...From a cryptic diary found among his possessions, it appeared that McCandless had been dead for nineteen days. A driver’s license issued eight months before he perished indicated that he was twenty-four years old and weighed a hundred and forty pounds. After his body was flown out of the wilderness, an autopsy determined that it weighed sixty-seven pounds and lacked discernible subcutaneous fat. The probable cause of death, according to the coroner’s report, was starvation. In “Into the Wild,” the book I wrote about McCandless’s brief, confounding life, I came to a different conclusion. I speculated that he had inadvertently poisoned himself by eating seeds from a plant commonly called wild potato, known to botanists as Hedysarum alpinum. According to my hypothesis, a toxic alkaloid in the seeds weakened McCandless to such a degree that it became impossible for him to hike out to the highway or hunt effectively, leading to starvation. Because Hedysarum alpinum is described as a nontoxic species in both the scientific literature and in popular books about edible plants, my conjecture was met with no small amount of derision, especially in Alaska....
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...initially used as a diversion, but eventually reveals the true essence of humanity, by allowing savage impulses to come within oneself, and show weakness towards materialism....
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...Christopher McCandless was an avid reader in college and based much of his philosophical beliefs on what he read. Please research which two authors have the most profound effect on him and discuss the similarities and differences between their lives and works. Utilizing both the novel and various other supports, research the grip the wilderness has on the American imagination. “Alaska has long been a magnet for dreamers and misfits, people who think the unsullied enormity of the last frontier will patch all of the holes in their lives” (4). What are the holes people are trying to fill? Why do we believe the frontier will save us? What appeal does the “wild” still have on modern American society? Research and discuss the allure that high-risk activities hold for young men of a certain mindset. Research outstanding examples of popular risky social behaviors, thrill sports and other self-destructive trends among youth in America. Christopher McCandless has a complicated relationship with his father. Many of McCandless’ personal decisions are directly or indirectly affected by this relationship and he even appears to have found a replacement “father figure” for himself in the form of Westerberg (as described in Chapter 3 of the novel). Research and discuss the highly charged bond that often exists between fathers and sons. Please research the origins of the purpose behind the “Burning Man” spectacle and its continued popularity with non-conformists. From the...
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...Chris McCandless, round and static character of commentary text novel Into the Wild is depicted as a detached young man contending solely with his own internal conflicts. Into the Wild is a non-fiction journalistic piece written by Jon Krakauer which delineates the events Chris McCandless encountered over a two year journey of self discovery, independence, and utter emancipation from materialistic society in the wilderness. To begin with, Christopher Johnson McCandless, known for a brief period of his life as Alexander Supertramp was born on February 12, 1968 to Walt and Billie McCandless in El Segundo, California. Christopher’s secondary education originated at Wilbert Tucker Woodson High School in Fairfax, Virginia where he would furthermore...
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...Everyone would love to have total freedom at some point in their lives, but many people don’t follow what they really want in life and instead decide to conform to what society wants them to be. In the novel Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. Christopher Johnson McCandless also known as Alex Supertramp was very determined and brave when it came to following his dreams. Jon Krakauer believed Chris was someone looking for the meaning of life. Jon Krakauer and Chris both had strained relationships with their fathers. This influenced them both deeply and made it easier for Jon to look at Chris as a smart young man. Most people would look at Chris and say he was a fool for doing everything he did to his family. Only some people understand what Chris...
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...and it had a great influence in the history of writing. “The adventure of Huckleberry Finn” is a novel by Mark Twain set in the 19th century in the south of USA along the Mississippi river. But what is Realism? It is a part of literature characterized by faithful representation of life, pessimistic mood and anti-heroic characters tormented by ethical dilemmas. As in many realistic novels, Huck Finn is characterized by real life experiences, the protagonist is an anti-hero and he is afflicted by dilemmas, usually about his ethic. Materialism and underlying drama are other important characteristics....
