...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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...and one day she is asked to make an autobiography of the wild pop singer Kenney Loathsome. The meeting between them is a big change and eye-opener to Edith. This text is all about the clashes between cultures and classes and knowing who you are... Edith is a quiet and plain woman. She lives in an apartment in Peckham High Street with her cat. She enjoys peace and quiet and the only noise she makes, is when she sings in the choir. On the surface she seems happy and very comfortable with her life. She loves to read books by great philosophers and poets, and she quotes them at any given chance. She is quite conservative. She has no understanding for heavy and noisy music, and she prefers to stick to herself and stay out of the spotlight. She does not have any close friends, let alone a boyfriend. She is closed and reserved. The only social contact she has is with her co-workers and she does not get along with them very well. At Edith’s two weeks stay at Kenny Loathsome’s place in Nice, she starts to change. Suddenly she starts wearing contacts instead of glasses. She starts to get a tan and thinks about her looks in a different way. She tries to impress Kenny Loathsome, but he does not deign to look at her. She becomes kind of fascinated by him. He is the opposite of her and that is why she finds him interesting. Opposites attract. Even though she finds him interesting, she is on one hand horrified. He uses drugs, he is wild and uncontrollable and she does not know what his next move...
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...into the wild 4 Into the Wild is a popular film, based on a non-fiction novel written by Jon Krakauer, detailing the journey of Christopher McCandless, a young Emory university graduate who hailed from Virginia, and who took a hike in solitude, in an attempt at self-actualization by bonding with nature and seeking spiritual nourishment. This essay briefly examines the crux of the film. Having graduated on top of his class in 1991 and having attained repute as an athlete, Christopher McCandless left everything in his possession, donated his lifetime savings to the tune of $24,000 to Oxfam International on charitable grounds and set for his pilgrimage. In April 1992 he departed from his daily well-to-do life, torched his wallet with cash inside, renamed himself “Alexander Supertramp’’ and like a pilgrim, headed to the north of Mt. McKinley on his way to Alaska. While on his way there, he stumbles upon a succession of different people and events which influence his life. Though he was cash-strapped, he was determined to make it to the ‘promised land’. He sojourned in America to experience her as a country and her citizens. Among the activities he was involved in on his way to Alaska included a trip with a canoe on high waters, a sojourns with a couple and old widower. He had to endure the vagaries of a long, unplanned expedition: fatigue, hunger and cold, which nearly worked against him. All this while his family never heard from him nor anything related to his whereabouts...
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...Life Nature’s role in the book “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer plays a significant part in Chris McCandless’ life. My argument or topic sentence would be that “Nature gives freedom, and man’s ultimate joy can only be found in man’s communion or relationship with nature”. “...there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun” ( p. 79). “You think that I am stubborn, but you are even more stubborn than me. You had a wonderful chance on your drive back to see one of the greatest sights on earth, the Grand Canyon, something every American should see at least once in his life” ( Chapter 6, p. 57). “But in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure” (Chapter 6, p. 57). “...they present to Alex a route which apparently will take him to the ocean. He is overjoyed and hope bursts back into his heart” (Chapter 4, p. 34). “Flying would be cheating . It would wreck the whole trip”( Chapter 7, p. 67). “Hey Guys! This is the last communication you shall receive from me. I now walk out to live amongst the wild. Take care, it was great knowing you” (Chapter , p. 69). ‘This is the last time you shall hear from me Wayne….I want you to know that you’re a great man. I now walk into the wild” (p. 69). Analysis Paragraph In the book “ Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer, Nature plays a significant...
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...Value of Risk-Taking: A Cross Analysis of Krakauer’s Into the Wild When I was younger, I used to play a lot of soccer; I played midfielder. As the midfielder, I had to decide on whether to move onto defense or attack for possession of the ball when the opposing team had it. Each time I decided between the two, I was left open to the fact that my decision may have been the wrong one. Sometimes I would decide to attack in an attempt to gain possession of the ball. Sometimes I would succeed and gain possession back; Sometimes I would fail and the ball would get past me. I eventually grew out of playing soccer and moved onto other sports and hobbies. I occasionally did more dangerous things, like open-face rock climbing. When rock climbing, it always comes back to the same thing: deciding on if doing this thing is worth it or not. Is attempting to jump across worth it? Should I go back down? Or continue up? Each time you ask these things, you have to decide on what to do. Be it rock climbing, playing soccer, or doing anything that involves some sort of decision making, each decision comes with a varying level of risk. In soccer, that risk is minimal and not very life threatening, but when rock climbing (maybe without a belayer), some decisions can come with more serious consequences; these can be anything like small injuries, or they can cause serious injuries or even death. Jon Krakauer, the author of Into the Wild portrays Chris McCandless as someone who takes serious risks, but...
