Jon Krakauer's The Things They Carried And Tim O Brien

The nature of independence and toughness are surely the product of centuries of war, and isolation from one’s society. This is no doubt about the fact that individuals are so involved in their patriotism for their country that they are willing to fight and die for their country. In the following texts of Into the Wild and The Things They Carried both Jon Krakauer and Tim O’Brien show the strategies of the independence and product of centuries of war. Through the nature characters in the collections were exposed to, these authors show the lives of humans through disastrous times. Through the use of individual experiences in the Vietnam War, their stamina through the war, and having to return to normal society after experiencing the hideous

In “The Man I Killed”, the story begins with a list of physical attributes and possible characteristics of the man whom O’Brien killed with a grenade in My Khe. O’Brien describes the wounds that he inflicted. The man’s jaw was in his throat, he says, and his upper lip and teeth were missing. One eye was shut, and the other looked like a star-shaped hole. O’Brien imagines that the man he killed was born in 1946 and that his parents were farmers; that he was neither a Communist nor a fighter and that he hoped the Americans would go away. O’Brien describes the reaction of his platoon-mates, insensitive Azar compares the young man to oatmeal, Shredded Wheat, and Rice Krispies, while Kiowa rationalizes O’Brien’s actions and urges him to take his time coming to terms with the death. All the while, O’Brien reflects on the boy’s life, cut short. He looks at the boy’s sunken chest and delicate fingers and wonders if he was a scholar. He imagines that the other boys at school might have teased this boy because he may have had a woman’s walk and a love for mathematics. A butterfly lands on the corpse’s cheek, which causes O’Brien to notice the undamaged nose. Despite Kiowa’s urging

Chris McCandless, a recent high school graduate had everything; a rich family, a college degree, and the ability to be accepted into law school. How did Chris McCandless respond to all this success? He left his home weeks after graduating from college, and got rid of all evidence of his existence. McCandless’ intention on leaving was to re-invent himself and live life in a way he always to. Chris McCandless abandoned his car, and took off on foot all by himself, into the wild. With no destination, McCandless began his journey on foot with only few essential items with him, including clothing and few toiletries. In taking this action of abandoning his life of success-something that many people crave- Chris McCandless established himself as a tough, independent young man. Chris McCandless earned his strength in his newly found survival skills such as hunting. “It was slow going. In order to feed himself, he had to devote a large part of each day stalking animals. Moreover, as the ground thawed, his route turned into a gauntlet of boggy muskeg and impenetrable alder, and McCandless belatedly came to appreciate one of the fundamental (if counterintuitive) axioms of the north; Winter, not summer, is the preferred season for traveling overland through the bush (Krakauer, 350).” By being left on his own in the wilderness, McCandless was forced to learn how to survive in