...Throughout chapters fourteen and fifteen, Jon Krakauer’s own journey to climb the Devils Thumb in Alaska is discussed at length and is compared to the journey of Chris McCandless. In Krakauer’s adventures, he underwent circumstances that, in turn, help us to further understand the mindset of McCandless as he departed for Alaska. An example of this is the similarities between why Krakauer and McCandless left their homes. Both McCandless and Krakauer are described as people who are angered by figures of male authority. Additionally, both pursue their dreams with "a zeal bordering obsession" (page 134). Krakauer's reasoning for his journey was based upon John Menlove Edwards, a writer and psychiatrist who was deeply troubled and used rock climbing...
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...Campbell as, a hero. A man who stepped outside boundaries and gave his full potential to something he believed in. Campbell's story relates to biography Into The Wild By author Jon Krakauer....
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...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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...Brandon Waldrep Period 2 9-28-14 AP Lang & Comp “Into the Wild” Essay Prompt #1 The presentation of Chris J. Mccandless story is influenced by the authors supposed relation to Chris, empathy for Chris, and emphasis of Chris’s intellectual/charismatic encounters with the people he meets. Krakauer portrays his views of Mccandless through these personalized presentations of Chris’s life or his own in the book. Krakauer uses, overall, empathy and emphasis of Chris’s good deeds and attributes in the presentation of his story to portray his views of Chris. Krakauer emphasizes opinions of people who encountered Chris throughout the book that tell about Chris’s good attributes. Westerberg, whom Chris worked with on a farm before going to Alaska, says “You could tell right away that Alex was intelligent” (Krakauer 18) and Franz, an old man that gets close with Chris, says “God, he was a smart kid” (Krakauer 52). These examples in the book of the author highlighting these opinions make you start to think it’s the authors. Especially since these opinions are from several different people, but all seem to focus on the opinion that Chris had intellectual ability. The book constantly reminds you of the author’s opinion of Chris throughout the characters in the book including Franz, Westerberg, Borah, Burres and Stuckey. All of Chris’s encounters with these people are drawn out, taking many pages of the book like chapter six that talks about almost nothing but Chris’s relation with...
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...description of Chris Mccandless, according to some, is that of a mad lunatic because of his outlandish actions displayed in Jon Krakauer’s “Into The Wild”. However, there are a few people who understand and show sympathy for McCandless’s view. An example of an individual that shares the same thrill as McCandless is the author himself. Similarities between Krakauer and McCandless mirror in their parental situations as well as their love for exploration into the unknown. These two individuals will demonstrate the struggle with family and identity that society has a hard time accepting. Family and society take a toll on both McCandless and Krakauer, because their fathers demand so much from them, wanting them to exceed the legacy that they have established. While investigating into McCandless’s odyssey, Krakauer starts to reflect on his own personal life,“But i believe we were similarly affected by the skewed relationships we had with our fathers....
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...In the summer of 1990, a young man named Christopher McCandless graduated from Emory, donated all of his savings, and embarked on a two year journey, which eventually resulted in his death in the wilderness of Alaska. Prior to his expedition, Chris uncovered the secret of his father's infidelity and of his second family. This cause Chris to separate himself from his parents, and fueled his desire to escape the greedy, complicated nature of society. On his travels across the western United States, Chris befriended many and kept in a distant touch with few, one of those select few being Wayne Westerberg, the owner of a grain elevator in South Dakota. After two years of hike-hiking as far south as Mexico, McCandless reached his final most northern...
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...Jon Krakauer, Chris McCandless, and Henry David Thoreau embrace the 19th century philosophy of transcendentalism. After reading Into the Wild by Krakauer and Thoreau’s excerpts from Walden readers start to see similarities between McCandless and Thoreau though the transcendentalism theme of nature and social reforms. One of the first transcendentalism beliefs the McCandless follows is nature. For example, McCandless does not always take the easy paths. McCandless says “All hope collapse! The canal does not reach the ocean, but merely peters out into a vast swamp’’ (McCandless 35). McCandless wants new ideas, places, people, and experiences in his life. He does not want the same life every day. McCandless wants to get out of his confront zone and in the world. This directly relates to the idea of Thoreau. In Walden, Thoreau says, “I did not wish to take the cabin passage, but rather to go before the mast and on the deck of the world” (Thoreau). What Thoreau is saying in the quote above is he rather go take a grown up trail nobody has been through in a while than a well know hiking trail, he wants to get out into nature and see what life has in store just like McCandless. In the two quotes quoted above both men in each of the quotes they both wanted the same thing to get out into nature and experience the wildest adventures, not...
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...INTO THE WILD STUDY GUIDE How would you describe Krakauer’s tone in this first chapter? Does he seem sympathetic toward Chris McCandless? | Why do you think Chris would have lied about his name and age to Jim Gallien? Why would someone who was raised in a privileged manner want to hitchhike and live in the wilderness out West? How would you describe Chris McCandless after reading this section? For someone who claimed to be a loner, why did Chris befriend so many people? Do you believe the stories the people in this chapter tell Krakauer are true? How effective is Krakauer’s exploration of these other adventurers? Do you think Chris shared similarities with them? Krakauer is not a psychologist; do you think he is overstating the effects of a strained father-son relationship on the actions of these men? Is it possible that many men have strained relations with their fathers during their early adulthoods as they attempt to establish their own manhood and Krakauer plays on this commonality to make Chris McCandless seem tied to these other men? Do you think these men are foolish or brave, or can they be both? How does the McCandless family’s description of Chris differ from the others we have heard? Do you think Chris’s anger towards his father was deserved? Do you think Chris’s relationship with his father mirrors the relationships the men in the last section had with their fathers? Having learned that Chris was an entrepreneur and considered law...
