Chris McCandless: A Journey Towards Freedom and Meaning

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To most, Chris McCandless from Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer, was a young man who seemed to have it all, yet he felt like he had nothing. Chris thought that his ordinary life lacked substinance and meaning which inspired a journey that forever changed his life. He felt trapped by societal pressures and by his parents tense existence. His rough childhood paved the way for the incredible experience he was able to embark on. Although Chris’s soul searching journey eventually led to his demise, it gave him a glimpse into a fulfilled, free life. His strained and disconnected relationship with his parents propelled his journey in search for the true meaning of life. Chris’s journey seeking spirit was mainly created by his parents, Walt …show more content…

Walt was a NASA rocket scientist and Billie was a secretary for the successful business they had both established. Although their business prospered, it created affliction and aggravation within their relationship. With two very busy jobs, the time spent with Chris and his sister, Carine became limited. “Mom and dad put in incredibly long hours. When Chris and I woke up in the morning to go to school, they would still be in the office working. When we came home in the afternoon, they would still be working. When we went to bed at night, they would still be working”(krakauer 107). As chris grew older, he had to primarily rely on himself. The time chris spent with his parents, was slowly but surely running down the drain. With his parents working continuously, Chris’s independence slowly started to seep through. He had learned to occupy himself, and overcome everyday tasks alone. The loneliness became surreal for him. “He didn't seem to need toys or friends. He could be alone without being lonely”(krakauer 107). Through chris’s journey, independence became second nature to him. He traveled thousand and thousand miles across the world. From Virginia to Arizona, Mexico to California, Colorado to Alaska. Throughout each place he traveled to, his independence was one thing that lingered along the

