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How Does Krakauer Show Materialism In Into The Wild

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Rebellion Against Societal Norms: Chris McCandless and Hidden Homosexuality. In Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild, the enigmatic journey of Chris McCandless unfolds as a powerful narrative of defiance against societal norms. While the story has been extensively analyzed, Chris' rebellion against societal expectations can be viewed as a manifestation of his struggle with hidden homosexuality, offering a deeper understanding of his motivations and challenges. From the outset, Chris’ disdain for societal norms is evident. He eschews materialism, rejects conventional career paths, and distances himself from familial ties. Krakauer observes, "McCandless had no interest in shallow or superficial interactions" (Krakauer 44). This rejection of superficiality can be interpreted as Chris’ attempt to seek authentic connections, perhaps driven by his desire to find acceptance for his hidden sexual identity in a society that often marginalizes those who are different. Furthermore, Chris’ defiance against societal expectations is also reflected in his nomadic lifestyle and rejection of material possessions. Krakauer notes, “He wandered and absorbed the world as if it were a book he was reading for the first time” (Krakauer 22). This wanderlust and detachment from material comforts might be seen as Chris’ way of …show more content…

His encounter with Wayne Westerberg, a kindred spirit who himself had a rebellious streak, underscores Chris’ desire to find like-minded individuals who share his disdain for societal conventions. Westerberg remarks, “You remind me a lot of myself when I was younger, searching for something authentic in this world” (Krakauer 33). This shared sense of rebellion against societal norms further highlights Chris’ struggle to find acceptance and authenticity in a world that he felt could not understand or accept his hidden

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Here, Krakauer decides to recreate this kind of feelings in order to pick up everyone who is interested in this story from the same emotional level as Chris’ critics were. Afterwards, he explains who Chris really was and creates a big picture that would respond to the questions that many people had, and readers would start to sympathize with Chris’ story and feel sorry about his unfortunate

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Leo Tolstoy once said, “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” This adage holds true for Chris McCandless, a hypocritical adventurer featured in Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild. Chris easily points out flaws in other people, yet fails to realize that his own lack of judgment causes relationship issues. For example, Chris claims that his father never has time for him. However, an interview with Walt McCandless reveals that Walt “spent a lot of time with Chris, perhaps more than any of my other kids.”

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McCandless carves his path by disposing his name to escape his past self. The weight of his name carries the identity of his parents. Chris McCandless name portrays the luxurious aspects in his life. Additionally, the name carries the weight of expectations from his family. McCandless writes “I can’t believe they’d try and buy me a car or that they think I’d let them pay for my law school is I was going to do…”.

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Jon Krakauer has a high amount of respect for Christopher J. McCandless; not only because they have many similarities, but because McCandless searched deep for the meaning of life and did as he pleased. In the book, “Into The Wild,” Krakauer not only tells the story of McCandless, but also of his own life, and how he has been shaped into his own. Krakauer had a deep love for the wild, just as Chris did. Though, the two did not do the same things, they both pursued their passions which made it easier for Krakauer to relate to Chris. Once climbing a mountain, Krakauer had ran into trouble, just as Chris did on his journey.

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782 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout Krakauer's account of Chris McCandless’ life, we see Chris’s innate need to be his own person and to be one with nature.  We discover his want to be away from a big government and from America’s imposing societal structure. Through his love of nature and want for individualism, Chris McCandless is a modern day Transcendentalist.     Individualism is one of the fundamental ideas of Transcendentalism, throughout the book we see Chris leave behind  his old life, to start a new. One thing that Transcendentalist believe is that money can lead people astray from the true meanings of life.

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620 Words | 3 Pages

Christopher McCandless is a rather complex character. His unique disdain towards authority has never been truly understood. However, in Into the Wild, chapter 9-13, Jon Krakauer shines light on Chris’s childhood and allows the reader to conclude that Chris survives due to his passion for adventure. To him it replenishes some sort of spiritual energy he cannot do without. For that reason, he indefinitely renounce any form of oppression and always refuses to conform.

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907 Words | 4 Pages

Krakauer also notes that “nuance, strategy and anything beyond the rudimentaries of technique were wasted on chris. The only way he care to tackle a challenge was head on, right-now, applying the full brunt of his extraordinary energy”(111). His challenge was family and rules. Instead of finding a way to overcome these challenges, he decided to tackle them head on; he thought that going into the wild would solve his problems, but it ended in his death. Chris wanted to be free, he wanted to end conformity in his life.

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893 Words | 4 Pages

McCandless sought to escape the constraints of modern society and live a life of complete freedom in the wilderness. Krakauer writes, "It was the last thing on earth he wanted -- to be held down or defined by the trappings of society" (Krakauer 6). However, despite his desire for freedom, McCandless also sought human connection and formed relationships with people he met on his journey. He shared his experiences with them, and they became an important part of his journey. Krakauer notes, "His intense desire for solitude was inextricably bound up with a desire for companionship" (Krakauer

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1827 Words | 8 Pages

Often times a the discovery of family secrets leads a person to question whether everything in their life has been a lie and wonder if they really know who they are and who they want to be in life. Jon Krakauer’s novel, Into the Wild attempts to retrace the path taken by Chris McCandless on his fatal journey into Alaska. Krakauer originally wrote an article about McCandless death but little was known about the young man, including his identity. The article generated strong responses from the readers. In the Author’s Note, Krakauer writes, “Some readers admired the boy immensely for his courage and noble ideals; others fulminated that he was a reckless idiot...

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They want what they thought best for him but he did not need more people breathing down his throat. The author illustrates Chris’ road of trials during the whole journey, his hunt for food, his walking in the snow, his climbing and walking in the raging river and his trial is even present during his hitch hikes. Throughout Chris’ quest for his own purposes he encounters countless dangers and possible death, however, these events don’t bring him down nor does he allow them to deter

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401 Words | 2 Pages

Throughout Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer gives his own in-depth look of how he feels about the young Chris McCandless. While doing so, he shows the opinions and stereotypes Chris has gained before and after he was in the wild landscapes of Alaska. It conveys how Krakauer feels toward this boy’s journey. Although Krakauer tries to maintain neutrality in analyzing the young Chris McCandless’ life and death, his own views become evident in the Author’s Note.

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806 Words | 4 Pages

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.

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1001 Words | 5 Pages

In the book Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer depicts a teenager named Christopher McCandless, who is unsatisfied with the values emphasized by our currently materialistic society. Although many of us today may evaluate his behavior as eccentric and absurd, we must not hastily make judgements about his behavior with our conventional way reasoning. To dive deeply into Christopher’s cognitive process we can analyze a letter written by him to Ronald Franz. In this letter Christopher’s values are laid bare for us to see. Unlike many who enjoy the securities of conventional society, Christopher is a person who enjoys living on the edge and despises reactionary and complacent thinking, and he is shown to highly emphasizes the importance of adventure,

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629 Words | 3 Pages

Krakauer completes gaps in Chris’ story; but loses objectivity as he intertwines Chris’ experiences and emotions with his own. Though Krakauer’s details about Chris provide insight, his emotional involvement in Chris’ life becomes an

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1945 Words | 8 Pages

Krakauer 's Into The Wild presents significant impact on the character of Chris McCandless through the few female voices of the novel, their individual relationships with Chris, and how the relationships are viewed on both ends. Through Billie’s eyes,

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