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Themes in into the wild essay
Into the wild theme essay
Themes in into the wild essay
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The story of Chris McCandless may be illustrated as exhibiting an empathetic tone. Meaning Krakauer had the aptitude to comprehend and share the emotions or even beliefs of another or in this instance Chris McCandless. Throughout the book, Krakauer creates frequent and several connections between himself and McCandless, while dismissing antagonistic criticism directed towards McCandless. On Page 155 for instance, Krakauer compares McCandless with himself at that age, justifying much of his and Chris’s behavior on their adolescence and recklessness. Krakauer states that as a young man, he possessed an analogous distancing from his father, a “similar intensity and heedlessness”, and believed that the intentions of McCandless’s journey, similar
He shows this in many ways throughout the novel and Krakauer hints on every single one. Several people McCandless met on his trek admired his principles and it led them to admire him. He is very anti-materialistic and shows this quality by giving the rest of his college fund to a charity fighting for world hunger. In Solitude, Thoreau writes about how society is insignificant and chooses to exchange it for a society of nature. This can be related to McCandless because Thoreau is valuing his principles over people because he believes society is insignificant, just like McCandless.
Born in A Different Life Life on the road is an idealistic way to escape from societal problems. There is no denying that it grants individuals satisfaction by allowing them to fulfill their goals, as well as providing immense freedom and control over one’s life; however, it is a fundamentally illogical path to take due to nature’s malevolence. In Into The Wild, Krakauer writes a biography about a young man named Chris McCandless, in which he illustrates the similarities between himself and McCandless’s overly ambitious journey to accomplish feats in the wilderness. Coinciding with their similarities, they also faced an oppressive father figure at home, which lead the both of them to believe that their journey will provide them an answer to their problems at home. McCandless planned to survive in Alaska by living off the land while Krakauer wanted to be the first one to climb the Devil’s Thumb.
As society tends to bond closer to things with no value rather than to stuff that matters the most. In the novel titled “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer the main character Christopher McCandless depart from the materialistic items created by Americans in search for a better life. McCandless rejects his family’s upper middle-class ways in which he was raised and begins his odyssey into the wild. First off, McCandless was raised in Annandale, Virginia, with a father who worked as an aerospace engineer, a mother who accompanied him on business trips and a younger sister Carine. He graduated Emory University with a degree in history and anthropology and had nearly $24,000 saved up to go to law school.
As each chapter come’s there is an account from Chris’ diary to accompany it. Along with this is some type of quote/ inspirational passage which lets us in on what is to come in the chapter ahead. Krakauer is able to maintain this structure throughout the whole book and through this we are able to pick apart the journey of Chris McCandless to construct our own opinions about his mysterious persona. The structure Krakauer creates for us in Into the Wild is significant to our understanding of Chris and his journey as it sheds insight onto his life from many different
Chris McCandless was a very determined individual, he set out to invent a new life for himself and there was no stopping him. Chris finished his four years of college and he could’ve continued to further his education and go to law school but instead he set his mind on going to Alaska and live off the land. Getting to Alaska involves great determination because along the way to getting there Chris could’ve changed his mind and returned home but he was determined to get there one way or another. People often confuse stubbornness with being determined , for example, as cited in Into the Wild, “Once Alex made up his mind about something, there was no changing it” (Krakauer 67).
The passage definitely showcases Krakauer’s excruciating journey, even through a mere 35 lines, but also conveys how Krakauer matured as a mountaineer just after seeing one dead body. An “unspoken agreement” is also talked about, which highlights the figurative weight that the climbers must have been carrying during their endeavor. Lastly, through this extract, it becomes evident that climbing a mountain, or facing any challenge in life, is bound to induce a certain maturity and acceptance in everyone. A certain acceptance of the fact that life is hard, and that hard work must be put in to achieve any
This evidence shows that Mccandless thought he was able to live off of the land to survive and thrive. The author states, “As a youth, I am told, I was willful, self absorbed, intermittently reckless, moody. I disappointed my father in the usual ways. Like McCandless, figures of male authority aroused in me.” (Krakauer 134).
Peace: This means to be free from disturbance. This is noble because it means that McCandless had come to the conclusion that he was going to die and was fine with that. By saying McCandless was at peace, Krakauer was able to demonstrate, how he saw McCandless free from everything he was trying to escape, and when it came time to die, he was fine about it. That death did not scare McCandless anymore, this is how Krakauer was able to use peace to demonstrate his view of McCandless being
Later I unrolled my sleeping bag on her floor. Long after she fell asleep, I lay awake in the next room, listening to her peaceful exhalations. I had convinced myself for many months that I didn’t really mind the absence of intimacy in my life, the lack of real human connection, but the pleasure i’d felt in this woman’s company-the ring of her laughter, the innocent touch of a hand on my arm-exposed my self-deceit and left me hollow and aching. (Krakauer 137). This led to the connection that McCandless, just like Krakauer, had some days of sorrow and loneliness.
A common thought among adolescents is the dream to finally leave home and discover who they are; I certainly share this dream. Though the concept is common, the reasons are unique; The differences in character and circumstances define who a person is. What may appear reasonable to some could very well be completely irrational to another. The story of Chris McCandless as reported by Jon Krakauer in the biographic novel Into the Wild is no exception. From the events in his childhood to the conflict with his father, we can see that Chris McCandless, a young man still discovering himself, became disillusioned with the structure of society and desired nothing more than to “no longer be poisoned by civilization” (163).
Into The Wild portrays a man who went on a fatal unforgettable journey through the alaska wilderness. Chris McCandless was a man with great courage and the ability to live on his own made him more of a hero going on his fatal journey. Many would say he was foolish or not thinking right, but that is not the case. The case here is simply a man with courage wanting to fulfill is beliefs through his journey. One may ask what is courage.
Nature is shown in this manner, because it causes one to be completely isolated as they will be able to find their ultimate freedom with themselves. One can find their true identity and realize that materials do not make them the person they are, it is the experiences they encounter. McCandless’s journey into the wilderness shows that he was ready to change the way he was living and his surroundings. Changing his lifestyle, and going by another name, shows that he was rejecting the values forced upon him by his parents’, and that he wants to start creating values for himself. Nature played a huge part in allowing McCandless to reach his ultimate freedom by serving as a character itself.
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,
The revelation that he was merely human, and frightfully, so beyond my power to forgive (148 Krakauer ).” And how McCandless could not accept how his father wanted to used money to get Chris to be someone that he is not or control him. Another example for the distaste towards authority, “Like McCandless, figures of male authority aroused in me a confusing medley of cork fury and a hunger to please... If something captured undisciplined imagination, I pursued it with a zeal bordering on a obsession, and from the age of 17 until my late twenties... (134 Krakauer