Comparing Chris McCandless, Jon Krakauer and Everett Ruess
1082 Words | 3 Pages
Many individuals decide to live their life in solitary; though, only a few choose to live in the wild. The book, Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer vividly paints the adventurous trek Chris McCandless went on. From the friends he made, to the hardships he went through, McCandless is portrayed as a friendly, sociable person despite the fact that he was a vagabond. Other than McCandless, there are even more individuals that have taken the risks to live in the wilderness such as, Jon Krakauer and Everett Ruess. All three of them had both similarities and differences between their own qualities as a person and their journey.
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Jon Krakauer’s Use of Rhetorical Devices in Into the Wild
1133 Words | 3 Pages
Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, describes the adventure of Christopher McCandless, a young man that ventured into the wilderness of Alaska hoping to find himself and the meaning of life. He undergoes his dangerous journey because he was persuade by of writers like Henry D. Thoreau, who believe it is was best to get farther away from the mainstreams of life. McCandless’ wild adventure was supposed to lead him towards personal growth but instead resulted in his death caused by his unpreparedness towards the atrocity nature.
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Epigraphs In Into The Wild
946 Words | 2 Pages
The epigraphs presented by Krakauer before each chapter of the memoir Into the Wild dive deep into the life of Chris McCandless before and after his journey into the Alaskan wilderness. They compare him to famous “coming of age characters” and specific ideas written by some of his favorite philosophers. These give the reader a stronger sense of who Chris was and why he made the decision to ultimately walk alone into the wild.
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The Success of Chris McCandless
545 Words | 2 Pages
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.
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Analysis Of Chris Mccandless
1523 Words | 4 Pages
Chris McCandless lived a life in which he disgusted by human civilization, and left it, eventually being led to his death in Alaska. McCandless entered the Alaskan wilderness severely unprepared, a brutal error that cost him his life. In the novel, Into the Wild by John Krakauer, Chris glances into his mindset by they way of his journal, history, and analysis of his life reveals that Chris McCandless as an arrogant and judgemental narcissist, while not mentally unstable, had a condescending attitude towards society and perished not only from his reckless stupidity but also from his unparalleled ego. Chris McCandless was immune to love and had an obsession with nature and society, him showing characteristics that created the appearance of McCandless
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Chris Mccandless
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Definition of a seeker= someone who looks outwards and goes on a physical or mental journey to find something hidden about themselves or something.
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Christopher Mccaandless Admirable Analysis
1206 Words | 3 Pages
Life is a form of progress- from one stage to another, from one responsibility to another. Studying, getting good grades, and starting the family are common expectations of human life. In the novel Into the Wild, author Jon Krakauer introduced the tragic story of Christopher Johnson McCandless. After graduating from Emory University, McCandless sold of his possessions and ultimately became a wanderer. He hitchhiked to Alaska and walked into the wilderness for nearly 4 months. This journey to the 49th state proved fatal for him, and he lost his life while fulfilling his dream. After reading this novel, some readers admired the boy for his courage and noble ideas, while others fulminated that he was an idiot who perished out of arrogance and
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Chris McCandless is NOT a Hero
1228 Words | 3 Pages
Into the Wild, written by John Krakauer tells of a young man named Chris McCandless who 1deserted his college degree and all his worldly possessions in favor of a primitive transient life in the wilderness. Krakauer first told the story of Chris in an article in Outside Magazine, but went on to write a thorough book, which encompasses his life in the hopes to explain what caused him to venture off alone into the wild. McCandless’ story soon became a national phenomenon, and had many people questioning why a “young man from a well-to-do East Coast family [would] hitchhike to Alaska” (Krakauer i). Chris comes from an affluent household and has parents that strived to create a desirable life for him and his sister. As Chris grows up, he becomes more and more disturbed by society’s ideals and the control they have on everyday life. He made a point of spiting his parents and the lifestyle they lived. This sense of unhappiness continues to build until after Chris has graduated college and decided to leave everything behind for the Alaskan wilderness. Knowing very little about how to survive in the wild, Chris ventures off on his adventure in a state of naïveté. It is obvious that he possessed monumental potential that was wasted on romanticized ideals and a lack of wisdom. Christopher McCandless is a unique and talented young man, but his selfish and ultimately complacent attitude towards life and his successes led to his demise.
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Into the Wild: Chris McCandless is a Tragic Hero
1654 Words | 4 Pages
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.
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Chris McCandless' Pursuit of Happyness
620 Words | 2 Pages
Although, Chris McCandless may be seen as stupid and his ideals uncanny, he gave up everything to follow his heart he escaped the world that would have changed him, he wrote his own tale to feel free, and he left a conformist world to indulge in true happiness. How many people would just give up their lives, family, material goods, to escape into a world of perfect solitude and peace; not many and Chris was one of those that could and he became and inspiration. “The idea of free personality and the idea of life as sacrifice” (187).
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Into the Wild by Christopher Johnson McCandless
1175 Words | 3 Pages
Into the wild is a non-fiction book which expanded from the nine-thousand-word article by Jon Krakauer. This article ran in the January 1993 issue of the magazine Outside. Jon Krakauer was very much drawn toward the tale of McCandless and decided to write his story. He spent more than a year tracking down the details of the boy’s tramp. Then he used matter-of-fact tones to narrate what he chased on the path about the boy. The framework presented in this book can be separated into three parts: (1) retracing, including the interview with most of the important people who once kept company with Chris; (2) wildness, presenting mails generated from readers and several idealists that were in the similar situation with Chris; (3) affection, including the memory of parents, sister and friends.
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Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
660 Words | 2 Pages
The novel “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer goes into great detail to describe the main character, Chris McCandless, who died traveling alone into the Alaskan wilderness. McCandless, whom in the novel renamed himself Alex, left his home and family to travel to Alaska in 1992. In Alaska McCandless planned to live an isolated life in the desolate wilderness, but unfortunately he did not survive. This non-fiction novel portrays his life leading up to his departure and it captures the true essence of what it means to be “in the wild”.
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Theme and Setting of Into The Wild, by Jon Krakauer
921 Words | 2 Pages
“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.
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Our Relationship With Nature Explored in Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild
1104 Words | 3 Pages
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.
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Chris McCandless: Brave, Independent, and Courageous
617 Words | 2 Pages
The book Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer, was a very interesting story about a young man going to live out in the wild of Alaska. This young mans name is Chris McCandless also known as Alex Supertramp. He had a lot of courage to go out this trip facing the wild. He has set high hopes for how young he is. Graduating college than leaving directly after graduating and burned all of his money and left his car and most possessions behind. His bravery definitely had a big impact on the story. With his bravery, it seemed like he has done this before and has no weariness. Chris was very independent on his trip. He received little help from people. He got work a few times to buy gear for his trip to Alaska, other than that he was either hitch hiking or walking.
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Chris McCandless: A Journey Towards Freedom and Meaning

Comparing Chris McCandless, Jon Krakauer and Everett Ruess

Jon Krakauer’s Use of Rhetorical Devices in Into the Wild

Epigraphs In Into The Wild

The Success of Chris McCandless

Analysis Of Chris Mccandless