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What is krakauer's purpose in writing into the wild
Into the wild by jon krakauer essays
What is krakauer's purpose in writing into the wild
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The strange life and death of Christopher McCandless has been an enigma. After disappearing for 2 years, McCandless was found dead at age twenty-four in the Alaskan wilderness, the world stunned on why an affluent young man with a bright future would give it all up to live in seclusion in the wilderness. In his book Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer theorizes the motivations of McCandless and why a seemingly sane person would take such dangerous risks. Krakauer’s major theories of why McCandless did what he did revolve around a singular idea: freedom. Krakauer uses McCandless’s change of identity and wilderness adventures to symbolize freedom and self expression. McCandless was previously burdened by the expectations his parents put on him to
Krakauer’s purpose is to show individuals should not allow outside forces to control the direction of their lives but instead, individuals should be free to live the way that see fit. In order to achieve this freedom, Krakauer advocates for his audience to emulate McCandless and sever ties with anything and everything that hinders personal freedom. Krakauer theorizes on why McCandless desired freedom in order to give his audience an idea of why freedom is so valuable for the development of individuals. Growing up, McCandless had a seemingly normal childhood, where he was loved by his parents and sister, and family was well off financially. As McCandless grew up however, tension began to rise between McCandless and his father. The main problem was that McCandless was a simple person who didn’t care about material possessions and money, however, his father pushed him to pursue college and a career which McCandless felt like was restricting him from being himself. Through the years his resentment began to grow.
Into the Wild by John Krakauer is a rare book in which its author freely admits his bias within the first few pages. “I won't claim to be an impartial biographer,” states Krakauer in the author’s note, and indeed he is not. Although it is not revealed in the author's note whether Krakauer's bias will be positive or negative, it can be easily inferred. Krakauer's explanation of his obsession with McCandless's story makes it evident that Into the Wild was written to persuade the reader to view him as the author does; as remarkably intelligent, driven, and spirited. This differs greatly from the opinion many people hold that McCandless was a simply a foolhardy kid in way over his head. Some even go as far as saying that his recklessness was due to an apparent death-wish. Krakauer uses a combination of ethos, logos and pathos throughout his rendition of McCandless’s story to dispute these negative outlooks while also giving readers new to this enigmatic adventure a proper introduction.
The day is unlike any other. The mail has come and lying at the bottom of the stack is the favored Outside magazine. The headline reads, “Exclusive Report: Lost in the Wild.” The cover speaks of a twenty four year old boy who “walked off into America’s Last Frontier hoping to make sense of his life.” The monotony of the ordinary day has now vanished from thought as Jon Krakauer’s captivating article runs through the mind like gasoline to an engine. The article is not soon forgotten, and the book Into the Wild is happened upon three years later. The book relates the full story of Christopher Johnson McCandless and how he left his family and friends after graduating college in order to find himself. Krakauer based the book off of his article on McCandless that was printed in January of 1993. From the time of writing the article to the printing of Into the Wild, Krakauer was obsessed with the tale of the boy who rid himself of society and later turned up dead in the Alaskan frontier. In the foreword of Into the Wild, Krakauer describes McCandless as “an extremely intense young man [who] possessed a streak of stubborn idealism that did not mesh readily with modern existence” and who was in deed searching for a “raw, transcendent experience” (i-ii). Krakauer is correct in assessing this conclusion about McCandless. This conclusion is seen throughout the book in many different assessments. Krakauer uses logical appeal, a comparison to his own life, and assumption to bring about his assessment of McCandless’ life.
...McCandless it’s a book about one complicated, interesting, troubled guy (Jon Krakauer) trying to understand and process the early death of another.’’
Chris McCandless has a very interesting and compelling story, which tragically ended sooner than it should have. McCandless’s story is immortalized in John Krakauer’s book, Into the Wild, which follows Chris’ story from the backstory of his early childhood, to his ventures as a teen and young adult, and all the way to the end of his life in Alaska.
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.
“Into The Wild” by John Krakauer is a non-fiction biographical novel which is based on the life of a young man, Christopher McCandless. Many readers view Christopher’s journey as an escape from his family and his old life. The setting of a book often has a significant impact on the story itself. The various settings in the book contribute to the main characters’ actions and to the theme as a whole. This can be proven by examining the impact the setting has on the theme of young manhood, the theme of survival and the theme of independent happiness.
In Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer explores the human fascination with the purpose of life and nature. Krakauer documents the life and death of Chris McCandless, a young man that embarked on an Odyssey in the Alaskan wilderness. Like many people, McCandless believed that he could give his life meaning by pursuing a relationship with nature. He also believed that rejecting human relationships, abandoning his materialistic ways, and purchasing a book about wildlife would strengthen his relationship with nature. However, after spending several months enduring the extreme conditions of the Alaskan wilderness, McCandless’ beliefs begin to work against him. He then accepts that he needs humans, cannot escape materialism, and can never fully understand how nature functions. Most importantly, he realizes that human relationships are more valuable than infinite solitude. McCandless’ gradual change of heart demonstrates that exploring the wilderness is a transformative experience. Krakauer uses the life and death of Chris McCandless to convey that humans need to explore nature in order to discover the meaning of life.
Never did Chris McCandless feel so alive than when he abandon his wealthy lifestyle to live the life of a vagabond. Wealth has been associated with happiness, even though this is not always the case. Money may make the world go round, as well as have the power to manipulate and control situations towards one’s favor, yet as much as people crave it they despise it as well. People, such as Chris McCandless, have proved that while riches may give one a comfortable lifestyle, it will not always be a fulfilling one. Life is not going to revolve around one’s paycheck. Society has marked those who do not accept the accumulation of either money or power as the purpose of life to be exiles. Throughout Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, the depths of Chris
In August of 1992 Christopher McCandless died in one of the strangest ways in human history. McCandless was a transcendentalist, an adventurer, a crazy, wild-man. His strange and confusing life and death boggled the minds of everyone who heard his story. Everyone except Jon Krakauer. Krakauer, himself, was an adventurer. Jon and Chris’s stories were so similar, they seemed to be intertwined. As soon as Krakauer had heard Chris McCandless’s he was simply fascinated by his worldview. After much investigation of McCandless’s life and death Krakauer claims, “I was haunted by the particulars of the boy’s starvation and by vague, unsettling parallels between events in his life and those in my own (Krakauer ii).” As fate would have it, in 1995 Jon
Chris McCandless lived a life that can be examined in many different ways. He was an adventurer from the heart, and he didn’t want to conform to society’s views of how the world should be run and how each person should live their life. McCandless was able to stray from the normal progression of life, seen as going from graduating college to getting a 9-5 job and starting a family, by completely disappearing from his family’s life and trying to control his own life. In order to truly live life, one must be able to break free of the constricting confines of society, which control individuals and try to shape their 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
He attempts to try to reach the audience and tries to explain his reasoning for letting go of the primary causes, he believes if one is to let go of the reasons of the natural man's desires one may enjoy freedom.
John Krakauer’s nonfiction novel Into the Wild recounts the harrowing journey of a lone drifter and his adventurous trek into the Alaskan wilderness. Chris McCandless, a recent college graduate, sells his possessions and cuts ties with his affluent and controlling parents to live a nomadic existence in the remote outback. As Krakauer’s biographic narrative develops, the author reveals a theme of ignorance and arrogance illustrated by McCandless’ series of uninformed and prideful choices that eventually lead to his demise.
“McCandless was a first-class freeloader,” writes Craig Medred of the Anchorage Daily News. Craig, as well as many other Alaskans, view Chris McCandless, whose story is immortalized in Into the Wild, as a foolhardy charlatan. These people scold those who admire him and his journey through the American West and believe that Chris took his privilege for granted. Jon Krakauer, the author of Into the Wild, however, sees McCandless as a pioneer in the twenty-first century way of life. Krakauer chronicles Chris’ journey as he travels from Atlanta to South Dakota to Alaska. Frustrated with his parents and the privilege associated with his class, McCandless embarked on a journey away from his past life, leaving no indication to anyone of his plans
McCandless is convinced that his relationship with nature is more profound and honest than that of his relationship with people. Krakauer deduces that McCandless’s decision to be a vagabond is due to the “threat of human intimacy, of friendship, and all the messy emotional baggage that comes with it” (Krakauer 55). McCandless’s fear of “human intimacy” and “friendship” unravel his true purpose of escaping civilization, which is to break away from burdening others by his imperfections. McCandless presumes that nature would provide him reassurance because it does not doubt his choices and require him to explain himself for any of his actions. Due to this misconception, McCandless has misled himself into thinking that he is refraining others from