Within many people, there lies a fascination that cannot be quenched unless people explore it to their hearts’ content. This zealotry devours the mind, leaving behind a maddening obsession that takes complete control. In Jon Krakauer's nonfiction work, Into the Wild, the main character, Chris McCandless, displays such a yearning as he travels to Alaska’s countryside, ignoring the advice of others, obsessively seeking to free himself from the chains that hold a materialistic world center. McCandless exists as a zealot searching for the wilderness, fanatically pursuing its fruits of spirituality and blessings of liberty. Throughout his journey, Chris devotes himself to nature, discovering the spiritual aspects of an unknown, cold, bleak world. However, when Chris finally …show more content…
A pilgrim, perhaps” (85). Like a pilgrim, McCandless tries to cleanse himself with a power greater than him, believing that with nature his troubles will no longer haunt him. Consumed with an unnerving passion for nature’s harshest, Chris views his holy land as the wilderness, where he can reflect on his inner struggles. He transcends the boundaries of the modern world, giving him a path to the divine elements of nature. Ordinarily, people stress over their future, but Chris is unlike most people. In fact, McCandless does not worry about what his future will be, rather he lives in the now. In such an unmerciful environment, Chris relishes the thought that his every action has an immediate consequence, making his life simpler yet whole, his mental baggage lifted. Even as he approaches his last breath, succumbing to malnutrition, McCandless takes a picture of himself smiling, and there is no mistake: Chris McCandless is “at peace, serene as a monk gone to God” (199). Though Chris understands the inevitability of his death, he remains content with no regrets, proud that he chose to live in the wild. The wild gives him the euphoria that even starvation cannot suppress, his
Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, describes the adventure of Christopher McCandless, a young man that ventured into the wilderness of Alaska hoping to find himself and the meaning of life. He undergoes his dangerous journey because he was persuade by of writers like Henry D. Thoreau, who believe it is was best to get farther away from the mainstreams of life. McCandless’ wild adventure was supposed to lead him towards personal growth but instead resulted in his death caused by his unpreparedness towards the atrocity nature.
Chris McCandless lived a life in which he disgusted by human civilization, and left it, eventually being led to his death in Alaska. McCandless entered the Alaskan wilderness severely unprepared, a brutal error that cost him his life. In the novel, Into the Wild by John Krakauer, Chris glances into his mindset by they way of his journal, history, and analysis of his life reveals that Chris McCandless as an arrogant and judgemental narcissist, while not mentally unstable, had a condescending attitude towards society and perished not only from his reckless stupidity but also from his unparalleled ego. Chris McCandless was immune to love and had an obsession with nature and society, him showing characteristics that created the appearance of McCandless
... every aspect of his life whether it be his education, physical endurance, or making it through the Alaskan wilderness with nothing more than a rifle, a backpack, and a road map. Chris was aware of his differences and that he did not fit into society. He fully embraced that and and chose to lead his own path. Chris led a happy life according to one of his last journal entries he wrote, “I have had a happy life and thank the lord. Goodbye and may God bless all!” (Krakauer 199). Chris was willing to risk everything to gain that happiness. His ambition to enter the wilderness, in the end, took his life but that did not stop him. He would have rather died a happy man than lived a miserable one. Chris ventured out into the wilderness and found himself; a tragic story for a tragic hero.
Into the Wild, written by John Krakauer tells of a young man named Chris McCandless who 1deserted his college degree and all his worldly possessions in favor of a primitive transient life in the wilderness. Krakauer first told the story of Chris in an article in Outside Magazine, but went on to write a thorough book, which encompasses his life in the hopes to explain what caused him to venture off alone into the wild. McCandless’ story soon became a national phenomenon, and had many people questioning why a “young man from a well-to-do East Coast family [would] hitchhike to Alaska” (Krakauer i). Chris comes from an affluent household and has parents that strived to create a desirable life for him and his sister. As Chris grows up, he becomes more and more disturbed by society’s ideals and the control they have on everyday life. He made a point of spiting his parents and the lifestyle they lived. This sense of unhappiness continues to build until after Chris has graduated college and decided to leave everything behind for the Alaskan wilderness. Knowing very little about how to survive in the wild, Chris ventures off on his adventure in a state of naïveté. It is obvious that he possessed monumental potential that was wasted on romanticized ideals and a lack of wisdom. Christopher McCandless is a unique and talented young man, but his selfish and ultimately complacent attitude towards life and his successes led to his demise.
Jon Krakauer, fascinated by a young man in April 1992 who hitchhiked to Alaska and lived alone in the wild for four months before his decomposed body was discovered, writes the story of Christopher McCandless, in his national bestseller: Into the Wild. McCandless was always a unique and intelligent boy who saw the world differently. Into the Wild explores all aspects of McCandless’s life in order to better understand the reason why a smart, social boy, from an upper class family would put himself in extraordinary peril by living off the land in the Alaskan Bush. McCandless represents the true tragic hero that Aristotle defined. Krakauer depicts McCandless as a tragic hero by detailing his unique and perhaps flawed views on society, his final demise in the Alaskan Bush, and his recognition of the truth, to reveal that pure happiness requires sharing it with others.