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...Have you ever wondered if there are other people in the world who love traveling and risking their lives as much as McCandless did? The world is full of adventurers and outcasts just like Chris McCandless. People are out every day looking for ways to survive, whether in the wild or not. One unique human being who has many qualities and experiences similar to McCandless is Timothy Treadwell. While both Chris McCandless and Timothy Treadwell both ventured out to the wild terrains of Alaska, McCandless underestimated the land along with his ability to stay alive while Treadwell was exposed to such perils for 13 years before his intelligence had dissipated. Timothy Treadwell displays countless similarities with McCandless, starting with his...
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...The book “Into the wild” by Jon Krakauer and the documentary “Grizzly Man” by Werner Herzog, show tremendous similarities in their protagonists. The characters had similar views as well as similar actions. One died due to the lack of food while the other one died being the food. While both characters were different, psychologically, they were also similar in their ideals and moral values. They had corresponding personalities. Both men were very much trusted and liked by the people they met on their journey. The most distinguishable difference those men had been the reason they went on this journey. Timothy went to protect his favorite animals, Bears. While Chris wanted to start a new life to get away from his family. There is a strong connection between the both of them not...
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...There are two sides to every story. Jon Krakauer’s book, Into the Wild, which chronicles the life of amateur survivalist Chris McCandless, largely embodies this claim. It seems the people who ever heard Chris’s story were split into two sects: on one side, there are those who claim McCandless was a misunderstood anti-hero, who showed some twisted nobility through his actions. On the other side, there are those who simply deem McCandless, in Krakauer’s own words, “a narcissist who perished out of arrogance and stupidity” (4). While Krakauer falls into the former camp -- mainly due to his own life’s similarities to Chris’s -- it really only takes a moment’s glance at McCandless’s life to see that the latter camp is more correct: while Chris did show some semblance of courage and nobility on his travels, he was, first and foremost, a stubborn, arrogant misanthrope, and that is the reason why he never walked out of Alaska in August of 1992. From Chris McCandless’s early years of childhood, he showed stubbornness in his everyday life. As Chris’s father Walt ruminates, “Chris had so much natural talent, . . . but if you tried to coach him, to polish his skill, to bring out that final ten percent, a wall went up”...
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...love and how we live our lives. When reading the novel Into the Wild, it becomes clear that the artist’s philosophies have had leverage on Christopher McCandless and the theories he applies to his chosen lifestyle. When analyzing McCandless’ behavior, Tolstoy’s importance becomes evident through the reasons the protagonist has when leaving the society he was a part of in terms of luxury, human contact with the wilderness, and the importance of conscience. These ideals can be seen specifically represented in one of Tolstoy’s essays titled On Labor and Luxury, which forms part of a compilation of papers published in the book What to do? in 1887. Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy opens his argumentative piece by describing his reasons to criticize society, which presents McCandless’ ideals on escaping the community he was a part of. Tolstoy describes “the wretchedness of our life” by stating that “If the people of our sphere, of our caste, will only take a serious look at themselves, then young persons, who are in search of personnel happiness, will stand aghast at the ever-increasing wretchedness of their life, which is plainly leading them to destruction; conscientious people will be shocked at the cruelty and the illegality of their life; and timid people will be terrified by the danger of their mode of life.”(Tolstoy). In the novel, McCandless is constantly represented as a man who has been running away from his society. As he continues to educate himself on matters of social inequalities...
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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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...In the book, Into The Wild, Chris McCandless, also named Alex Supertramp, showed many qualities that could compare to other real world people. Throughout the book Chris portrayed many different attitudes and actions that could help us compare/contrast to another person. I think Chris could be easily compared, but also contrasted to, Nelson Mandela. First, McCandless and Mandela stepped out of society to do what they wanted. Both were passionate in what they wanted to do. For Chris, he wanted to live in the wild, for Nelson Mandela, he fought for human rights in South Africa. They both are punished for their outlandish actions. However, Chris and Nelson were not the only ones that wanted to do what they did. Many others looked up to what they...
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...In the narrative, Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer, Chris, the main character, is both positively and negatively shaped by his family. Chris, as good as he has it, however, does not care for his complicated mainstream lifestyle. He escapes the mayhem of it all by dropping everything and choosing a simpler life. Thus leading us to believe that maybe Chris isn't entering the wild, perhaps he is escaping it. Chris is a phenomenal student, even though he never enjoyed conforming to the rules. Sometimes he retaliates for no specific reason: “Chris thought it was a stupid rule and decided to ignore it. He did his lab reports, but not in the correct format, so the teacher gave him an F”(pg. 109). By not conforming to rules Chris shows his independent...
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