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Transformational Experience In Into The Wild

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Why do people look for experiences that will transform them and perhaps change their lives? Oftentimes, people and characters are pushed toward an important experience in order to self-affirm or due to seeking affirmation from society. Perhaps, people face issues that lead them to yearn for an event that will truly affect their lives. All of this creates a motive for which people go on incredible journeys or do unprecedented actions. Because of all of this, people look for transformational experiences due to family or personal issues, self-affirmation, and societal pressures. Family and personal issues often cause stress and motivation for a person to look for a transformational experience. In Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, Chris McCandless …show more content…

Even famous singers are often forced to change who they are in order to achieve mainstream success and wealth. For instance, grammy-winning singer Abel Tesfaye, or better known as The Weeknd, was forced to conform to society through a transformational experience as he explains in his song “Rambo;” “Society now accepting me, pray for the young ones.” Likewise, Lily from The Secret Life of Bees faced pressure from society to look and act a certain way, and often lacked resources to do so because of her negligent and abusive father. Lily, similar to Tesfaye, felt as though a transformational experience would allow her to conform to society by finding her mother’s previous home; “And there they were. All these mothers. I have more mothers than any eight girls off the street. They are the moons shining over me” (227). Though Lily and Tesfaye achieved far different goals in their journeys, each were considered outcasts from society and dealt with issues of poverty. Tesfaye believed that he could only be accepted as part of society if he transformed himself and his music style, and Lily similarly felt that she could only fit in with the presence of a

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781 Words | 4 Pages

In the 2013 online article, “The Chris McCandless Obsession Problem”, author Diana Saverin describes the Alaskan wilderness travel phenomenon along with attempting to uncover the ‘McCandless Pilgrims’ “root of motivation. Sparked by the release of both Jon Krakauer’s and Sean Penn’s “Into the Wild”, numerous individuals pack their backpacks and eagerly step into their (sometimes newly-bought) hiking shoes and tramp into the Alaskan Wild to pay homage to their hero Chris McCandless. Filled with personal anecdotes and interviews, Severin’s Outside article takes a new approach Into the Wild commentary by directing attention to the lives McCandless’s story affected indirectly rather than critiquing on McCandless himself. In response to what appears to be a huge amount of troubled McCandless-inspired tramping stories, Saverin provides an unbiased rationale as a attempt to explain why so many are “willing to risk injury, and even death, to..visit the last home of Alaska’s most famous adventure casualty”. Saverin begins her article with anecdote- telling the unfortunate experience of young lovers and adept adventure seekers, Ackerman and Gros.

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816 Words | 4 Pages

Jon Krakauer’s fascination in a young man’s life turns out to be more than an article of the boy’s adventure and the journey he set out for himself. Krakauer reflects on much larger subjects within the book based on his path while trying to understand Chris McCandless. Chris McCandless, a young man from an East Coast family, abandons everything set for him in his path. Donating twenty-four-thousand-dollar savings account to charity, burning the cash he had, leaving his car and possessions behind were all decisions Chris thought were right for him. His confident yet riskful choices led him to an independent life in the wild.

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1083 Words | 5 Pages

Christopher Johnson “Chris” McCandless wan an American hiker. He ventured into the Alaskan wilderness in April 1992, with little food and equipment, hoping to live simply for a time in solitude from the poison of civilization. In attempt to escape the discomfort cause by society and his family, Christopher McCandless sets off on a two-year trek across the country, where he changed himself into “Alex super-tramp.” “McCandless went into the wilderness not primarily to ponder nature or world at large but to explore the inner country of his own soul” (Krakauer182). Krakauer realizes that McCandless’s journey wan because of his desire to find happiness and enjoy life that way he felt life should be experienced.

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299 Words | 2 Pages

In “Into the Wild, ” Jon Krakauer explores the human compulsion with nature and the purpose of life. Throughout the book, Krakauer documents the intoxicating/galvanizing life and death of Christopher Jon McCandless, aka Alexander Supertramp, a young hitchhiker that embarked on an Alaskan Odyssey to explore himself and the wilderness. Like many before him, McCandless thought that he could give is his life meaning by pursuing a relationship solely with nature. McCandless had “an impractical fascination with the harsh side of nature. (85)

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863 Words | 4 Pages

The Secret Life of Bees is the first novel by Sue Monk Kidd as well as one of my favorite books. As an adolescent myself when I first read my book, I believe that the writer clearly portrays the psychological development of Lily which is influenced by her social environment. Through this paper, I will describe bio/psycho/social factors that have played different roles in a young girl, Lily Owens’ life who is also the main character of the novel, in searching her identity at her adolescence period as she transitions from childhood to adulthood. Sue Monk Kidd’s

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742 Words | 3 Pages

The story of Chris McCandless has become a pop culture phenomenon. Many are fascinated by his desire to abandon his family and society and “walk into the wild” (Krakauer 69).  Newscasts, magazine articles, movies, and books have tried to define what motivated him to give up everything for his Alaskan odyssey; however, the answers died with McCandless. People make assumptions about him without knowing his entire story.  McCandless chose to do the unconventional, making people think he was either foolish or brave and determined, but ultimately he was justified for doing what he did.

