Who influenced the other party more? Chris or the people he met along his journey? Without any money, or material objects Chris was able to leave a lasting impact on the people he met on his journey to Alaska. In Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer, Chris McCandless is able to leave a greater influence on the people he met along his journey to Alaska rather than the impact they made on him.
On Chris’s journey to Alaska, he met a gentleman by the name of Ronald Franz, and is able to leave a lasting impression on him that Ron is not able to reciprocate to Chris. In the book, author Jon Krakauer states “McCandless made an indelible impression on a number of people during the course of his hegira, most of whom spent only a few days in his company, a weeks or two at most. Nobody, however, was affected more powerfully by his or her brief contact with the boy than Ronald Franz” (Krakauer 48). This quotes shows that although there time together is brief, Chris is able to leave an indelible impact on Ron. Nobody understands the life and journey to Alaska that Chris took more than Krakauer, and through his words, he acknowledges that Chris made the biggest impact on Ron. Ron viewed Chris almost like a son. Franz admitted that “even when he was sleeping, I was happy just knowing he was there…At one point Franz dared to make a special request of McCandless…Now that my own boy’s dead, I’m the end of the line. When I’m gone, my family will be finished, gone forever. So I asked Alex if I could adopt him, if he would be my grandson” (Krakauer 55). This quote shows how to Ron, at the time, Chris meant the world to him. It is very touching because Ron admits that he is getting older, and when he dies there will be nobody to carry on his...
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...would have not been prepared for his journey to Alaska. Although only for a short time, Ron is able to nurture Chris by feeding him and taking care of him, as well as teaching him a couple of cool traits such as designing belts out of leather. Although Chris is able to change people, the people are able to change Chris even more.
Throughout Into The Wild, the people Chris interacts with along his journey to Alaska make an impact on Chris. Although the people Chris met do leave an impact on him, Chris is able to leave a greater impact on the people he met. Whether it was Ron Franz, Jan Burres, or Tracy, Chris stayed with them longer than they stayed with Chris. Throughout the book, it is very evident that the impact Chris makes on people is bigger than the Impact people made on Chris.
Work Cited
Krakauer, Jon. Into the Wild. New York: Anchor, 1997. Print.
After reading chapter 1 of Into the Wild, I have the impression that while he seems friendly, he possess a number of negative qualities. Chris seems to be very stubborn, and most of all overconfident. While Chris seems excited to go to Alaska, but is dangerously unprepared, and seems to overplay his experience, while refusing any help. “Im absolutely positive,” he assured Gallien, “I won’t run into anything I can’t deal with on my own” Page 6 Chapter 1. This example perfectly shows his arrogance. By saying this Chris shows how he believes he can take anything on, and is ready for the wilderness, he thinks he is invincible, and is incredibly confident in his survival skills. “Gallien
Throughout Into the Wild, Krakauer portrays Christopher McCandless as an infallibly eager young man hoping to distance himself from the society he so obviously loathes, to "live off the land," entirely independent of a world which has "conditioned [itself] to a life of security." Chris, contrarily to this depiction, is disparagingly viewed by some as a "reckless idiot" who lacked the sense he needed to survive in the Alaskan wilderness. This derogatory assessment of Chris's mindset is representative of the society he hopes to escape and contains all the ignorance that causes him to feel this way. Nevertheless, he is misjudged by these critics, allowing Krakauer to hold the more accurate interpretation of Chris's character, his goals, and his accomplishments.
... every aspect of his life whether it be his education, physical endurance, or making it through the Alaskan wilderness with nothing more than a rifle, a backpack, and a road map. Chris was aware of his differences and that he did not fit into society. He fully embraced that and and chose to lead his own path. Chris led a happy life according to one of his last journal entries he wrote, “I have had a happy life and thank the lord. Goodbye and may God bless all!” (Krakauer 199). Chris was willing to risk everything to gain that happiness. His ambition to enter the wilderness, in the end, took his life but that did not stop him. He would have rather died a happy man than lived a miserable one. Chris ventured out into the wilderness and found himself; a tragic story for a tragic hero.
