Analysis Of Into The Wild: A Letter To Jon Krakauer

Dear John Krakauer,
In a world where people make assumptions without any credentials, it is important to tell a story for what it is. When reading your book, Into the Wild, I greatly appreciated the rawness of Chris’ story. What Chris McCandless did opened people's eyes to the reality of a strong and brave man. As an avid adventurer myself, the way you portray Chris McCandless shows a lot about the courage that goes into adventuring alone. Although some people perceive Chris as a narcissist, you do a great job countering it through the telling of him accepting his death.
The greatest part about how Chris’ legacy was captured is that so many people can relate to him: me being one of them. During one of my journeys, I traveled all alone into

To prove to himself he is not what anybody else wanted him to be he had to leave everything and everyone behind. His choice to leave his Datsun behind only proved to me that he was committed to his journey. His commitment and perseverance shown were similar to how I chose to live my life in the wild. Just like said before, he took what he needed when he needed it whether that be advice, food, or a roof. The minimalist lifestyle took over and only motivated him more, “He wanted to prove to himself that he could make it on his own, without anybody else’s help”(159). I like how you emphasized this in the book to allow the readers to understand he traveled with barely anything and was starting from scratch. From this, a lot of people like to point out that he was unprepared, and if he had only had a map he would have been able to get out. Being prepared wasn't the point. In your book, you do a great job explaining that Chris didn’t want to prepare for the worst he just wanted to live. I have related to that in the sense that I just wanted to see how far I could go and what I could do alone without outside

A lot of critiques jump straight to the assumptions about us and we like to wonder why we did it. Without hearing from us, they create their own stories that other people attach themselves to. This is why Into the Wild holds a special place in my heart because it tries to get within Chris’ brain without trying to blame him for anything. Chris and I are journey took an abrupt end earlier than it should have, nature wasn’t on our side and we ended our adventure early. Although it was a hard pill to swallow the end of our adventure led to us accepting our deaths. You were able to show how Chris wasn’t ashamed of what he had done but hopeful that he had learned something, “Nature may be harsh in its honesty but it never lies to you” (The Wild Truth). The ways Chris and I had died may be controversial to some but in the end, it comes down to nature not being on our side. Nature told us it was time to go and although harsh when teaching us its lessons, it allowed us to understand why we were so driven to go out into the wild. The drive to find the truth because it never lies and the drive to find ourselves in ways we haven’t before. When reading the book I found this quote to be inspirational because of the way my mind has wired me to go out by myself and how I shouldn’t regret what I have