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1799 Words | 8 Pages

Book and Author mention: The main character in Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, Chris McCandless, sets out on a journey of self-discovery through nature after becoming dishearten with the materialistic values of his family. While camping near the Salton Sea, Chris befriends an old veteran named Ronald Franz. Later, while on his way to Alaska, Chris sends Franz a letter urging him to abandon his ties to others and seek happiness in the world around him: Evidence: “You are wrong if you think Joy emanates only or principally from human relationships. G-D has placed it all around us… You do not need me or anyone else around to bring this new kind of light in this life” (Krakauer, ch. 6).

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A Search for Serenity in the Wild Has life ever taken a toll on you that may have pushed you to do something many dare not to do or have you at least thought of doing it? Well for Chris McCandless that’s exactly what happened, he didn’t have to think about it he just acted on his desires. In the story “Into the Wild” by John Krakauer, readers are able to get an insight of what Chris McCandless or Alexander Supertramp (his new name he created for himself after abandoning all he had left) experienced along the way to find a new life for himself. He had it all, everything he ever wanted or needed physically was given to him, but what he never experienced was a sincere lifestyle. He was willing to work for what he wanted and he made sure that he’d

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988 Words | 4 Pages

I had the opportunity to go to Mexico and visit the Yucatan rainforest and this lead me to be able to explore nature and feel the peaceful impact it can have on someone 's life. Chris McCandless was determined to create a new life for himself and be the one to control his own destiny. “Chris changed his name, gave the entire balance of a twenty-four-thousand-dollar savings account to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet…. His family had no idea where he was or what had become of him until his remains turned up in Alaska”. This quote is from Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild and shows how McCandless left everything from his old life in order to create a new life for himself.

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521 Words | 3 Pages

Though limited, the time spent watching Into the Wild was an unforgettable experience. I found a direct relation to his desire to abandon society. He was lost and needed the opportunity to find himself. He states, “God's place is all around us, it is in everything and in anything we can experience. People just need to change the way they look at things.”

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748 Words | 3 Pages

Anyone can have a story in their life and can turn it into a book. Jon Krakauer wrote Into the Wild on what happened to Christopher McCandless and turned his story into a novel. Jon Krakauer´s structure his novel to let the reader have their own opinions on Christopher McCandless by stating the book is on his bias viewpoint, putting it in non-chronological order, and wrote about his own background life story, which is all important to strengthen Krakauer 's motive of writing his book. Into the Wild, focuses on the young individual named Christopher McCandless who hitchhiked to Alaska. Along the way, in his journey, he met new people and traveled in many places.

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1818 Words | 8 Pages

We all face the different characters of our self in one point in our lives. The decision is for you to choose whether you want to be a person who remains the same or a new changed person who wants to leave an impact on the people in your life. Human nature is a life filled with jealousy, selfishness, peer pressure ,etc… but it is the decision of the individual to change your destiny. Not just yours but many others because your testimony can impact others to change and be a better person who motivates, builds people’s character, and strengthens relationships among all people. The more the renewal of many people’s lives changing the more positivity we will see in

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1044 Words | 5 Pages

Into the Wild portrays freedom in a sense that Christopher McCandless wants to venture out into the world, even though he had it all. Chris changes his way of life as he gives all of his personal items away as well as; $25,000 from his bank account, his car, and eventually his life. Reasons being that he leaves and does this, is due to the fact that he wants to be on his own and does not want people to depend on him as well as him having the feeling of having to require the obligations of the people around him. Chris had his next two years of college already paid for him by his family. Chris then goes on to tell his parents “I think I’m going to disappear for a while.”

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783 Words | 4 Pages

“If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.” ―Maya Angelou. Jon Krakauer’s true story titled Into the Wild is about a man who decides to throw away his old life and escape the rules of conventional society. Twenty-two-year-old Chris McCandless came from a well-to-do family in Virginia and, without warning, abandons everything. He changes his name, loses contact with his family, gives away his car and all his money, and begins a two-year long journey hitchhiking to Alaska where he eventually dies of starvation.

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212 Words | 1 Pages

From the time I wake up until I am called in for dinner, I am here. Taking breaks only to use the bathroom, eat, or soak in the beauty that is the lake behind my home. Only here, can I forget the never-ending drama that surrounds my home and family, because while I am here I am consumed within in a book, within nature. While spending my summer days sitting on the dock lost within the new young adult novel, I was able to forget the past trauma, the present trauma, and fear of future trauma. No matter the book, I was able to be transported away from reality into an idealized world that would never be achievable for me.

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