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Into the wild by jon krakauer main idea
Into the wild by jon krakauer main idea
Into the wild by jon krakauer main idea
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Consequences of Pride Chris McCandless, the young man who died during his travel to Alaska, seemed to be more of a foolish adventurer than an inspiring hero. His desire to journey started in April 1992, where he stopped all contact with his family, donated to save starving children, and deserted his beloved Datsun. After Jon Krakauer, an American writer, wrote about him in Outside magazine, Krakauer continued researching him, and thereby published the book, Into the Wild, in 1996. As one start learning of Chris, they’ll know he wasn’t at all materialistic, that he loathed his parents, yearned for freedom, and was resistant towards the government. Chris should have pursued to withdrew from the wild because he left his family heartbroken, …show more content…
Him and Carine, his little sister, were inseparable as siblings, yet he never said a single goodbye to her and that left an empty feeling for her. One time Carine mentioned how their parents Walt and Billie were consistently too busy for them, “Mom and Dad put in incredibly long hours,” and the reason why they had to was because money was tight for them (Krakauer 107). Chris concluded that the love from his parents was forged because of Walt’s affair with his first wife until the divorce, but actually was too blind to recognize their sacrifices and hardships. In fact, even after two years had passed since Chris left to Alaska, Billie had woken up from a dream dealing with him calling to her for help, “I don’t know how I’ll ever get over it. I wasn’t dreaming. I didn’t imagine it. I heard his voice!,” and thus indicates how Billie sincerely loved him (Krakauer 126). Any mother can relate that when your child is missing and had died before the parents did, it can be a heart shattering long term …show more content…
His determination to flee from society started mainly about his parents and how the government worked. Though, he was willingly able to forgive his parents after the two months of his journey as he stated: “I have lived through much, and now I think I have found what is needed for happiness” (Krakauer 169). Unfortunately, he decided to go back to the bus because he couldn’t pass through the Teklanika River. From time to time, Krakauer inserts passages from Chris’ journal, and there were signs of his loneliness. Deep inside he perhaps didn’t completely despise his parents, nor the idea that society had been corrupted with people treating each other poorly. Hence, he showed more comfort discussing with everyone he met in his trip than the satisfaction with his
government was a corrupt, greedy pig commanding people to obey the rules of society. Yet, he
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, is a true story of the mysterious death and journey of a talented twenty-four year old Christopher McCandless. He was raised in a wealthy family and was given plenty of life opportunities, but one day decides to turn his back on everything he had in life. After graduating Emory University in 1990, Chris decided he wanted to hitchhike across the country into the Alaskan wilderness. He gave away his bank savings to charity, abandoned his car, and burned all his cash and belongings leaving no trace of Chris . McCandless then changes his name and identity, and goes by the name of “Alex McCandless”.
“Two years he walks the earth. No phone, no pool, no pets, no cigarettes. Ultimate freedom. An extremist. An aesthetic voyager whose home is the road. Escaped from Atlanta. Thou shalt not return, 'cause "the West is the best." And now after two rambling years comes the final and greatest adventure. The climactic battle to kill the false being within and victoriously conclude the spiritual pilgrimage. Ten days and nights of freight trains and hitchhiking bring him to the Great White North. No longer to be poisoned by civilization he flees, and walks alone upon the land to become lost in the wild. (Christopher Alexander Supertramp”Mccandless; 1992)
When Chris left for his journey he wasn’t crazy or stupid as many would say. “McCandless went into the wilderness not primarily to ponder nature or the world at large, but rather to explore the inner country of his own soul” pg. 183. The fact that Chris never bother to discuss his Alaskan walk about with his anyone especially his parents wasn’t intentional. However throughout the whole book it was made very clear that he was at odds with his parents in some way to go off on his journey but he didn’t want to hurt them, which I think Walt and Billie finally realized visiting the bus where Chris had passed. I think Chris just wanted to get away from his everyday life, clear his mind, a mind that didn’t involve the worries of expectations and the thoughts of his parents hanging on his shoulders.
Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer is a realistic fiction novel about a man named Christopher Johnson McCandless who leaves society behind and goes on an adventure, eventually to die in his dream destination, Alaska. Chris McCandless abandoned his family, donated all of his savings to charity, only took a few possessions and walked into the wild. He met many influential people and went to different places that shaped him along the way. When he eventually made it to the place he had been planning to go, Alaska, he eventually died of starvation. Chris McCandless’s identity throughout the novel Into the Wild was shown through his actions, was shaped by his interests, and was also affected by his values and beliefs, though he often did not live up to them.
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.
He let so many people get close to him knowing he was only going to leave. It wasn’t just strangers that he met along the way, Chris also encountered his very own family. He held all their mail without answering, then left them without a trace for them to worry sick about where he may be and if he is or is not safe. No matter how much you disagree with your parents it is in no way acceptable to run away with no notice of when or if you’ll ever return. Not only did he withhold his whereabouts from his parents, Chris refused to tell his younger sister, Carine, either. He didn’t want his parents finding out where he was through Carine so he didn’t respond to any of them. His mother, Billie McCandless, recalls, “It made [his father and me] very, very worried,”(22). It wasn’t fair of him to do to them. Several of the friends Chris met on the road tried to get him to call home and tell his parents that he’s alive and well. He refused every time. It would remind one of a toddler throwing a temper tantrum and denying their parents attention. This proves Chris’s lack of maturity to take responsibility for his actions, including the acquiring proper equipment and admitting when he should have just called home. He was, in no way, mature enough to make it out in the wild
For example, this is exhibited when Krakauer includes an anecdote about Chris and his father “He got real emotional...fighting back the tears, telling Dad that even though they’d had their differences over the years, he was grateful for all the things Dad had done for him. Chris said how much he respected Dad for starting from nothing...to support eight kids”(Krakauer 118). Chris seems to be very appreciative of his father and even gets emotional when thinking about all the sacrifices his father made in order to support both of his fathers families. McCandless appears to be family oriented and quite loving towards those around him, right? If that were the case, then why didn’t he let his family know where he was going or that he was planning on leaving, at the very least? When the McCandless family heard about the tragedy that Chris had suffered, his father, Walt McCandless, said, “How is it...that a kid with so much compassion could cause his parents so much pain?”(Krakauer 104). Chris demonstrates a high level of selfishness and ignorance towards his family’s needs and feelings. He left behind a devoted mother, hard working father and loving sister behind and never looked
This fails to be taken into account that Chris had already lived in a hostile environment of a different kind. Both his Father and Mother were constantly working and arguing with one another, “‘I was always on mom and dad’s case because they worked all the time and were never around’...” (Krakauer 129). They failed to give Chris and Carine, Chris’ sister who he adored and loved very much, a healthy environment to grow in. Critics may say that McCandless suffered from psychological problems caused by the abusive environment he grew up in, yet according to the Joyful Heart Foundation “A Child who has been abused can go on to have a healthy and productive life” (“Joyful Heart Foundation”). Chris’ journals and other writing indicates that he lived a rich and productive life, “I have lived through much, and now I think I have found what is needed for happiness.”(Christopher McCandless). Chris would continue to hold a grudge over his father for continuing his relationship with his first wife Marcia. Chris resented his father for his lies and immoral actions; direct evidence of why Chris rejects his parents ' spirituality. In a letter to Carine, Chris declared “I’m going to divorce them as my parent once and for all and never speak to either of those idiots again as long as I live. I’ll be through with them once and for all forever”(Chris McCandless). Walter McCandless’ actions were shameful and dishonorable, and Chris’ abandonment of him can be justified by these actions and their consequence. Not only did Walter have a hypocritical attitude when it came to raising his kids, he held them to the strict and unforgivable expectations. I strongly believe that Chris’s actions were motivated by some type of revenge and like Schadenfreude said “If someone enjoys the misfortune of others, then there’s something
leave behind. He did not notify anyone not even his parents, which in my opinion was cruel and immature on his part. For instance, “ ‘ We were all worried when we didn’t hear from him,’” says Carine, “ ‘and I think my parents’ worry was mixed with hurt and anger’” (Krakauer 125). Chris made it to seem if he was also escaping his parents in order to do what he wanted to. Also, even though Chris felt he did not need money, he did because this adventure was a trip, which he was supposed to come back from.
