Idealism And Realism In 'Into The Wild'

1.

The difference between romanticism and realism is the different focuses within the book. Romanticism focuses more on the emotion and the fantasy aspects of the story. “Into the Wild” made Chris seem to almost have a superman complex, I had suspicions about this throughout the book but I wasn't not completely convinced until Carine said, “Chris didn’t think twice about risking his own life.”(128) This is where I drew the conclusion that Chris seemed to believe he was invincible to the harm of the real world.

In a book of realism the author focuses on the authenticity of the characters and tries to simulate normalcy within the character's lives. Realism is the contrast of idealism, and realism the author attempts to unveil things as they

truly are, not masking them in the quintessential coating we would generally see in a book that portrays romanticism.
I can see why Chris became so obsessed with going to Alaska. It seemed like such a pure way to live. Although, between his jaded views from the constant so called “reassurance” from all of the books he read, convincing him to believe this was almost a fantasy land. The book as a whole bounces back between Chris and his weary view of the world and for Chris Alaska was the holy grail, almost as if this “Great Escape” would separate him from the the grueling world that he loathed.

2.
Chris describes this odyssey as “Ultimate Freedom” (179), his final escape, All of Chris’ life it seemed he had no real authority and maybe this was the final test to see how far his freedom really went and how far he could get on his own. Chris goes to extreme measures of isolation to obtain this constant need for freedom.
That being said, I can not speak on the behalf of all “young people” but personally I don't think this a venture only sought out by the Post- adolescence of the world but yearned for by a variety of people.

The woman who is stuck in an empty marriage, the mother who drinks too much because she made a few too many wrong turns in her day, the guy stuck in his dead end job, or the man who is simply bored with his bland life, they are all craving freedom in one way or another but have no idea how to approach their goals. In that sense i admire Chris for attempting to live the life he sought out for, even if it got him

killed.
Many may have Viewed Chris as a rebel to society, a crusader to the unknown, an excellent example of counterculture. Chris himself was cut from a different cloth, in a sense that he did not mind what society said about him and had no intentions of changing to fit the mold that is cast out for us. Because Chris refused to fit the mold and conform to the mainstream culture he was cast out, but I suspect that anyone that thought of him as an outsider is almost envious of Chris and his strength as an individual. Since he was a boy, Chris had the ability to stand out from the crowd and decide his own path, many who were envious of him are more or less unhappy with themselves for going with the grain.

3.

Chris and Walt’s relationship was second-rate at best, Chris seemed to have a constant resentment towards his father, even as a child he seemed to be angry or bitter. Chris described their relationship as “so irrational, so oppressive, disrespectful and insulting” and claimed that he had “finally passed my breaking point.(Krakauer 64).” The relationship grew more strenuous as Chris began to look deeper into his father's past, unveiling his secret life and uncovering a chilling past filled with lies and deceit, “Walt’s split from his first wife, Marcia, was not a clean or amicable parting. Long after falling in love with Billie, long after she gave birth to Chris, Walt continued his relationship with Marcia in secret, dividing his time between two households, two families. Lies were told and then exposed, begetting more lies to explain away the initial deceptions.(Krakauer 121).
Chris’ relationship with his had a large affect on his life later down the road, Chris always seemed to be searching for a father figure, attempting to fill the void his father left with “conditional love (Krakauer 64)” since he was boy. Chris and his mother seemed to have a genuine relationship with an attempt of affection towards one another but the constant misconnections and unspoken words between the two made it hard for them to make a real connection. After becoming so enraged with his parents and their suburban slavery lifestyle, filled with frustration he decides to shut them out completely from his life.
Chris seemed to gravitate towards women that come into his life aside from men. Chris found that Carine may be the only person who could truly understand what he was going through. Although, Chris and Carine had very different outlooks on life, Carine was more passive while Chris had more of an aggressive approach towards his parents. Carine tended to keep her head down and keep her feelings and anger to herself. This being said she didn't fully understand how Chris felt.

5.

“To write is to exist” you say, I took this with a grain of salt, because my personal “writing” has been lack lately but this metaphor should not be take so strictly. My “writing” may be seen on the green grass with a ball between my feet, and picasso “wrote” with his paintbrush and a canvas. To express yourself is to exist, to leave your mark on the world is to exist, to be someone who people will remember, with passions and dreams is to exist. To write is to exist, merely skims the surface of what is means to truly exist.

I don't believe the story was entirely about Krakauer, although, some underlying bias that krakauer portrayed throughout the novel may lead one to believe so. I would find it hard fro an author not to leave a little piece of themselves leaving small anecdotes from their personal lives with their piece of work. Maybe krakauer was just trying to exist. Maybe this was his defining moment, he was no longer just a columnist, he was writing about something that mattered to him, putting pen to paper and writing down the soul of a lost man, how could he not has poured a little bit of himself onto the page as well?

6.
Chris did not neglect the research aspect of his journey out of negligence or ignorance, i believe that Chris did this on purpose. Throughout the book i was never led to believe that Chris was the type of person to follow someone else's path or to trail behind the people that had come before him. Although, Chris did however rely on the literature and the authors he admired throughout his journey, but not necessarily in the sense of his livelihood but he relied on the books more to keep him sane. The books and the literature that he read grasped him to what he was yearning for. The Books aloud him to keep hold of what he was doing this all for, what he was risking his life for as a whole, searching for solitude.
Chris was told multiple times throughout his journey that he was ill prepared for the journey he was about to face, told that he didn't have the right equipment for survival and that he did not have the correcting clothing to live in the wilderness. This as a whole intrigued me, he knew he was was ill equipped and yet he continued, this tells me that he wasn't interested in doing this the easy way and doing this the hard way although it may have cost him his life, allowed him to find clarity within himself.

7.

Krakauer had a strong personal connection with Chris, connecting his experience of going into the mountains as a young man with the journey Chris had experienced, although Chris seemed to be more of a risk taker than Jon, he still felt a kinship with the boy. I found a sense of resolution when John wrote, “if he pitied himself in those last difficult hours -- because he was so young, because he was alone, because his body had betrayed him and his will had let him down” CHAPTER 12 I feel as if Jon felt that This could have been him up on that mountain as a young man, searching for his freedom just like Chris was.
By using Chris’ journals he was able to continue this near friendship by connecting with him on a nearly day to day basis through his journal entries. When Krakauer realizes that Chris was killed by poison he felt sorrow for Chris and yet an eerie feeling of serene and calm overcame me as i read the last few chapters. The ties between author and subject had been broken by death. I almost felt bad for Jon, almost as if he had lost a friend he had known for years.