As Chris became more fascinated with the wilderness, he increasingly became indifferent towards different aspects of his life. Chris’ operation prior to embarking in the wilderness was fruitless because he lacked the sufficient and valuable preparations. Furthermore, it is appropriate to say that the actions that he took were beyond heedless: “He spent very little time learning how to actually live in the wild” (Christian 1). Practice makes perfect is a common proverb that echoes throughout society but was unfortunately missing from Chris’ life. Chris’ enthusiasm towards nature prevented him from making a logical decision of having sufficient experience with the wilderness itself. Ultimately, Chris was an oblivious person because he commenced into the wilderness with meager supplies. However, Chris failed at entering his excursion with sufficient preparations: “He left the map in Gallien’s truck, along with his watch, his comb, and all his money, which amounted to 85 cents” (2). By leaving his belongings in Gallien’s truck, Chris made an extremely absurd decision. More specifically, he disabled any possibility for him to receive immediate assistance when his health began declining rapidly. Finally, individuals should prioritize rationality in certain situations because it is crucial for them to use when they are blinded by a
Chris McCandless was inspired by the stories he read about Jack London. In one of Jack London’s book, To Build A Fire, “You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” (London 40) Chris proved to his parents that there was nothing they could have done to stop him from going to Alaska. He had a heart bound to set itself free from boundaries and setbacks he held for himself. Instead of being a believer, he wanted to discover the outside world by himself without having others’ criticism thinking his actions were foolish. To Chris, his life meant living beyond the rules and expectations set by human society. By reading London's books, Chris was able incorporate the idea that London was also able to let go of his past and search for his future, he might as well follow his
What is a perspective? A perspective is someone’s point of view. It could also mean a particular belief toward or a way of regarding something. In Chapter 14 of Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer says, “My suspicion that McCandless’s death was unplanned, that it was a terrible accident, comes from reading those few documents he left behind and from listening to the men and women who spent time with him over the final year of his life. But my sense of Chris McCandless’s intentions comes, too, from a more personal perspective” (134). This personal perspective that Krakauer talks about is his own viewpoint of how McCandless died, “From all the available evidence, there seemed to be little doubt that McCandless- rash and incautious by nature- had committed a careless blunder, confusing one plant for another, and died as a consequence. In the Outside article, I reported with great certainty that H. mackenzii, the wild sweet pea, killed the boy” (192). When comparing the experience of the
Chris McCandless saw the wilderness as an escape from reality or as a better reality where he could be free of the pressures of life. “At long last he was unencumbered, emancipated from the stifling world of his parents and peers, a world of abstraction and security and material excess, a world in which he felt grievously cut off from the raw throb of existence” (Krakauer 22). He thought that being isolated in the wilderness would provide liberation from the woes of existing in society.
All in all, it is interesting how the trials of life can lead a person into an awakening that inspires millions. Many people believe that walking “into the wild” to live off the land and find himself alone in nature was arrogant, foolish and irresponsible. Chris lacks of knowledge about the wild was a major factor in his death. Chris did not plan how he will survive in the wilderness without proper equipments. He misunderstood that he would have no problem in setting in the wild. Chris immature manner and decisions lead him to starvation and ultimately death. If he planned it out in the beginning he would have saved his life.
The book, Into the Wild, written by Jon Krakauer, is a non-fiction narrative of Chris McCandless’s short but incredibly inspirational life. After graduating from university, Chris gave up his privileged life and took his adventure into the wild in full swing. By living off the land, Chris had pursued a grand odyssey of freedom throughout the American west, Alaska, and Mexico in search of peace, self-discovery, and solitude in almost two years. Tragically, his life ended during his final journey to the Alaskan wildness. To Chris’s tale of derring-do, People’s reactions varied. Some opined their criticism of Chris’s reckless act, some placed Chris’s adventurous lifestyle under close scrutiny, and others praised him as being inspirational
As reading the final pages of Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer, Krakauer stated in the beginning of the novel he was for McCandless’s free spirit and adventure. In some occasions, Chris was a free spirit although on many occasions Krakauer has misjudged Chris’s knowledge of the wild. Throughout the novel, Chris was taken in by strangers and was almost near death. When Chris was found he was suffering from starvation. McCandless couldn't have stayed alive and prospered in the bush if Chris hasn't of met those
Sudden change is something that is widely feared in today’s society, yet change is also something that is desired for a fulfilling life. For me, there were moments in my life where I felt that I was trapped by my own inaction, and to escape, I needed to free my mind by taking the first initiative towards change. The change would not be made through comfort and safety but through one of the fundamentals of the human spirit: the passion for adventure. From the words of John F. Kennedy, “We do things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.” Jon Krakauer’s “Into The Wild” is a story about an ambitious young man named Christopher McCandless who, in an attempt to escape human society, transitioned from his comfortable city life in Virginia to the unforgiving wilderness of the Alaskan frontier. Chris’ unique outlook on life has influenced my desire for meaningful changes in my life.
“It would be easy to stereotype Christopher McCandless as another boy who felt too much, a loopy young man who read too many books and lacked even a modicum of common sense”(Krakauer 184). Some people say that Chris was just a normal guy who read too many books and let it all get into his head and drive him crazy to the point where he would go out into the Alaskan wilderness with no one or no supplies. Although this may be true, there are more facts and evidence to prove that Chris is a true transcendentalist. “But the stereotype isn’t a good fit. McCandless wasn’t some feckless slacker, adrift and confused, racked by existential despair. To the contrary: His life hummed with meaning and purpose”(Krakauer 184). What Krakauer means is that the stereotype that people have against Chris is not true and that he choose to go out into the wild because it’s what he wanted to do like how some people want to go skydiving or go to Paris. Chris is a true transcendentalist and there is much to prove
*Chris has decided to go on a journey of self- reflection. It's believed by Jon Krakauer that Chris had no real reflection from college, but needed a further journey to actually build himself to the character he is now. Into the Wild are the steps Chris McCandless took to reflect and truly express himself within many themes. After my graduation, I want to explore more into materialism vs. idealism and “raw, transcendent experience” because these themes would help me build my character.