...Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer suggests that Chris McCandless’s and John Waterman’s dysfunctional relationships with their parents enticed them to walk “into the wild” as the wild fulfilled their emotional requirements in a way their parents failed them. After Chris’s parents buy him a new car and insist on paying his law school tuitions, a lack of a true emotional connection between them becomes apparent in a letter Chris writes to his sister. He fulminates, “‘I’m going to have to be real careful not to accept any gifts in the future...they will think they have bought my respect’” (Krakauer 21). Specifically, the section “they will think they have bought my respect” raises a red flag in their relationship as it can be inferred that Chris’s...
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...Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is a non-fiction novel about a man named Chris McCandless who left his old life behind and lived in the wild on his own. Chris McCandless was an adventurer who wanted to leave his family and society behind and live freely on his own, but his parents were overprotective of him. One day after finishing college, Chris McCandless decided to leave his home and give all of his money to an organization for stopping hunger. He then created a new name for himself, “Alexander Supertramp the master of his own destiny,” and went on an adventure into the wild on his own (Krakauer 20-23). Chris McCandless eventually died of starvation in the wild (Krakauer 14). Chris McCandless died in the wild because of his many conflicts with society, his conflicts with his family, and his conflicts with nature. Chris McCandless died alone in the wild because of his conflicts with society. Chris McCandless had a conflict with...
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...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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...way. One being Chris McCandless, a college student who decided to take a different route in life. Even though McCandless had a tragic ending, he did live an admirable life because he had the clear mindset and no regrets to go into the wild. To begin with it takes a clear mind to make big decisions like Chris McCandless, he knew what he was doing and getting into. For example, Chris wrote a postcard stating “If this adventure proves fatal and you don’t hear from me again...I now walk into the wild.”(Krakauer) Chris knew that walking into the wild could be fatal at any good point. He was well aware of the risks involved in him going into the wild. The article The Go Nowhere Connection states that “particularly young Americans...
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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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...Christopher McCandless can be considered one of the most controversial figures of time. As one can see Into The Wild, some thought he was a fool, that he was incompetent, while some thought he was a hero, an idealistic, intelligent man. A critic of Chris's, as the one stated in Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild novel, claims "Not only did Chris McCandless die because he was stupid, one Alaska correspondent observed, 'but the scope of his self-styled adventure was so small as to ring pathetic-squatting in a wrecked bus a few miles out of Healy, potting jays and squirrels, mistaking a caribou for a moose (pretty hard to do)...Only one word for the guy:incompetent". Meanwhile there are many who fall in between the distinct line that separates the average critic or supporter of Chris McCandless. This small select group of people would disagree with this critic for multiple reasons. First, the "caribou" was in fact a moose, secondly McCandless's would have survived if it weren't for a miniscule fatal mistake. Thirdly,...
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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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...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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...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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...Chris McCandless was a man with great intentions, but lacked the skill of proper preparation for survival in the wild. While incredibly tragic, there are many lessons to be learned from McCandless’s story. Although there is much controversy over his death, the fact of the matter is that he could have easily survived the Alaska wilderness had he been more educated and prepared. Many people, myself for example, are uneducated about surviving in the wild. Most of those who are uneducated about the wild, don’t attempt to go out and live in the wilderness. Another person that compares to these kinds of people is Chris. However, unlike most of us, he had a dream of living in the wilderness, and pursued it. Educated or not, McCandless didn’t care....
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...Chris McCandless, the subject of Jon Krakauer in Into the Wild, was not ignorant or unprepared, but he was going out into the wilderness to find the true meaning of life and to see what it was like to live out in the wild on his own. Chris was a great role model for kids all across the country; because he was trying to live out his dream and do what he thought was right in the wild and would not listen to what anyone told him to do. Chris McCandless was a loving and caring person who cherished for all creation and wanted to get away from the society and live free to find the meaning of life. I feel that Chris McCandless was a person in the world who didn’t like society and wanted to get away from people to become free in the wild. Chris never liked being in society with people and wanted to get away from them as much as he could. When the book opens, we see Chris hitchhiking into the wilderness trying to get away from society when he gets a lift from Jim Gallien. Chris was going to hitchhike to Denali National Park and get away from society and be free. Jim Gallien picked him up and drove him there. When he dropped him off, Chris did not bring much and his only food was a ten pound bag of rice because he wanted to experience the wild and be a part of it. In college at the Emory University, he never had a good social life with people and Krakauer states when people tried to talk to him at parties, “It was hard to get him to open up.” His studies were the only thing he was interested...
