...Jon Krakauer's book, Into the Wild, follows the story of journalist, Jon Krakauer, as he is trying to investigate the death of Christopher McCandless. A boy who traveled into the Alaskan wilderness and never came out. The author follows the clues Chris left to the final resting place of Chris to uncover the truth behind his death. The book is an extension of the nine thousand word article written in the magazine, Outside. Into the Wild follows many of the 10 elements of journalism provided by the American Press Institute, which are based on truth, loyalty to the public, and the equal viewpoints of both journalist and the public. Throughout Into the Wild, the author's main goal is to spread the truth of Chris McCandless's death. Truth...
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...adventure and putting yourself in risky situations is a common desire for those who spend their life trapped in the cog of life and success, people who grew up with expectations set upon them, people like Christopher McCandless. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is a book on Chris McCandless, a man who decided he would hitch-hike up north into the Alaskan wilderness. This is considered a non-fiction biography. Chris was only in his twenties when he set out on his wilful journey to Alaska, embarking on a trip of being alone to make his own decisions, being stripped down to his wits, testing his strengths, and ultimately taxing his weaknesses....
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...Justifying Krakauer’s Argument Jon Krakauer, author of Into the Wild, received strong criticism from many about his work and its depiction of Chris “Alexander Supertramp” McCandless, who journeyed across the United States and ultimately died in the Alaskan wilderness. As a part of his novel, Krakauer counters claims of Chris being “stupid, tragic and inconsiderate,” and instead paints him in a different light, displaying him as a young man with a profound moral compass seeking a higher truth. People such as Peter Christian had their two cents about McCandless; he reasoned from his own life experience that Chris was nothing special. Krakauer, on the other hand, writes to justify McCandless’s behavior, likewise, relating in his encounters...
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...Jon Krakauer jumps around a lot during this story from before, during, and after Chris’s death, which makes the reading interesting, but also confusing. I love reading about the many emotions that people felt for Chris and how they reacted after he had passed away. I felt like I was actually inside of Sam’s head because I could feel the emotion from what he was thinking. I could not imagine the excruciating pain of telling your parents’ that one of your siblings had just died. Krakauer really captures the emotions of what the people are saying. One thing that I really liked was that he gives background information on the family and kind of makes you question why Chris actually left. I like how Krakauer reflects on the problems that could have...
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...Michael Jackson once said, “We have to heal our wounded world. The chaos, despair, and senseless destruction we see today are a result of the alienation that people feel from each other and their environment” (Micheal Jackson). Into the Wild, a biography by Jon Krakauer, is based on a true story about a well educated man coming from a good family who turned himself away from everything he had going for him. McCandless travels a great deal during his expedition to many different places, and is eventually found starved to death in a bus near Denali National Park. McCandless documented his expedition through journal entries and pictures. Krakauer puts the pieces of McCandless’s journey together to share his experience with others.Into the Wild...
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...Jon Krakauer records in detail his experiences of adventure and tragedy on Mount Everest in this journal-like novel. A successful voyage summiting to the top of Mount Everest was completely omitted when the team of climbers had a disastrous journey back down the Mountain. By the time Krakauer made it back down, 12 of his teammates had died and his life was changed. Originally, this novel came about when a magazine wanted krakauer to climb to base camp of the mountain and document competition and growing commercialism of Mountain climbing. However, Krakauer went above and beyond when he decided to trek to the top of Mount Everest. After quitting the mountain climbing world to raise a family, Krakauer accepted the magazines request and bravely packed his bags to take the risk to the top of Mount Everest. It would have been the tallest mountain he has ever attempted to climb....
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...In Chapter 8, Krakauer quotes Alaskans and their opinion on McCandless’s death. Many of the letters all have the common opinion that McCandless was another dumb and crazy young man who walked right into his death by fantasizing the Alaskan wild. This is the counter-argument to Krakauer’s rhetoric that he presents when he uses other “Jack London's” and compares their journey to McCandless’s. He argues that McCandless wasn’t mentally ill like John Waterman who walked into the wild of Mount Denali purposely unprepared in order to escape his life problems. McCandless also wasn’t naive and expecting a savior like Carl McCunn. The letters from the Alaskans add to the text because it shows the judgement that many had; these “Jack London’s” “could...
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...Into the Wild Character Analysis Essay Chris McCandless, the main character in Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild, is a man with many problem in his life, in which, sets out to find his true self by surrounding himself with nothing but nature in the Alaskan wilderness. In Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer characterizes Christopher Mccandless as foolish and determined. Christopher Mccandless is a guy who sought out nature to find the true meaning of life, but in doing so, it killed him because he was foolish. Chris was going to make the long journey to Alaska by foot, but everyone else knew he would end up needing a ride, but ¨… when they see that [machete]¨(Krakauer, 68), no one's gonna want to. He intended to make his long journey and live off nature...
