young man, who leaves home to travel around the continent eventually setting foot into the Alaskan wilderness on a journey that becomes fatal. Highlighted throughout this work of nonfiction is the true story of McCandless’s life, along with bits of Krakauer’s personal life as it relates to McCandless’s. Each chapter begins with at least one epigraph that shares common themes with the following chapter. The focus in this paper will be on chapter 14, “The Stikine Ice Cap,” in which Krakauer shares his experience climbing the Devil’s Thumb in Alaska, and the second
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The idea of stepping off the grid and away from modern society to be in the wilderness was an idea that McCandless also shared with Krakauer and Thoreau. McCandless took this idea to an extreme degree, getting rid of his map so that he could live totally off the grid and apart from society. Although Thoreau shared this value he did not take this idea to the same level, instead he enjoyed smaller scale wilderness trips. In the epigraph, Thoreau states, “It can never become familiar, you are lost the moment you set out,” which shows his free-spiritedness that once he is out in the world he is lost in nature as he becomes detached from traditional societal life. Additionally in this chapter, as Krakauer shares his experience climbing the Devil Thumb he shares, “Those mountains heralded the approach of my desideratum (ITW 137).” This means that the mountains are about to give him the desire he is searching for by setting out into the Alaskan wilderness and temporarily separating him from society, an opportunity he took during the course of his life. All three of these men McCandless, Thoreau, and Krakauer shared this value in life, making this a suitable epigraph to include in this work of nonfiction, especially in this chapter for it ties many perspectives of the recurrent free-spirited
Theme Of Into The Wild, By Jon Krakauer
1030 Words | 5 PagesThe second theme within this story is clearly about Spiritual connection between human and nature. Through out the entire story, McCandless searches for true freedom that was blocked by the society. He considers that nature is the true place of his freedom, and where his soul belongs to. This is obvious from his action of living in the wild of Alaska, but it is also analyzed by the writer Krakauer. “McCandless went into the wilderness not primarily to ponder nature or the world at large but, rather, to explore the inner country of his own soul.”
Summary Of Into The Wild, By Jon Krakauer
353 Words | 2 PagesThe nonfiction novel Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer retells the bemusing true story of wealthy, free spirited Chris McCandless; also known by the alias “Alexander Supertramp”; who abandoned all his possessions and trekked across America, eventually starving to death in the Alaskan wilderness. Krakauer goes to great lengths to explore McCandless’s background and motivations, interpreted as both foolishness and moving determination. This piece intends to visualize that interpretation, showing both the poetic tragedy and frustrating avoidability of McCandless’s demise. The raging ocean, in shades of green rather than the usual blue, represent the indifferent, greedy wilderness that McCandless ventured in to. It’s chaos in ink matches its chaos
Chris Mccandless In Into The Wild By Jon Krakauer
832 Words | 4 PagesThe Alaskan Wilderness: cold, lonely and, for some people, their final resting place. John Krakauer’s book “Into the Wild” describes the story of Chris McCandless, who was a normal American man on the verge of entering adulthood with a college degree, over $20,000 in savings, and a beloved Datsun car who met his fate in Alaska. One day, he dropped everything to live alone, and eventually die alone, in the middle of nowhere, Alaska. Chris McCandless believed that conformity was too restrictive. He trusted that anyone could find true happiness and passion by leaving everything behind and starting a new lifestyle, which would allow for him to become free and independent.
Analysis Of Into The Wild By Jon Krakauer
291 Words | 2 PagesA journalist by the name of Jon Krakauer wrote the book “Into The Wild”. He used this piece of literature to persuade to the audience that McCandless is inspiring and courageous role model. Going out into the world showed how others can connect to Mccandless and it would withhold judgment. An inspiring person is someone who shows others the urge or ability to do or feel something that may be creative,risk taking and or challenging. Krakauer is proving how McCandlesses adventurous actions proves he had a lot of courage meaning he was not deterred by danger or pain.
Rhetorical Analysis Of Into The Wild, By Jon Krakauer
1475 Words | 6 PagesJon Krakauer, in the book “Into the Wild” argues that Chris Mccandless isolated himself from society in order to gain a sense of self in nature. Krakauer supports his argument by explaining how Chris struggled with many aspects of belonging in society so he looked to isolation and challenge to find himself. The author’s purpose is to persuade a general audience including groups interested in nature in order to prove that Chris had a valid reason to walk into the wild. The author's purpose is to convince a general audience including outdoor experts and avid nature adventurers that escaping the constraints of society into the wilderness was the best option for Chris McCandless. The author writes in an empathetic tone for his general audience,
The Mistaken Adventure In Into The Wild By Jon Krakauer
1520 Words | 7 PagesKrakauer decided to return from his journey, concluding that no matter how badly someone may want something, there are goals that are impossible to reach. McCandless was possibly on this vision quest not because he wanted people to notice him, but to find his true self. It is possible that although it seemed like McCandless had such a good life, he felt that he was missing something on the inside. McCandless may have found out what he was missing just like Krakauer, but he may have found out too
How Is Chris Mccandless Justified In Into The Wild
639 Words | 3 PagesChris McCandless is a complex and controversial figure whose life and death have captured the imagination of many. His journey, as chronicled in Jon Krakauer’s book “Into the Wild,”has been a subject of controversy and debate. While some veiw him as a hero, an adventurous spirit who pursued his dreams and sought to live life on his own terms, while others view him as a naive and misguided young man who continuously put his life at risk. However, regardless of one’s personal opinion, there is no need to justify McCandless’s actions. Instead of people assuming things, they should try to understand the reasons that he went into the wild.
