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Coming Of Age Through Life Experiences In The Body By Stephen King

531 Words3 Pages

Do we come of age throughout life or through life experiences? In the novella, “The Body” by Stephen King, we see four boys: Gordie, Chris, Vern, and Teddy, with both Gordie and Chris having already experienced life-changing experiences. The idea of friendships that may not last forever, and the concept that death is final and no one comes back from it. Maturing comes at the price of losing innocence, whether we like it or not. In the story, growing up is coming to terms with the death like the death of Ray Brower, including the losses in life like the loss of Gordie’s older brother Dennis. For example, Gordie, thinking about how Ray Brower died alone, kept listing all the things that he will never do because he’s dead, and dead is dead; there is no second chance. This shows that Gordie has already come …show more content…

This also shows that this isn't his first time having to encounter the reality of death because he had to understand death was with his older brother. The death of his older brother made Gordie realize the mortality of everyone in his life including himself, he learned there that death is final, there are no do overs in reality which furthermore his maturing at a young age. Furthermore, the concept of friendship is a topic that gets talked about in this novella. Chris is always the one to push people on the right track and make sure he’s a sensitive person when listening and gives honest feedback. Including the idea that the friendship that Gordie has with him and the other guys is dragging him down. “Your friends drag you down” (pg. 384). This quote from the book shows us that Chris understands the sacrifices that have to be made. Including the reality that friendships can drag people down even if they aren’t trying to. Furthermore, with the concept of friendships, we also see that Gordie has a dream a little after Chris makes his statement, about him drowning and that both Teddy and Vern are the ones

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Maturing in life. At the beginning of life, people are innocent, with life not having a chance to tamper and corrupt them. At the end of life, they 've known loss and heartbreak and life has messed them up. But imagine if people were born all knowing and died as innocent as a baby.

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Chris always hung out with himself and spent time by himself, he was good at everything he did, and never needed anybody's help. As Chris grew older, his friend stated that he was never seen with a girlfriend, and instead of going out to parties or bars, he would talk to homeless people about their lives and give advice along with food. And when he grew into an adult, Chris wrote a letter to Carine on page 64, explaining how he's going to divorce his parents: “I’m going to let them think that I’m “coming around to see their side of thing” and that our relationship is stabilizing. And then, once the time is right, with one abrupt, swift action I’m going to completely knock them out of my life.”. This letter likely also represents another reason for Chris'

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In both cases, Chris keeps choosing to ignore people who care about him. He was not physically or mentally prepared. Surviving in the harsh conditions of the Alaskan bush is extremely risky, as it could mean a matter of life or death. Only mountain climbing skills aren't gonna help with months of different cultures and different weather. The change will later catch up and bite him on the butt.

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He understood that Chris was a well educated and arrogant man, leading him to be full of himself, while ill equipped. Gallien described “[his] gear [as] exceedingly minimal for the harsh conditions of the interior” (Krakauer, 1997, p. 6), and rather than listen to the advice of others, Chris moved forward with his plans. He clutched onto the knowledge he gathered from the society he ran from, in a weak attempt to find individuality, which resulted in his death by starvation and late realization that “happiness [is] only real when shared” (Krakauer, 1997, p. 129). It’d be easy for someone to accept starvation as a cause of death in such a scenario, but Jon saw beyond that, allowing the reader to analyze Jon ’s own analysis of the journaling that Chris did.

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This was a letter that he had sent to Wayne. I don’t believe Chris ever wanted to be completely independent, but he always ended up alone. He didn’t hate having friends, he just liked doing what he wanted, when he wanted. However, he still left every single person that ever cared for him. ”And now he’d slipped painlessly out of Ron Franz’s life as well.

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Chris was talking to his father saying “I felt wrong to be alive, to open the bank‐book, to drive the new car, to see the new refrigerator. I mean you can take those things out of a war, but when you drive that car you've got to know that it came out of the love a man can have for a man, you've got to be a little better because of that.” (1.29). He chose to be in the war and because of this he deals with what seems to be a lot of grief. He almost blames himself for the people that died in the war.

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I think this quote on page 94 furthers my point even more “Chris's resentment of his parents hardened, his sense of outrage over injustice in the world at large grew.” and the final nail in the coffin that proves Chris had an unstable relationship with his parents, especially his father is on page 93 “When Walt's double life came to light, the revelations inflicted deep wounds. All parties suffered terribly” this shows that his father not only hurt Chris but also his other family members I believe this was what pushed Chris the most into leaving his comfortable upper-class life and family

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In the book, Krakauer shows this by writing “Shortly before he disappeared, Chris complained to Carine that their parents’ behavior was “so irrational, so oppressive, disrespectful and insulting that I finally passed my breaking point.” (Krakauer 64). This quote from the book shows how Chris trying to fit in with society ended up causing him to try being on his own. Him being essentially pushed out of society made him strive to gain independence and see how he would be out in the

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This demonstrates how Chris was not selfish and left for his own good. Even from the very beginning, Chris always knew what he was getting himself into. He knew that people would judge him for this adventure and would tell him it was too difficult. Author Jon Karkauer describes his own adventure in this novel. “I was dimly aware that I might be getting in over my head but that only added to the scheme's appeal.

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However, he was pulled of by one of his friends, which in the novella is his friend Gordie, that makes him very angry and causes a conflict between the two. Gordie justified his actions based on the fact that the driver could’ve reported about them to police, saying “Teddy, you dodge anything after we see what we are going to see, but until then no one is supposed to see us” (334). While on the other hand, when Chris pulls Teddy off the railways in the movie, he justifies his action by saying “I was just trying to save your life, man,” and then doesn’t allow the

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He’d successfully kept Jan Burres and Wayne Westerberg at arm’s length, flitting out of their lives before anything was expected of him. And now he’d slipped painlessly out of Ron Franz’s life as well,” every time someone tried to become close to him, he pushed him or her away. When Ronald Franz asked to adopt him, Chris told him that they would talk about it when he returns from Alaska. Chris’ problems with his father affected his ability to form new, close relationships, and ultimately sent him to his death.

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This shows Christian doesn’t understand what Chris was going through in his home life which made him decide to go on his adventure. In the other essay that Ilgunas wrote he brought up a good point about how Christians’ facts are wrong as Chris did not commit suicide he simply was accidentally poisoned and starved to death. “Pete implies that McCandless’ decision to come to Alaska “unprepared” and “unskilled” was a suicidal act in itself.” (page 1). Both of these quotes bring up points about the misunderstanding of Chris and the real reasons that he originally left his family and how he ended up passing

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(Krakauer 170). This includes words that make the reader sympathize with Chris, due to the situation he was in. After all, who does not fear isolation and death? Krakauer intertwines the ideas of Chris’ isolation to make the readers commiserate with him, as proven by both of the quotes.

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A poignant example is when Chris reveals his fear of being labeled a thief forever, despite his good intentions. Chris’ revelation about stealing the milk money and the subsequent guilt he feels is a moment of profound self-disclosure. This moment of vulnerability allows Gordie to offer reassurance and support, strengthening their friendship. Similarly, Gordie’s confessions about his family troubles and feelings of inadequacy draw the two closer. Self-disclosure between Teddy and Vern is less frequent but still significant, nonetheless.

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