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...In his novel, Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer portrays Chris McCandless as a courageous man. Through Krakauer’s use of symbols and motifs, as well as themes, the reader can easily describe McCandless as a non materialistic, independent human. Although some readers view McCandless as an insane lunatic, McCandless was truly a humble man who wanted nothing more than to understand how the less fortunate in society live. Throughout Into the Wild, the reader can envision how McCandless was independent throughout his upbringing as a child. McCandless, although a brilliant child, had parents who worked day and night, leaving him to take care of himself and his sister, Carine. Although he lived in luxury, he did not have a strong relationship with his parents,...
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...Wenjie Hu, TJ Puckett, English 102, 09/19/2013 A Pilgrims of Ultimate Freedom Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer is the true story of Chris Johnson McCandless, a young man who is found dead in the Alaska wilderness, McCandless raised in a wealthy family from Virginia, and he is born talented and smart, who from an early age shows deep intensity, passion, and a strict moral behavior. After graduating from high school, McCandless spent the summer alone on a road trip, during which he discovered his father secretly had a second family. McCandless returns home and starts as a freshman in college, but his anger over this betrayal and his parents’ keeping this secret away from him grows worse and worse over time. By the time that McCandless graduated from college, he drives away without telling anyone where he is going, abandoning the use of his real name along the way. He never contacts his family. Not too long after McCandless abandoned his car in the desert and he begins to hitch hikes around the Northwest, getting jobs everywhere but not staying at a location for long, During this time, he gets to know a few people. In 1992, McCandless hiked into the wilderness, he spent the next sixteen weeks in the magic bus, not seeing a single human being the entire time. He has success for the most parts. However, McCandless probably have eaten some moldy seeds, and the mold contains a poison that caused him to starve to death. He realized that he is going to die, he...
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...Shaun Callarman believed that McCandless was not courageous nor noble. This is actually how I see McCandless as well. He was crazy. It was probably the dumbest thing that Chris could’ve done with his life. Although he had a rough upbringing and a fallout with his dad, I do not think that going into the wilderness ill-prepared was the best way to deal with his issues. Chris McCandless was a boy from the suburbs of Virginia who was very athletic. He was only twenty four years old when his body was found in an abandoned bus in the Alaskan wilderness. He was a student at Emory University and shortly after he graduated, he set off on his adventure that would later kill him. McCandless became angry with his family because he had found out that his father had had another family when Chris was just a child. This information is what set Chris off and provoked him to leave with no return. He had no intentions on telling his parents or sister where he was going. This is the most psychotic act I have ever heard of. Chris changed his identity by going by name “Alex.” Personally, I do not think that this was a smart idea at all. Chris...
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...Haydn Schoonover American Lit, P6 Westenskow May 9, 2014 Into the Wild, Chris McCandless Analysis In Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer tells the story of Chris McCandless, a man born in an affluent family. McCandless allowed his wandering thoughts and moral code guide him in a way that lead to certain death. His parents, Billie and Walt McCandless set him up for an impressive, promising life. Chris took this promising, successful future and spun into a journey filled with idealist literature and danger that skewed his world view. Chris McCandless is often seen as a narcissistic, deeply-misplaced young man that betrayed the emotional trust of his parents. He was not the ideal hero, nor was he a fool. He was rather an idealist, applying his beliefs in order to shift his purpose, unable to be influenced by the forces in his life, such as his collegiate endeavors and his family. “At long last he was unencumbered, emancipated from the stifling world of his parents and peers, a world of abstraction and security and material excess, a world in which he felt grievously cut off from the raw throb of existence.” (Krakauer, 22). McCandless frees himself, despite being chained to the rabid chaos of the urban, modern world. The story of Into the Wild communicates that it is important to follow your own path, in spite of external opinions. Chris McCandless was a pompous fool taking into consideration the decisions he made throughout his short life. He burned all of the money his wallet...
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