Marco Hoffman Mrs. Flores English 12 6 March 2023 Into the Wild Final Summative Essay The Alaskan Bush, many wouldn’t even consider trying to travel in it or even so much as live in it, Chris McCandless though, he was all for it. Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer tells a story about a man named Chris McCandless whose goal is to travel to Alaska, reside in the bush, and live off the land. A small 10 pound bag of rice, a.22 caliber rifle which was not rated to hunt game out in that region, a camera, and a guide to which plants are edible.
In the novel, Into the Wild, author Jon Krakauer presents the journey and life story of Christopher McCandless, a twenty-two-year-old adventurer from Annandale, Virginia. Chris McCandless, also known by the alias Alexander Supertramp, abandoned his former life in the suburbs of Virginia and traveled into the Alaskan wilderness in an attempt to escape the materialistic ideals of society. After one hundred and thirteen days in the wilderness, McCandless passes away due to starvation. Along with his decomposing body, cryptic messages from his diary are found indicating that he was gradually perishing. Throughout the novel, Krakauer admits to seeing himself in McCandless’ actions.
The late Helen Keller once said “Life is either a great adventure or nothing,” mirroring Chris McCandless’s view on how he wanted to live his life. At a young age of only 22, Christopher Johnson McCandless hitchhiked to Alaska ditching his well-to-do family, donating $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoning his possessions, burning his money and social security card in hope to discover a new life. Four months later his body was discovered by a moose hunter leaving, his family to wonder about his final days. McCandless’ tragic story became a national sensation when Krakauer released an article in Outside magazine. The article aroused many opinions as to whether or not Chris was to be admired or criticized for his foolishness..
Christopher Johnson Mcandles is really different from other characters. He might be considered as one of the few main characters in novels who actually existed in real life. After he graduated from college, he traveled almost all North America by himself, leaving no trace but a written note to his parents telling them he was going to a trip. At the end of the book, Christopher could be considered as a lunatic determined guy who was searching for something that may metaphorically be considered as forgiveness from God. Christopher McCandles died of starvation and his body was later found in an abandoned bus in Alaska.
To be materialistic means to have values that put relatively high priority on making a lot of money and having many possessions, as well as on image and popularity, which are almost always expressed via money and possessions. In Jon Krakauer’s book, Into the Wild, Christopher is “living off the essentials of life.” After graduating from Emory University, Christopher McCandless abandoned his possessions, gave his entire savings account to charity, and hitchhiked to Alaska to live in the wilderness. Most Americans wish they had more money and possessions, but not Chris McCandless, his rejection of money and material objects, as well as his quest for a “living off the land” experience leads to him donating the remainder of his collage fund, $24,000, to OXFAM, hence relinquishing his prosperous upbringing. Chris had announced to his mom and
Throughout Krakauer's account of Chris McCandless’ life, we see Chris’s innate need to be his own person and to be one with nature. We discover his want to be away from a big government and from America’s imposing societal structure. Through his love of nature and want for individualism, Chris McCandless is a modern day Transcendentalist. Individualism is one of the fundamental ideas of Transcendentalism, throughout the book we see Chris leave behind his old life, to start a new. One thing that Transcendentalist believe is that money can lead people astray from the true meanings of life.
Year after year souls are lost in the perilous remote mountains of Alaska attempting to relive the delusional odyssey of Christopher Johnson McCandless. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is a book about McCandless, also known by his pseudonym Alex Supertramp, a courageous but stubbornly arrogant and naïve adventurer who ventured into the Alaskan bush overestimating himself and underestimating the country. Wayne Westerberg admires McCandless for being an extraordinary hard working individual, but also believes that he was selfish and stubborn for leaving his family and friends to go on his ruthless odyssey into the wild. If McCandless were present, Westerberg would tell him he was imprudent and would try to persuade him to make amends with his family
“If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.” ―Maya Angelou. Jon Krakauer’s true story titled Into the Wild is about a man who decides to throw away his old life and escape the rules of conventional society. Twenty-two-year-old Chris McCandless came from a well-to-do family in Virginia and, without warning, abandons everything. He changes his name, loses contact with his family, gives away his car and all his money, and begins a two-year long journey hitchhiking to Alaska where he eventually dies of starvation.
Based on the reading done from the book Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, the following argument about why Christopher McCandless had ventured into the wild can be based on literary influences and is constructed. However, others may claim that McCandless must’ve had a mental illness or had been mentally deranged, a.k.a. crazy, to head into the wilderness with little to no supplies or prior knowledge of what he might or will experience. In Into the Wild, the main protagonist Christopher McCandless is the son of wealthy parents; Marcia Gay Harden and William Hurt, along with his sister Carine McCandless. Chris graduates from the Emory University as a top student and athlete, however, instead of undergoing a prestigious and profitable career, he decides to give his savings to a hunger-preventing charity, rids himself of most of his possessions, and set out to the Alaskan wilderness.
Chapter nine, about halfway through the novel, is a discussion of the life of a man who closely paralleled McCandless in his passion and lifestyle. Krakauer opens the chapter with a quote from Wallace Stegner describing Everett’s passions: “What Everett Ruess was after was beauty, and he conceived beauty in pretty romantic terms. We might be inclined to laugh at the extravagance of his beauty-worship if there were not something almost magnificent in his single-minded dedication to it. Aesthetics as a parlor affectation is ludicrous and sometimes a little obscene; as a way of life it sometimes attains dignity. (61)”
Jon Krakauer immediately conveys an image of McCandless in the first few pages of Into the Wild. The issue of his subjective narrative arises when the protagonist is described as a young man, “shivering in the grey Alaskan dawn” (Krakauer 1996:3). The reader is not sure whether the descriptions are literary techniques applied by Krakauer to convey his imagination of McCandless or if it based on facts provided to him by Gallien, who is an Alaskan union electrician, and gave McCandless a ride until he dropped him off close to the edges of the Alaskan Range. One of McCandless’ answer to not having a hunting license is “How I feed myself is none of the government’s business. Fuck their stupid rules” (6).
Realist: This means to have an understanding of what can be accomplished. By using this word, Krakauer was able to let the readers know that he viewed McCandless as more of a realist than an idealist. Being a realist is a noble trait, due to its denotation meaning of the word which implies that one knows their own limit and weakness and knows how to set forth and complete a goal. Ambivalent about killing animals: The meaning of the phrase is having mixed or contradictory feelings or ideas about killing animals.
Who is Chris McCandles Everybody wants to follow their dream and know what the meaning of life is, but not all are brave enough to do that, in fact only a few people actually go on to follow their dream. Into the Wild is a book by Jon Krakauer where a brave boy, Chris McCandless follows his dream despite the risks. Some people think he is dumb and some say he’s brave.
Chris McCandless sought to find his happiness in the wilderness. Krakauer explains why and how McCandless went on the dangerous journey to Alaska in the novel, Into the Wild. Although many readers have thought he was unprepared and mentally ill, McCandless believed that society restricted people from understanding themselves. People are so focused in a lifestyle where they get an education, find a career and get a job from there. McCandless believed humans are focused on social status that they have forgotten to live without society.
Chris McCandless abandoned modern world and choose the wild because he believed that he can improve himself through living in the world, and finds the true happiness of the life. McCandless abandoned his wealthy family because his complicated relationship with his father, and he was ashamed with his father’s adultery. Therefore McCandless believed that human relationship is not a thing that forms happiness, and the connection with nature brings joy as well. He believed the habitual lifestyle was what people meant to do, he believed people shouldn't have more possessions than what they need, and that is why McCandless travel with little effects. McCandless thought he can find the solution of his confusion with his father's adultery, and he can