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...Throughout history, humans have struggled with the issue of morality. In America during the 1920’s, the time Period in which F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby, morality took a back seat to living a vapid life full of alcohol, adultery, and anything that would grant immediate gratification. Throughout the novel three characters, Tom, Daisy, and Gatsby show the effects of materialism, dishonesty, infidelity, and adultery. Tom shows adultery and infidelity, Daisy and Gatsby show dishonesty, and all three show the effects of materialism. The themes expressed in The Great Gatsby, as shown by the actions of Gatsby, Daisy, and Tom show us the flaws in living a life free of ethical values. Tom Buchanan truly embodies the wasteful, morally corrupt spirit of the 1920’s. He is arrogant, racist, prodigal, and has more family money than he could ever spend. Tom...
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...Chris McCandless believed in the concept of non-conformity. His upbringing impacted his life of ease and simplicity. However, he always felt as if he was independent but never was able to fully arrive at complete independence. Chris’s constrained values of appreciation of the power of nature and non-materialism brought him to be labeled as a transcendentalist. Alexander Supertramp was the epitome of non-conformity. That is the reason Chris created him. “To symbolize his complete severance from his previous life, he even adopted a new name. No longer would he answer to Chris McCandless; he was now Alexander Supertramp, master of his own destiny.” (p.23) He felt as though he had accepted society too deeply into his life to regain happiness into his life as Chris. So he created an alter ego that was and did everything Chris wanted to but could not because of his acceptance of society. Alex...
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...Society written by Jerry Hannan (performed by Eddie Vedder) The song society is a melancholic song representing Chris Mccandles (Alex Supertramp) journey through his rediscovered life. The song focuses on materialism shaping your identity. The songs theme is strengthen by the fact that the song only is performed by Eddie Vedders humming voice and the strumming guitar. The ebb and flow of Vedder’s voice, paired with the decrescendos and crescendos of the wave-like guitar, reflected the tug of the wild on Alex’s life. The strumming guitar is similar to the cadenced pounding of the ocean, with its tides and undertows; its wild, mysterious grandeur. Chris flees society to find a peaceful place were he's not judged by his belongings, but by his personality. I think he was frustrated by the problems of the world and the greed of humans, as Eddie Vedder murmurs in the opening lines of Society, with the beautiful play on words, “we have agreed, with which we have a greed.” All humans have an instinctive greed, the desire for more; this is universal. How we control and channel this greed shapes our principles. The song has an interesting form. Building up through the verses leading to the catchy chorus. The verses all has four lines, but the chorus starts with two lines leading to four lines ending up with eight lines in the last chorus. As you'll notice the chorus is the only place in the song where's backing vocal humming society. I think it's represent some of Chris's thought...
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...Max Satory The Adverse Effects of Marketing to Children Marketing to children has become an epidemic in recent years. With pure profits in mind, corporations are advertising to children as young as toddler age to instill an obsessional desire for their products (Oksenkrug). With Children ages two to fourteen influencing over 40 times the household spending then they did in the 1960’s and children’s access to electronics at an all time high, marketer’s focus has shifted primarily to children (Zoll). Children being targeted by advertisers have numerous drawbacks including an increase in mental disease and obesity in children (Zoll). Knowing the detrimental effects of marketing targeted towards young children, countries such as Sweden, Norway, and Canada, have made laws restricting marketing targeting certain age groups (“Marketing to Kids…”). In Norway and Sweden it is illegal to market to children under the age of thirteen, while in two provinces in Canada it is illegal to market to children under the age of twelve (“Marketing to Kids…”). In the United States there are a minimal amount of child targeting regulations in state. Though there is some regulation for advertising on television to try and help children distinguish advertising from programming, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the government commission in charge of overseeing business practices, regulates nothing on the internet (“Marketing to Kids…”). With the average American ages eight to eighteen’s home consisting...
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...There are many important and deep quotes including the one mentioned above are found in Walden chapter “Where I lived and What I Lived for”. We learn his experience and values from his writings. According to me, second chapter basically focuses on “beauty of nature”. Thoreau said “The morning wind forever 64 blows, the poem of creation is uninterrupted; but few are the ears that hear it.” From the quote stated above he basically says that our life ought to be comprised of basic things and not every one of the points of interest that lives around us. There are so many ideas and thoughts depicted in this quote such as how it feels to be able to wake up in the morning and able to feel the fresh air of nature. This gives us the ideas that author...