He left and “walked into the wild”, as he said, to escape his problems (Krakauer, 69). He never confronted his dad about his feelings. Carine McCandless talks about this personality trait in Chris saying, “Chris was the sort of person who brooded on things. If something bothered him; he wouldn’t come right out and say it” (Krakauer, 122). He changed his name, He wasn’t trying to take pride in his “adventure”. It was an extra and unnecessary precaution to ensure that his problems would not affect his escape. Chris McCandless changed his name and then continued his life ignoring all of the problems he had ever
The story of Christopher McCandless is that of an over-ambitious youth trying to find himself. Chris’ story, as told in detail in Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, ended tragically in his death within the Alaskan wilderness many months after running away from home with no contact to his family. In Krakauer’s work, he recounts interactions between Chris during his travels and multiple strangers. In this, one may conclude that Christopher McCandless is simply a reckless narcissist, who is selfish and privileged enough to think he can do and get away with whatever he wants. This is, in an emotional analysis, incorrect. Chris was subject to a severe Icarus complex, his ambitions being more than his body and life can handle. He refuses to contact his
Chris does not love his parents which clearly shown in the movie and that is one of the main reasons why he decides to start new life. In Chris McCandless’ mind the civilization has limits as he leaves his parents and his sister without telling them. He wants to be well prepared before his adventures to Alaska and he works hard to be ready to experience the best of the wild. He sees Alaska as freedom everyone needs and as soon as he gets all the supplies he decides to finally go. Chris makes his way to Alaska after meeting many good people that support him. He does not appreciate moments that he shared with people he met and later he would find that “happiness is only real when shared”. Carine, Chris’ sister, loves Chris and in the movie she is the one who tells audience more about Chris as a person. It really
According to others, Chris McCandless was inherently selfish. Please, let’s beg to differ, for goodness sake, he was a grown man! It was his life and he was living it the way he wanted to. Chris gave his sister fair warning. He bid to her, “Since they won’t ever take me seriously, for a few months after graduation I’m going to let them think they are right, I’m going to let them think that I’m “coming around to see their sides of things” and that our relationship is stabilizing. And then, once the time is right, with one abrupt, swift action I’m going to completely knock them out of my life...” (Krakauer 64) He knew what he had to do. He had to show his parents how they had made him feel his whole life. As a graduation present they offered him a new car, his old Datsun apparently was to their standards. Chris became infuriated. That was his pride and joy, how dare them try and take that away! They ignored what he was saying, as he did many times before, he o...
The gripping tale of a young man who leaves all that he has and goes to live amidst the natural world, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer showcases the two years Christopher McCandless had spent journeying throughout the United States before his unfortunate death. After graduating from Emory University in 1990, McCandless disconnected with all of his past relations and abandoned the majority of his possessions. McCandless’ decisions either seem extremely unwise or extremely courageous. He had a comfortable life with few worries yet he still chose to toss it all away and venture into unknown territories. What many wonder is why he would do such an irrational thing. Maybe, McCandless’ was simply trying to run away from his perception of reality. Through deserting his family, friends, and material possessions, Christopher McCandless was attempting to escape the unavoidable condition of the world along with the mundane life ahead of him. He was escaping from the impending dreariness of his future and the idea of decisions impacting him and the people around him. Christopher McCandless appeared to believe that by going off into the wild, his life would no longer be surrounded by a shroud of uncertainty and despair.