Christopher Mccandless In Into The Wild, By Jon Krakauer
1092 Words | 5 PagesHunter Roll Professor Swan ENGL 153 27 February 2023 Connection Narrative In Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, the main character Christopher McCandless is viewed by most as being a young man who wishes to break free from the chains and rules of society by escaping to the great and wonderfully vast outdoors. The protagonist felt that his best option was to leave our man-made world behind and head out into the wilderness with nothing but a couple of books, some rice, and a small rifle. Some may see his actions and desires as brave and romantic. However, this essay will argue the opposite and provide some personal experiences along the way.
What Is Chris Mccandless Idealism In Into The Wild
482 Words | 2 PagesThe innermost fragments of the soul are what makeup that we are, and many of us do not find out how to achieve every part within us for a long time. In Krakauer’s Into the Wild, he assembles a novel about Chris McCandless' life in an extraordinary way, outlining his various adventures throughout his short existence. Chris was a stubborn young man eager and bent on reaching spiritual haven in the Alaskan wilderness. His determination to fulfill his idealistic his idealistic dreams fueled his efforts elude conformist society. However, Chris would come to realize Alaska is a harsh, cold, and unforgiving landscape that misleads many dauntless individuals, like him.
Idealism In Into The Wild
920 Words | 4 PagesMcCandless is, finally, just a pale 20th-century burlesque of London’s protagonist, who freezes because he ignores advice and commits big time hubris) .... His ignorance, which could have been cured by a USGS quadrant and a Boy Scout manual, is what killed him.” (Krakauer, 51). This added quote supports the claim that because of the underlying theme of McCandless’s arrogance it caused him to go into the Alaskan wilderness ill-equipped and unprepared which eventually led to his untimely
Into The Wild, By Jon Krakauer
859 Words | 4 PagesAccording to John Krakauer in Into the Wild, he shows how McCandless and others have a unique perception of the wilderness because they have this awareness of free belonging to the wild. Their perspective has them in a reassurance of capturing their life in the wilderness, thinking about how it will change their whole perspective from daily struggles. In agreement with Leo Tolstoy in Into the Wild, “I wanted movement and not a calm course of existence. I wanted excitement and danger and the chance to sacrifice myself for my love. I felt in myself a superabundance of energy which found no outlet in our quiet life” (15).
Into The Wild, By Jon Krakauer
1892 Words | 8 PagesThe experience of relentless action itself is where one could conceivably find refuge, as even when the destination is reached, no further refuge is found. Simultaneously, while the author of Into The Wild, Jon Krakauer, depicted his experience as an adventurous youth, he also mentioned his perspective of actuality concerning the journey’s real association with refuge when he emphasizes how “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. When I decided to go to Alaska that April, like Chris McCandless, I was a raw youth who mistook passion for insight and acted according to an obscure, gap-ridden logic. I thought climbing the Devil's Thumb would fix all that was wrong with my life. In the end, of course, it changed almost nothing.
Argumentative Essay On Into The Wild
915 Words | 4 PagesThe Alaskan Bush is one of the hardest places to survive without any assistance, supplies, skills, and little food. Jon Krakauer explains in his biography, Into The Wild, how Christopher McCandless ventured into the Alaskan Bush and ultimately perished due to lack of preparation and hubris. McCandless was an intelligent young man who made a few mistakes but overall Krakauer believed that McCandless was not an ignorant adrenalin junkie who had no respect for the land. Krakauer chose to write this biography because he too had the strong desire to discover and explore as he also ventured into the Alaskan Bush when he was a young man, but he survived unlike McCandless. Krakauer’s argument was convincing because he gives credible evidence that McCandless was not foolish like many critics say he was.
Analysis Of Chris Mccandless In Into The Wild, By Jon Krakauer
783 Words | 4 PagesIn addition, in a journal entry, McCandless writes, “It is the experiences, the memories, the great triumphant joy of living to the fullest extent in which real meaning is found. God it’s great to be alive! Thank you. Thank you” (Krakauer 37). This excerpt shows that McCandless sincerely is at peace with himself and the world because of where his ideals have taken him.
Analysis Of Into The Wild, By Jon Krakauer
882 Words | 4 PagesWhen McCandless graduated from college, he found the possibility to go away for a while, “He had fled the claustrophobic confines of his family” (Krakauer 55). McCandless could finally go away looking for a journey full of adventures, but he wasn’t going to five stars hotels or luxurious places. His journey was precarious and wild, that was exactly what he was looking for. Places that were difficult for someone to reach and loneliness was abundant, the only interaction was with nature and savage animals. Happiness engulfed McCandless when backpacking anywhere, it was his joy.
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