The first Chapter tells the readers about Jim Gallien, a union electrician, and his encounter with a hitchhiker. The hitchhiker introduces himself as Alex from South Dakota, although his real name is Christopher Johnson McCandless, originally from Virginia. Chris tells Gallien that he “want[s] a ride as far as the edge of Denali National Park, where he intend[s] to walk deep into the bush and “live off the land for a few months”” (Krakauer 4). Gallien admits that he believed Chris would be another “of those crackpots from the lower forty-eight who come north to live out ill-considered Jack London fantasies” (Krakauer 4), but he soon realizes that Chris knew exactly what he was letting himself in for.
NAME: Naima Campbell Period: 7 MAJOR WORKS DATA SHEET Title: Into the Wild Author: Jon Krakauer Date of Publication: January 13, 1996 Genre: Biography, Non-fiction, Travel Literature Biographical Information about the Author Who is the author? Include the author’s birth/death (if applicable) dates, educational background, occupation, awards, etc.
This book starts with the founding of Christopher McCandless’s body by a bunch of Alaskan hunters in a bus. The law enforcement then comes to remove his body. Jon Krakauer writes about this while writing for “Outside Magazine” and become very curious about this story. To find out more Krakauer pays a visit to a man named Wayne Westerberg, who says that he knew Christopher McCandless as “Alex McCandless” and he then gives a sketch of the young man’s character while in Carthage Wisconsin. He states that he used McCandless from time to time on his grain elevator and from his memories views him as participating, smart, and determined.
Into the Wild. Jon Krakauer. New York. Villard, January 13, 1996. 224 pages.
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
Do you like it when people make assumptions about you or your situation? Most individuals don't because people often make incorrect and flat out wrong assumptions. Those who make assumptions are often basing it on superficial information and know nothing about the deeper workings of a person or their very distinct conditions and history as well; so many variables could go unaccounted for, and when others recognize this, they feel the need to correct or rather enlighten others. Jon Krakaur writes the book “Into the Wild” to clear the name of one Christopher McCandless, due to people presuming him to be like every other lunatic who ventures into the wild and dies. To clear his name, Krakaur uses evidence, structure, analogy and negation to unobstruct McCandless’s merit.
In the Non Fiction book Into the Wild, By Jon Krakauer, a man's journey of a lifetime is described and looked at by many. This is not something written for information, or even entertainment, rather it is written to for anyone who can connect on a spiritual level of what McCandless was doing. Although he was a great scholar with an exceptional lifestyle, he did not believe he was living to his full potential. Something he came to understand when he finds out one that he loves, his father, isn’t who he thought he was. Living a double life with his old wife, which infuriated Christopher and ultimately led to him denouncing his father, and literally forging his own path.
Jon Krakauer says, “The core of mans’ spirit comes from new experiences.” Jon Krakauer is a well-known author and mountain climber. Krakauer has been fascinated with climbing mountains and going on new adventures since he was a young child. His ambitious personality and immense determination are qualities that likely inspired him to write Into the Wild. Into the Wild depicts the journey of a young man named Christopher Johnson McCandless.
Superman is a man of superhuman powers who time and time again, saves Metropolis from certain doom. However Superman is an extreme example, a hero is generally someone of great courage who does something for the greater good despite the risk involved. Jon Krakauer, author of Into the Wild, wrote a book about a young man named Chris McCandless who abandons his old life to attempt to be self reliant in the wild. Krakauer believes Chris to be a man of heroism, however Chris was far from hero, he was a man who was selfish and ill-prepared who had a dream that turned into a nightmare from his own doings. All of Krakauer’s opinions of Chris are just false hopes and misinterpretations of his life and the purpose of his journey.
The book, Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer tells the tragic yet blissful story about a young man who wandered out into the wilderness and was found dead shortly after. This tragic tale of lost life has reached the hearts and minds of many people around the world. Some people believe that Christopher McCandless had the right idea by leaving everything behind. Most would argue that McCandless was an intelligent individual that knew exactly what he wanted out of life. The story that Krakauer writes in his book not only spreads the story of the mysterious man that is McCandless; the story also makes the reader ask why did this happen.
Throughout Jon Krakauer’s 1996 novel, Into the Wild, he included his first-person point of view to enhance the audience’s understanding of his self-absorption. Weakness proved no obstacle for John Beckey as at age 19, he became the first person to climb the Devil’s Thumb. During the initial attempt, one of Beckey’s companion’s, Fritz Wiessner, sprained his knee, forcing the party to turn around. Determined not to fail, Beckey recruited two other climbers from Seattle who enabled him to trek back to his base camp within a week of Wiessner's injury. The climb proved fierce, cold, and difficult, however, the group finally summited the Thumb on August 24, 1946 (Coombs and Wood 193).
To appeal to the sense of credibility, Jon Krakauer implements his own personal experiences in Alaska to express that he understands Chris’s reasons and is credible to tell his story. Krakauer and Chris displayed many similarities such as their inherited ambition and father-son relationship, which led them to isolate themselves from their families and societal standards. The author dedicates a part of the novel to explain his adventure climbing the Devils Thumb and how his life was like growing up. When Krakauer climbed this dangerous mountain, he realized that the wilderness makes all societal conformity “temporarily forgotten, crowded from your thoughts by an overpowering clarity of purpose and by the seriousness of the task at hand”
January 30th, 1996: writer and mountaineer Jon Krakauer appears on Charlie Rose’s PBS interview show for Into the Wild, the story of Chris McCandless’ journey on his own into Alaska. As the interview rolled on, Krakauer explained McCandless like he was a close family friend due to the information he got while reporting the story for Outside magazine. When asked how he came across this story, he mentioned seeing “a blurb in the New York Times” where he got some chills from seeing it from his time out in Alaska. Ultimately he connects personally with McCandless. Krakhauer inherited transcendental traits through his persistence, individuality and independence, and risk taking.
Reader Response Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. This story was very sad. The whole story! I wanted to read more. I wanted to read more about what Christopher had to encounter in his life.
Based on a real story, Into the Wild can make us think from different perspectives about what the main character Christopher McCandless did. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is a dramatic but also remarkable story from a young, newly graduated, college student that escaped for a long wild journey but never came back. As time passes throughout the book, the reader may notice how the main character interacts with society and nature, finally McCandless dies in the wild but even though he was struggling for survival he died happy. Some people never get out of their comfort zone, others are tired of it and retire from their comfort zone to have different experiences in life, some are good enough or some are terrible.