Pg 71 "why would anyone intending to 'live off the land for a few months, ' forget Boy Scout rule number one, be prepared. Why would any son cause his parents and family such permanent and perplexing pain?" There were many more people that thought Chris was a reckless idiot, but there were also many people that didn 't think Chris was a reckless idiot, and instead thought that Chris was very smart and brave for what Chris did. There were many people that Chris met during his travels and was able to truly touch their hearts and change their lives forever. Jim Gallien, Wayne Westerberg, Jon Krakauer, Walt McCandless, Billie McCandless, Carine McCandless, Charlie, Ronald Franz, and Jan Burres were some of them. Chris knew these people in life or met them during Chris travels. Chris definitely made an impact in all these people 's lives and these people probably wouldn 't call Chris a reckless idiot, but instead would call Chris intelligent and courageous. One of the people that Chris met during the travels that really stuck out was Ronald Franz. Franz was an eighty year old veteran who lived in Salton City,
...se, McCandless replies, “Hell no…how I feel myself is none of the government’s business” (Krakauer 6). With this statement, Chris demonstrates that he is the ultimate non-conformist, that he is an individualist. “He needed his solitude at times, but he wasn’t a hermit. He did a lot of socializing. Sometimes I think it was like he was storing up company for the times when he knew nobody would be around” (Krakauer 45). With that said, Chris understood the importance of being his own person, with his own ideas and views and his own way of thinking so that others could not manipulate him along the way. He realized that the only way for him to find his own freedom and peace was to be self-centered and to put himself before others without others polluting his sense of existence.
At the end of “Into the Wild” by John Krakauer epilogue, my view towards McCandless’s journey and death is emotionally similar to McCandless’s parents as they accept Chris’s death. Chris’s parents weren’t really involved in his life so they never really knew why he cut everyone off. My initial guess is that Chris got tired of his parents controlling his life and just wanted to get away. Throughout “Into The Wild” Chris’s parents seemed like they didn’t support or care about Chris, or they didn’t know how to show it, however my opinion about Chris’s parents did change because the author shined light on his parents and how they came to senses with their son’s death and that they actually really did care about their son Chris McCandless.
All in all, it is interesting how the trials of life can lead a person into an awakening that inspires millions. Many people believe that walking “into the wild” to live off the land and find himself alone in nature was arrogant, foolish and irresponsible. Chris lacks of knowledge about the wild was a major factor in his death. Chris did not plan how he will survive in the wilderness without proper equipments. He misunderstood that he would have no problem in setting in the wild. Chris immature manner and decisions lead him to starvation and ultimately death. If he planned it out in the beginning he would have saved his life.
Through firsthand accounts of his personality, from hotheaded to more content, Chris clearly experienced a shift in character. Through the experience of the outside world, his identity changed. These sources gave insight into how Chris felt before and during his adventure to Alaska. Two totally different descriptions that could be two different people shows Chris’ thinking leading to his overall happiness. He found himself in the wild making his travel worth it and overall, justifying the trip made that molded a new man for internal peace for
Sometimes a character may be pushed over the edge by our materialistic society to discover his/her true roots, which can only be found by going back to nature where monetary status was not important. Chris McCandless leaves all his possessions and begins a trek across the Western United States, which eventually brings him to the place of his demise-Alaska. Jon Krakauer makes you feel like you are with Chris on his journey and uses exerts from various authors such as Thoreau, London, and Tolstoy, as well as flashbacks and narrative pace and even is able to parallel the adventures of Chris to his own life as a young man in his novel Into the Wild. Krakauer educates himself of McCandless’ story by talking to the people that knew Chris the best. These people were not only his family but the people he met on the roads of his travels- they are the ones who became his road family.
Some people may think that Chris McCandless went into the forrest because he wanted to do things on his own go explore, live free without having to pay bills and live under his parents he wanted to be on his own with no one surrounding him. But that's not the full reason behind what drove him to the wild he hated his parents because they offered to pay for his law school and buy him a new car because his old one wasn’t running good anymore. There are many other reasons why Chris left his home his family and many other people to go into the wild.
