Into the Wild Essay Most people go into the wilderness to go camping for a week or less than a week, then leave. Some stay for more than a week. Chris McCandless was in the wild for at least one hundred days. “ I’ve decided to live this life for some time to come. The freedom and the beauty of it is too good to pass up.”(pg.92)
In Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, he focuses on one main person, Chris McCandless. Krakauer explains most of Chris's life and even, at times, puts his own input into the pages of this book. Chris McCandless (a.k.a Alexander Supertramp) was from Chesapeake Beach, Maryland. Chris had a father, Walt McCandless, a mother, Billie Mccandless, and a younger sister, Carine. Chris's obsession with nature and high-risk activities was believed to start when "Walt took Billie and his children from both marriages to climb Longs Peak in Colorado."
c) I can empathise with Walt McCandless, Chris McCandless’s father. “....I spent a lot of time with Chris, perhaps more than with any of my other kids. I really liked his company even though he frustrated us so often.” (Krakauer, 104) Chris and his father did not truly get along very well as Chris got older, since their personalities were so stubborn, they would fight a lot. Walt loved Chris but rarely showed it, which made Chris have a certain hate towards his father.
In the book “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer, Chris McCandless had many decisions to leave his old life behind and start over. Chris’ decision to leave was justified for the following reasons. When he suddenly disappeared, it made it easier for him to let go of his past and focus on what he wants to do in the future. McCandless could make all his own decisions, nobody had a chance to tell him that he could not leave and certainly did not allow anyone to find out where he was going. Finally he didn’t agree to social norms.
What is a hero? A hero is a person who is admired for great or brave acts or fine qualities. There are many people who meet the characteristics of a hero, but Chris McCandless is not one of them. There are many reasons that prove why McCandless does not meet the characteristics of a hero and there is many other people who do meet the criteria of a hero. My idea of a hero is a someone who takes on large tasks and shows great bravery in his/her character.
Krakauer made the life of Chris McCandless an extremely educational and shocking book. It is extraordinary how you can transform the life of a young person into such a decent book with a huge differ in the information and enchanting advice about the adventure of that man in the wild. McCandless was youthful person who settled on a decision which horribly and lethally for him, it did not work out. Also, there was no plot or a story because there was nobody to fault. “In 1992, however, there were no more blank spots on the map-not in Alaska, not anywhere.
Westerberg was the name of the man whom had given him his first job in Carthage. Alex would always talk and tell stories, he enchanted everyone with his charisma. Westerberg gave him employment at a grain elevator and rented him an inexpensive room in one of the two houses he owned. As stated in the book “Into The Wild” by Jon Krakauer, Westerberg claims,” I’ve given jobs to lots of hitch hikers over the years... most of them weren’t much
Christopher McCandless, the protagonist of the novel and film Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer, is not your average guy. Driven by his minimalist ideals and hate for society, he challenged the status quo and embarked on a journey that eventually lead to his unforeseen demise. A tragic hero, defined by esteemed writer, Arthur Miller, is a literary character who makes an error of judgment or has a fatal flaw that, combined with fate and external forces, brings on tragedy. Christopher McCandless fulfills the role of Miller’s tragic hero due to the fact that his tragic flaw of minimalism and aversion towards society had lead him to his death.
Alex. P POSTCARD RECEIVED BY WAYNE WESTERBERG IN CARTHAGE, SOUTH DAKOTA” (Krakauer 3) Journal Entry: (P) I feel that, the postcard from Alex to Wayne that is presented at the beginning of "Chapter One: The Alaska Interior" was the most important passage,because
He had the courage to give up every bit of money he had by getting “A pathetic little stack of ones and fives and twenties- and put a match on it”( Krakauer 29). No normal person would undergo this process but McCandless did which shows the courage he has in trusting the wilderness. Not only did he give up his possessions but he did infact have the courage to take on a new name he had given himself. “No longer would he answer to Chris McCandless; he was now Alexander Supertramp, master of his own destiny”( Krakauer 23).
Chris McCandless abandoned the modern world and chose the wild because he believed that he could improve himself through living in the wild, and found the true happiness of the life. McCandless abandoned his wealthy family because of his complicated relationship with his father, and he was ashamed with his father’s adultery. Therefore, McCandless believed that human relationship was not the only thing that forms happiness, instead a man’s connection with the nature brings joy as well. He also believed the habitual lifestyle was not what people were meant to do, and people shouldn't have more possessions than what they need. For this reason, McCandless traveled with little effects.
Anyone can have a story in their life and can turn it into a book. Jon Krakauer wrote Into the Wild on what happened to Christopher McCandless and turned his story into a novel. Jon Krakauer´s structure his novel to let the reader have their own opinions on Christopher McCandless by stating the book is on his bias viewpoint, putting it in non-chronological order, and wrote about his own background life story, which is all important to strengthen Krakauer 's motive of writing his book. Into the Wild, focuses on the young individual named Christopher McCandless who hitchhiked to Alaska. Along the way, in his journey, he met new people and traveled in many places.
Into the Wild tells the story of Chris McCandless, a young man who embarked on an adventure across the U.S. Chris lived for adventure, and sadly met his demise in the Alaskan wilderness. Chris’ death brought about a large debate as to whether Chris was insane or simply idealistic. Krakauer wrote Into the Wild to prove Chris’ sanity and soundly completes that task by using rhetorical devices to persuade his audience. Throughout the book, Krakauer uses ethos to develop Chris’ credibility by providing examples of people who are similar to him. For example, Krakauer provides multiple examples of people who were very similar to Chris, such as Everett Ruess.
McCandless takes on the world and sees it in a different perspective, then most others. The author writes, "No longer would he answer to Chris McCandless, he was now Alexander Supertramp, master of his own
However, Jon Krakauer proves his argument that McCandless was not arrogant, foolish, antisocial, or crazy by giving examples of other young men who were similar to McCandless to show that his journey wasn’t unprecedented. He also proves that McCandless wasn’t antisocial because he developed personal relationships with Ronald Franz, Wayne Westerberg, and Jan Burres in such a short amount of time and explaining the many times that McCandless respected the Alaskan Bush. Krakauer admits that McCandless may have suffered from hubris; he was still a victim of circumstances. Krakauer proves that McCandless had an intrinsic motivation to discover and that he wasn’t alone because Krakauer too ventured into the Alaskan Bush when he was younger. The Alaskan Bush is a very difficult place to survive if one isn’t prepared for many challenges such as hunting for food or staying warm in the frost ridden