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...If someone told you the story of a man who left his life full of fortunes to become one with nature, what would your opinion of him be? Would you think that he’s brave? Reckless? Jon Krakauer in his non-fiction story, Into the Wild tells the journey of a young man by the name of Chris McCandless. Chris, after enduring a childhood where he was given everything in the world besides a loving household decided to leave everything behind, burn and donate all of his money and walk into the brisk wilderness of Alaska’s Denali area after hitchhiking around the continent a couple of years prior. Krakauer is impartial enough to let the reader form their own opinion of McCandless, even though his own opinions slip in at some points. Krakauer uses negative...
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...Most of the population relies on one or more people to get them through their life. Chris McCandless in Jon Krakauer’s, Into the Wild, is different in this situation though. He believed he could conquer this idea and go into the wild on his own. After living 113 days in the taiga of Alaska, McCandless ended up failing his quest and died in August of 1992. Many characters on Chris McCandless’s hunt for independence were affected. The person that was most affected was his sister, Carine McCandless, who loved him very much even for his differences. Carine showed her love and understanding of her brother by saying, “I knew he was happy and doing what he wanted to do; I understood that it was important for him to see how independent he could...
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...Freedom of Isolation: The Final Frontier Alone. The aspect of being alone can be comforting to people, that they can escape from all the drama and misery that their life has held. In Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, the novel displays Chris McCandless’s life as a journey from his younger years to his adult years until he passes away. It is a life of wanting freedom of solitude once events awaken his perspective on life. The author, Krakauer identifies his slow but prominent sliding into solitude. Krakauer develops this theme by explaining the characteristics of Chris and the many events that lead up to his venture in the wilderness. Krakauer establishes the theme of freedom of solitude by displaying Chris’s troubles with his family, settling and resettling, and his...
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...Into The Wild As we grow older we all want some type of indepence. We all will come to a point in life where we just want to isolate ourselves from our family, friends and eventually the world. This is totally normal. However, many people will do the most in order to fully get away, such as join the military or go to a university out of state. Well very rarely you’ll come across an individual who is willing to leave everything they have and set foot into the wild, as in Jon Krakauers book Into The Wild demonstrates.Life isn’t just about dying doing what you love, it’s the journey that you take in life that matters the most. The most commonly mistake is rushing and trying to do the most just like Chris McCandless who wanted to leave...
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...If you were to go on a long journey, how prepared would you be for it? In the novel Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, Christopher Johnson McCandless, who later changed his name to “Alex Supertramp” and is also called “Alex McCandless,” heads West for two years and hitchhikes to Alaska; he was ill-prepared and is found dead due to starvation by a moose hunter after four months in the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley, Alaska. Chris McCandless was an arrogant, selfish, and ignorant person because he left his family and took very little supplies with him to his long journey. McCandless showed that he was selfish when he left his family. It was a selfish act that he did. He left the people that he loved with no warning. The only thing he told them was that he was “going to disappear for a while.” His family loved him so much that they were even confused when they found out he was dead. For example, “his bewildered family was left clutching the shards of a fierce and painful...
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...Throughout the novel “Into the Wild” written by Jon Krakauer, there are many examples of the main character being labeled as not a smart person. In the novel, the main character Chris McCandless was brutally insulted by many when he appeared dead on the newspaper. Those statements consist him being, reckless, crazy, arrogant, and more. Firstly, I somewhat disagree and agree with Callarman’s ideals. As Callerman’s states, “I think that Chris McCandless was bright and ignorant at the same time,” I start to feel their are many ideas how this quote can be related to my personal life and more. I agree with Callerman’s statement because there was no doubt Chris McCandless was arrogant, but he was not as ignorant as I thought. In my opinion, the...
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...The Death of an Egocentric Have you ever been so angry with your parents that you’ve contemplated running away from home? After you calmed down, did you logically realize how terrible of an idea that was? Chris McCandless was placed in a similar situation in the novel, “Into The Wild” by Jon Krakauer. However, rather than acknowledging the conceptual faults behind running away from home, McCandless made the conscious decisions to follow through and purse his augmented and simply erratic adventure. McCandless’s decision was inevitably futile because although he had moderately justifiable intentions of going into the wild, his ignorance, arrogance, and lack of preparedness surmounted his intentions and would inevitably cost him his life. One significant conceptual flaw in regards to why McCandless went on such an adventure was his lack of maturity. After Franz had left McCandless on Interstate 70, “McCandless was thrilled to be on his way north, and he was relieved---relieved that he had again...
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