Chris McCandless risked his life to travel to Alaska to escape the small box that his parents confined him in. He was abused mentally and physically and needed an escape to a place where he would never have to worry about encountering that same guilt he felt in society. Being inspired by someone is not a new concept in this world. It is very important to find someone to admire and look up to because they can assist in shaping that person’s future for the better. Henry Thoreau is an author who Chris felt a deep connection with and was inspired by him and his transcendental beliefs. Chris is courageous for ignoring the people around him who were trying to bring him down. His whole childhood he was told exactly what he was and was not allowed to do. Having as planned out of a life as he did, he chose to reject society and focus on the original beauty of the world rather than look as what it was forced to become. Chris is some way relates to the nature and wildlife because he understand what it is like to be abused without having chance to defend itself. Humans have control of the world, and it can be changed around with just snap of out finger. However, people do not think of the consequences it has on the earth. People are abusing what the earth is providing us for their own selfies
Out of all the people Chris McCandless met on his trip, there were only three that he truly inspired and left a great impact on. Since Chris was always going to different places, he met different people everywhere he went. Jan Burres, Wayne Westerberg, and Ron Franz were among the few that Chris deeply affected. These were the people that Chris could confide in. He spent a great amount of time with them and they accepted Chris as their own.
Chris came into the wild unprepared for what laid ahead of him but followed his plan sticking with it until the very end. Towards the end Chris’s story he reached the point where he accepted the fact that he needs help he writes the note: “S.O.S. I NEED YOUR HELP.” (Krakauer, 198) After being completely isolated for months, Chris finally reached the end of his journey and really accepted the fact that this journey should not have been by himself, but should have been shared with people who had appreciated him and wanted to help him along the way, even when they knew that it was a risk. Towards the end of Chris’s journey, he wrote down, “HAPPINESS IS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED.” (Krakauer, 189) Chris realized that by spending all this time by himself it was not worth losing everybody who he had grown to care about and appreciate. This led to Chris seeing how valuable the relationships were that he built with people throughout his journey and how he missed out on so many opportunities of being with them. Chris threw the relationships that he developed away, leaving them to hope that he might return to them one day. “I now wish I had never shot the moose. One of the greatest tragedies of my life.” (Krakauer, 167). After Chris struggled to preserve the moose meat causing it all to go to waste. This action showed how unprepared he was for this journey and that through ignoring advice from people or listening to the wrong advice, he was already setting himself up for failure. Even though Chris had the drive to do everything by himself and isolating himself from the toxic society that he grew up in, he failed to see how he didn’t have to go to such extremes to be able to achieve what he had wanted out of life - to live a life where money was not what defined people, but where who somebody was would define
Chris’s relationship with his father was strained at best, and left him socially distant and unable to connect with others. Both Chris and his father were stubborn and strong willed, creating emotional differences between the two (64). When McCandless meets Westerberg’s longtime girlfriend Gail, she recalls that he was “shy at first,” and acted as if “it was hard for him to be around people.” In the time Gail spent with Chris, she could tell that “something was gnawing at him,” and it was fairly recognizable that “he didn’t get along with his family” (63). These unappealing social skills he had developed set him apart from others, causing him to be an inadequate conversationalist and feel left out in society. No feeling to belong in the social concepts he had been raised in subsequently prompted an unflinching urge to escape to a place where near nothing is similar to civilization. Lastly, in a final letter to his sister Carine, Chris wrote in regards to his parents, "I’m going to divorce them as my parents 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”
To answer that question reader can look at the passage when Chris takes his first trip to his early childhood town and discovers from second hand sources that his father was having an affair with his mother (Krakauer, 121). Finding out this fact about his family changed the relationship with his family, at least to him. Chris forced the anger he had inside of him and down and brooded over it. Once Chris knows this instead of confronting his problems he turns to his father and picks him apart to justify his anger. Chris points out the hypocrisy of his parent’s lifestyle not because he was a “rebellious teenager” but because he had this ball of emotional hate he didn’t want to admit was his own, so instead he looked for anyone to place the blame on, and it just so happened that his father fit the circumstances. After an extended period of time while Chris was harboring this anger it changed him, and his ideology. His sanity was stating to begin to slip away from him. While Chris was naturally smart and talented all of that goes to waste if he is not in his right mind. Walt tells the readers that Chris was naturally talented, but defensive when it came to accepting advice (Krakauer, 111). of all the things that stuck with Chris throughout his decent into madness this was what trait that persisted in his ego. So while Chris was defiantly smart and was capable of being athletic he still made these decisions which ultimately ended his life, which means that Chris was no longer making sound, rational choices like he would have been able to make earlier in his life, because he mental state had already declined to an irreversible point.