Comparing Innocence In Into The Wild And All The Pretty Horses

1328 Words3 Pages

John Krakauer’s Into The Wild and Cormac McCarthy’s All the Pretty Horses share the unifying concept of loss of innocence and the inevitable outcome of idealistic thinking. Both Chris McCandless, from Into the Wild, and John Grady Cole, from All the Pretty Horses, face harsh challenges throughout their journeys. Chris McCandless’s life gets turned upside down when his father’s adultery is revealed. He decides to rebel and run to Alaska to escape his mess-up, changing life at home. On his journey, he struggles with surviving in the wilderness with little knowledge and dealing with the isolation of being in Alaska. On the other hand, John Grady, a young boy whose dream is to live the simple life of a cowboy, decides to run to Mexico accompanied …show more content…

Blevins’s passing opened his eyes to the fact that death can always be around the corner, no matter what. When John Grady realizes he “said nothing at all” (176). Language was inadequate when trying to capture his new and sudden awareness of morality. Overall, these rude awakenings of morality and adultery ultimately led to John Grady and Chris McCandless’s loss of innocence. Along with the loss of innocence both Chris and John experienced, they also suffered the repercussions of idealistic thinking. For example, both of these protagonists create and believe in plans that are unrealistic and would most likely only work out in a fictitious world. Specifically, Chris and John Grady’s idealistic thinking leads them to believe that running to Alaska and Mexico will solve their problems. Chris claims that he’s going “all the way out there, all the way alive” (). This shows the intense romanticized vision of Alaska Chris created in his mind. He thought that running to a different state would allow his problems to be lifted. More specifically, he thought that in Alaska he would get everything he wanted: freedom, wilderness, and no restrictions. Chris fails to realize the danger that comes with isolation and the lack of knowledge and

Open Document