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Analysis Of Into The Wild, By Jon Krakauer

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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 …show more content…
The first element that really defines the subject of the public is "its first loyalty is to citizens"(). In Into the Wild, Krakauer tries to remain as loyal as he can to the public and provide as much information as possible. Reluctantly, Krakauer writes in chapter seventeen,". . . I duly reported McCandless’s mistake in the article I wrote for Outside, thereby confirming the opinion of countless readers that McCandless was ridiculously ill prepared . . . "(). Even though Krakauer knows that the mistake will tarnish McCandless's name, he has to report the mistake for validity of the story. The public has a right to know every part of a story, even if that part can ruin it. The second element of public view is "it must serve as an independent monitor of power"(). This element is basically saying that journalism should make sure that the story does not fall victim to bias and rumors. In the author's note, Krakauer explains that he wrote the nine-thousand-word article in a very short amount of time, but the story still affected him after the articles completion. The author wanted to provide a true look into the death, not a short article. Loyalty and the provision of knowledge are the key points of journalism that allow it to stand out as a piece of media and provide the necessary clues that allows the public to understand a story or a …show more content…
Journalism is there to prove and spread the truth and destroy the lies. The book allows Chris McCandless to have a voice and explain his story, even after death. McCandless's death is a warning to all that a wrong mistake can cost your life. The public knowing this fact is a privilege of the modern world, but this privilege has to be based on truth. If any lies are produced, the story can be warped and mislead, but throughout Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer tries to combat the rumors of the public and search for every detail of the story. These details cannot be provided by just the journalists; they have to be provided by witnesses. The main purpose of this book is to provide a voice to the voiceless, but the book does have a second purpose. This purpose is to show that even after a person dies, questions can be answered about that person's death and their

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