Into The Wild Response

Into The Wild

“Into The Wild” by Jon Krakauer, is a beautifully written book, with a captivating and devastating story. I thoroughly enjoyed it and even though the death of the main character was stated in sentence number two, Krakauer keeps the reader enthralled throughout the entire novel, start to finish. In “Into the Wild”, a recent college graduate named Christopher McCandless, in search of adventure, freedom, and purpose, decides to donate his life’s savings, abandon his family, and head out on a journey for Alaska, hitch hiking and taking odd jobs along the way. The main character’s naivety is incredibly frustrating and somewhat endearing all at once. You want to protect Christopher McCandless, and scold him, and stop him from making

his terrible decisions, you want to slap him across the face and shake some sense into him.

You read hopelessly, separated by space and time as his decisions lead him closer and closer to the inevitable. One of the reasons I like “Into the Wild” so much, is that Christopher McCandless choices are so infuriating. The whole book was sort of like that suspenseful scene in a horror movie, where you can’t help but scream for the character not to open that door. I was emotionally invested throughout the entire book, engaged and angry. In a way it sort of assured me on how smart I am; sure I got a C in Algebra, but I have yet to die in Alaska. . . Christopher McCandless, this kid, gets it in his head at some point that he should go to Alaska and rough it out in the wilderness like a big strong survivor man. Never mind he hardly knows anything about survival, never mind he has a degree and a family who loves him at home, never mind that just about everyone he meets on his journey tells him he’s an idiot and that he’s under prepared. He goes anyway. Because he’s going to be close

with nature and find himself and the meaning of life. He’s going to go out into the woods and come to some deep cosmic understanding of the universe. He’s going to rid himself of the chains of society and greed and material possessions. That’s all well and good, and maybe he accomplished his goal. You can’t get much closer to nature than decomposing into topsoil.

Though I ask, what good is knowing the supposed meaning of life if you killed yourself to find it? McCandless was also incredibly selfish, abandoning his family like that! He let them worry about him for two years until they find his body. Why? Because he thought he was above it all. His parents just don’t get it, they’re so wrapped up in there greed for silly things like a house and money and being alive. Christopher on the other hand, is brave and individualistic, look at him everybody! He doesn’t need family, he doesn’t need a house, he doesn’t need a stable job, he has the Earth. He’s so much better than everyone else! Society is just crazy to prioritize the basic necessities of life. I mean, I get it, Christopher is looking for deeper meaning in life. He’s a lost soul looking for answers. He’s in search of adventure and nature. He wants to free himself from the expectations and restrictions of society. I can emphasize, I see where he is coming from,

but he could not have picked a more idiotic way of trying to accomplish this. I mean take up hiking or snowboarding or something. Join a cult, walk your dog, meditate, volunteer at a soup kitchen, go live in a remote cabin in the mountains. There are a thousand better ways to have a more accomplished fulfilled life, a more adventurous unique life, a life away from society or material greed. You don’t have to die in Alaska to have a good time. I thought Jon Krakauer did an amazing job with this story, he really brought it to life. I cried when Christopher died, even though I knew it was coming. I’d read this book again, and I’d recommend it to a friend. My fear is just that some people may romanticize Chris’s actions as brave and deep. They weren’t, and it’s sad that he may have thought they were. This book is harsh and stark and real. It really made me think about the value of the things I have, and about the value of life in general.