Analysis Of Into The Wild, By Jon Krakauer

“The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from outside encounters with new experiences.” - Chris McCandless

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is a National best seller book about a young adult male named Chris McCandless also known as Alexander Supertramp. Chris walked into the wilderness of Alaska, alone. He had no plans of where to go or what he was going to do he just went. He left everything behind and just “walked into the wild”. Society was conflicted with how they felt about Chris after reading the book because Krakauer used many different points of view throughout the story to describe Chris and his actions. Krakauer was impartial enough in his account of Chris McCandless’s story

He said he was crazy but he also said he was smart. “ Although he was rash, untutored in the ways of the backcountry, and the incautious to the point of foolhardiness, he wasn’t incompetent- he wouldn’t have lasted 113 days if he were. And he wasn’t a nutcase, he wasn’t a sociopath, he wasn’t an outcast. McCandless was something else- although precisely what is hard to say. A pilgrim, perhaps” (85). Krakauer thought that Chris was many things he had many different characteristics and personalities that made him different from the people of society. The people in his life didn’t understand him. He made decisions that others would never make. He burnt his money, left home with very little supplies and he walked into the wild, alone. People thought he was crazy, ignorant, over confident and just plane old insane. Krakauer took these opinions and his own to show both sides of the argument. He was impartial in the way he wrote the book so that people could make up their own mind on how they felt about him. But his actions and the decisions he made, made it very hard for people to not think he was stupid and crazy. “ melodramatic declaration fueled considerable speculation that the boy had been bent on suicide from the beginning, that when he walked into the bush, he had no intention of ever walking out again. I’m not sure however. My suspicion that McCandless’s death was unplanned, that it was terrible

As a kid McCandless’ childhood was really rough. His parents were abusive and no one truly understood him. He went on adventures all over the United States before walking into the wilderness of Alaska alone. He met lots of people and made a ton of friends on these adventures. They all loved him and when they asked if he would stay he left. Chris was never very good at saying goodbye but he wrote letters to all the people he cared about. His last letter he sent was a good-bye without saying good-bye. “Hey Guys! This is the last communication you shall receive from me. I now walk out to live amongst the wild. Take care, it was great knowing you. ALEXANDER.” (69). Chris never actually wrote the words “good-bye”. By writing his false name in all capital letters it implicates that he wasn’t able to say good-bye in person. It was to hard for him to leave the people he cared about. Krakauer conveys Chris as emotional and human. He had feelings and plans. He may have made some crazy decisions but had reasons for them. Throughout the book there are times that Krakauer uses evidence to show that Chris was completely crazy. The picture that Chris took before he died helped Krakauer understand what Chris was thinking and how he was feeling. “One of his last acts was to take a picture of himself, standing near the bus under the high Alaska sky, one hand holding his final note