He pointed out Mr. Cathey consistent bombardments of challenges and how he handle each situation. Every good point in his life such as becoming a father was met with a bad point in which he couldn’t go to school because he became a father. The author allowed us to feel happy for the situations that seemed any reasonable person would feel good about and upset about the unforeseen variables that tend to find Mr. Cathey. The author makes sure you feel the joy and pain of a young man who could have made it to a higher level but came up short because of his bad decision
Christopher McCandless, the main focus from Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild observes the factors that impacted Chris McCandless to his unfortunate death at the age of 24 in August of 1992 on Stampede Trail, Alaska in attempts to live off the land. Richard Russo who grew up to write his own memoir Elsewhere describing his “American childhood, as lived in the Fifties by a lower-middle class that seems barely to exist anymore” (Russo, 12, 2012). Russo grew up with his mother, Jean Russo, who had Obsessive compulsion disorder, which he tries make sense of the guilt associated with his mother after her death. The two had been impacted developmentally different by the chronosystem and interaction of the microsystems. The unalike interactions explain the differing outcome of the two.
His mother and father continuously struggle against each other for the
During the college years, Chris had gradually become disenchanted with his own well-off lifestyle and turned himself into an avid follower of Tolstoy’s asceticism, “In college McCandless began emulating Tolstoy’s asceticism and moral rigor to a degree that first astonished, and then alarmed, those who were close to him” (Krakauer, Author’s Note ). The reason why Chris hooked on asceticism was largely due to Chris’s changed perception of the world that “McCandless took life’s inequities to heart” (Krakauer 113), and “More and more of the classes he took addressed such pressing social issues as racism and world hunger and inequities in the distribution of wealth” (Krakauer 123) only reinforced his stances on the issue of social inequities. Seemingly, Chris considered practicing asceticism: living a frugal, abstinent, and austere life, as his expression of disapproving the unjust world. Subsequently, the asceticism which helped transform Chris into a totally spiritual person also made him a single-minded person with greater intransigence.
Perspective of Christopher McCandless’s Life Callarman’s argument to Christopher McCandless’s is relatable and understanding, but he does not see the full picture. Christopher McCandless had everything in his life: money, material, family, prestige etc. but the only thing he wanted to fully experience is the outside world, to get out of his comfort zone and see how nature really feels like. I would agree with Callarman’s argument because he was arrogant and unenlightenment, but I also would disagree because he died doing what he loved and a place he wanted to be.
In the beginning, McCandless starts his adventure by cutting himself off from all the human connections he had. He severs all ties from his family, including his sister which whom he was previously very close to. He burns his social security card, changes his name, and decides to travel across the country. Throughout his journey, Christopher often accounts for his parent’s wrongdoings for the reasons why he wanted to run away to Alaska. He subsists with a minimalist lifestyle and is disappointed in his parents’ behaviors and their materialism.
His father died when he was only three years old, leaving the family in economic hardship. His mother struggled to raise eight children on her own. However, despite the financial difficulties, she realized the importance
The upbringing of a child contains many factors, many of which correlate to where a child grows up. The people, culture, and experiences of someone’s childhood are the greatest determining factor for what kind of person they will become. So how does the nature and nurture of one’s upbringing impact the decisions that they make, and their life in general? Author Wes Moore explores this question in his memoir, The Other Wes Moore, as it relates to two lives in particular. Moore main purpose in this book is to explore the overarching impact that a collection of expectations and decisions, not always one’s own, can have on someone’s life.
His persistence carries him through his journey into the wild, but also gives him trouble in later life when he gets a job at McDonald’s but leaves because they want him to wear socks while working (Krakauer 39-41). However, although McCandless has a few good morals, he lacks the belief of valuing family. This is evident when he states that, “I’m going to completely knock [my parents] out of my life… and never speak to either of those idiots again as long as I live” (Krakauer 64). McCandless’s beliefs give him a platform for his identity as a stubborn person that is hungry for something challenging, but also provides him with hardships and trouble along the
When Krakauer discloses the family narrative, the first member discussed is Walt McCandless, who is introduced as a figure of authority "When Walt talks, people listen. If something or someone displeases him, his eyes narrow and his speech becomes clipped" (105). This is carefully constructed chronology as, the reader can generalize McCandless as being the type of character who does not follow the established prescient; Chris broke convention. A former teacher of McCandless commented that "Chris marches to a different drummer" (pg 107). However, Walt McCandless is however, the authority, the head of the family, and the rule maker.
His parents were rarely mentioned. Their names, personalities, and many more important factors are left unknown to the reader or analyzer. If he were truly responsible or caring, he would be thankful for his
Have you ever thought the power people have over each other? Either race, social class, or gender. Although your gender, race, or social class is not as important as it used to be, it is still used to determine the power of people in some places. Mayella Ewell is the daughter of Bob Ewell , they come from a family of low social class with no education, and no money. The only thing that elevates their place in the community is the fact that they’re white.
Firstly, it is evident that McCandless is financially independent. He pays for his own college education at Emory University with money received from a deceased family friend (20) and has enough left to proceed to Law School if he decides to do so. Thus, McCandless is in no way reliant on his parents and constantly makes it clear that he does not want to be. When offered a car as a graduation present, for instance, he repeatedly denies it, saying that he “already has a perfectly good one” (21), once again
Walter wants to be free from the family’s low income lifestyle, and becoming rich is Walter’s extrinsic motivation to live. Mama said to Walter, “Son-how come you talk so much ‘bout money?” Walter responded with immense passion, “Because it is life, Mama!” Walter looks at life, and like a bride sees through her wedding vail, Walter sees through money lenses. He sees his father’s money as a possibility in a world that revolves around a minimal supply of money.
It is also obvious that the disdain he holds for his family specifically his father is a driving force in his rejection of the traditional American dream. Though McCandless rejected human contact by leading a solitary life on the road and in the