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...reading public, and he was increasingly the subject of attack in the liberal and radical press. On March 20, 1864, Dostoyevsky wrote to his brother, Mikhail: "I sat down to work on my novel. I want to get it off my back as soon as possible, but I still want to do it as well as possible. It has been harder to write than I thought it would be. Still it is absolutely necessary that it be good: I personally want it to be good. The tone now seems too strange, sharp, and wild; perhaps it will not right itself; if not, the poetry will have to soften it and carry it off." Many aspects of Notes from The Underground and especially, as Dostoyevsky himself noticed the tone seem strange, sharp, and even bitter. To some extent, the bitterness of the novel is traceable to the many personal misfortunes Dostoyevsky suffered while the novel was being written. Much more important, however, was the influence of his maturing world-view with its ever colder and more distant attitude toward the European liberalism, materialism, and utopianism of his younger years. Dostoyevsky had begun his career as a writer in the 1840s as a romantic idealist, even a dreamer. (See his portrait of the young dreamer in his early story "White Nights.") At that time he had devoted a great deal of attention to utopian socialism and its vision of a perfectly satisfying, perfectly regulated life for humankind. This perfection of life was thought to be achievable solely through the application of the principles of...
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...Identity and the Meaning of Life Identity is a very important part of everybody. It defines who you are, what you think and what you believe in. Nobody has the same identity. To some people it is easy to find out who they are, but to others it is a long journey which includes things that most people do not try during their lives, for example to leave the civilization and live alone in the woods without any material advantages. A: “Into the Wild” by Sean Penn is about a boy called Chris. After his graduation he leaves his family to travel around on his own. Chris leaves because he cannot stand the focus on material advantages, and he also wants to run away from the dark secrets his parents have kept from him his whole life. Just like the character in Thoreau’s text “Walden”, Chris goes into the wild to get away from society and to live deliberately. Both of them want to get back to basics and away from materialism. The film is very critical towards society, and especially Chris’s parents try to make it look like everything is good on the outside even though the family is falling apart. The parents are not happy, but they stay together anyway because they are afraid of the opinions of other people. This is also a trace of the Puritain legacy where divorces were not accepted. The focus on the opinion of other people comes across in the first part of the film when Chris still is at home and his parents want to give him a new car because the other one is a wreck. The parents...
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...Chris tore up his driver’s license, social security card, and other form that could identify him so he can disconnect from his past life and start a fresh beginning. Siddhartha left the Brahman’s with nothing but his mind. Throughout their journey, they have both made friends along the way to help them progress in they’re advancement. Chris met a couple that gave him a place to stay and treated him like their own child. Siddhartha met Kamala and the Ferryman. Kamala taught him the knowledge of love while the Ferryman helped Siddhartha understand the way of the river. When Chris reached Alaska, he tried to seek spiritual enlightenment by starving himself and living in the wild away from society. Siddhartha starved himself and practiced asceticism as a way to reach...
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...David Thoreau. The first part of this chapter explains how he built a hut near the forest of Walden Pond close to Concord, Massachusetts where he could gather his thoughts away from society. Thoreau writes in Walden: "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived" (Thoreau 1028). Thoreau was an educated man who chose to live in poverty to explain to his readers that life can be as simple as nature. According to some critics, life cannot be as simple for various reasons: “This is contrasted to the human society from which he isolated himself, of whose utilitarianism, materialism, and consumerism he was extremely critical” (Environmental). In order to agree with Thoreau, one would need to have the same open mind and the ability to see and think outside the norm of society. Those who disagree with Thoreau do not believe that one can still “live deliberately” (Thoreau 1028). The critics clearly see that living such a simple life as Thoreau writes about is impossible. Life cannot be as simple as nature for many reasons. One reason is the outcome of life is not always simple. Thoreau wrote about the outcome of planting a seed: “Many think seeds improve with age. I have no doubt that time discriminates between the good and the bad; and when at last I shall plant, I shall be less likely to be disappointed” (Thoreau...
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