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...to his death. Many people, such as the Into the Wild author Jon Krakauer, believe that “McCandless wasn’t some feckless slacker, adrift and confused, racked by existential despair. To the contrary: His life hummed with meaning and purpose. But the meaning he wrested from existence lay beyond the comfortable path: McCandless distrusted the value of things that came easily” (184). Even though I do not agree with the methods he used while on this spiritual journey, I do agree with Krakauer’s assertion that he kept hope alive even while close to death, and that his life “hummed with meaning and purpose”. McCandless came from a comfortable upper middle class family. Many people would say that Christopher McCandless had a relatively good life. His parents worked hard to provide him with all the necessary tools to ensure that he had a secure future. When he graduated, his parents were under the impression that he was going to attend law school. Chris had different plans which became evident when he donated all his money to OXFAM, and he disappeared into the wild. He didn’t want to be tied down by the stresses of today’s society; he didn’t want an ordinary life. He felt “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” (22). Chris attempted the impossible when he decided to venture into the wild to give his life a deeper meaning. Chris McCandless...
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...Into the wild The book Into the wild, by Jon Krakauer, is about a man named Christopher McCandless, who was a very wealthy person, because of his successful parents. Chris McCandless graduated from Emory University as one of their top students and he was also really good athlete. Instead of Chris McCandless following the American Dream, and having his parents pay for a really good college he rebelled and took a life changing journey. He was still very intelligent, however, and decided to change his lifestyle, and he gave his savings to save the hungry charity. Afterwards he burned his money on his journey to the Alaska to find his inner self and get to a certain spiritual journey he was trying to achieve. Because Chris’s life style is changing I give him props for taking control and doing what he is ‘passionate’ about. However I have to agree with Shaun Callarman’s quote, “I think that Chris McCandless was bright and ignorant at the same time. He had no common sense, and he had no business going into Alaska with his romantic silliness. He made a lot of mistakes based on arrogance. I don’t admire him at all for his courage nor his noble ideas. Really, I think he was just plain crazy.” This is because he had noble ideas, but he took them way too far and was very arrogant. Chris Mccandless would be considered a freak because he went along with what he wanted to do, which was to go into the wild and it was not to follow what everyone else wanted him to do, this happened his entire...
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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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...Michelle B. Snyder Mrs. Rum DRE 098 13 February 2014 Into the Wild “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakaur traces the footsteps of Chris McCandless, after graduating from Emory College on May 12th, 1990. In search of a personal meaning of truth, while avoiding society and more importantly, relationships, Chris McCandless makes his quest for ultimate freedom into the Alaskan wilderness. Chris sets out on a two year journey to find a deeper meaning to life, without the demands of society. Chris adopts the name “Alexander Supertramp” as he makes his way across the western states. After leaving his Datsun in Nevada, Ales begins to hitchhike towards his destination. Along this phase of his journey, Alex meets Wayne Westerberg, Jan Burres and Ronald Franz. These new encounters with Alex, develop lasting impression on each and in the end will change what Chris learns from the entire experience. Wayne Westerberg was a grain operator in South Dakota when he stumbles upon Alex in Cut Bank. Wayne offered Alex more than a ride to his destination in Saco Hot Springs. He also offered him a warm place to stay, along with a job. Wayne states “I’ve given jobs to lots of hitchhikers over the years, most of them weren’t much good, but it was a different story with Alex.” (pg.17-18) Wayne’s relationship with his own father lead him to a deeper understanding of why Alex was head strong in completing his goal to set off into the wilderness of Alaska with just the things on his back. Along with his employees...
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...Happiness Who would want to be isolated from the world and not have anyone there to experience life’s course? Chris McCandless and the shell collector lived a life of solitude because they didn’t want to face life’s challenges as they were. They were selfish and had no reason to excommunicate themselves from the people who truly loved and cared for them. They soon came to realize that isolating themselves from humanity wasn’t the way to go about in life. But their realization came too late and neither of them got a chance to tell their loved ones how they felt. Jon Krakauer’s national bestselling novel, Into the Wild, and Anthony Doerr’s short story of, “The Shell Collector” have a similar theme in the characterization of the protagonist, in the purpose of isolation, and in the realization of needing people in the end. The protagonist, Chris McCandless, from Into the Wild, never had a stationary lifestyle because he was always moving from place to place. He was a very nomadic person because he loved to explore nature and he did in a way that made him travel to different parts of the United States. Chris didn’t have just one way of getting around, he often hitchhiked, walked, or hopped on a train in hopes of not getting caught (Krakauer, p. 32-37). His way of living consisted of sleeping in the street, making friends at a trailer park, or finding a scenic area where he could settle in for a couple days. He never spent more than a few days in one area because he always felt he needed...
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...very wealthy scholar and a talented athlete. After graduating from high school he spent the summer alone taking a road trip across the country trying to figure himself out, but only to find out more problems with his life. McCandless returns home two-days before his freshman year at Emory starts, works hard to gets good grades, then graduates. Not telling anyone where he was going leaves for another trip to live out the life he wanted. The consequences to living the way he wanted life ended with death due to starvation. Chris McCandless was at fault for his own death because he wasn’t prepared, he rejected society, and he was overconfident. First of all, McCandless didn’t think ahead about what could go wrong and traveled into the Alaskan wild without being prepared. Chris didn’t pack the correct and necessary gear or food supplies that he would need for the trip (pg.4). The items he brought with him was a book about plants and berries, a rifle with ammunition, a journal, camera, 10 pound bag of rice, cooking utensils, some matches, one knife, fishing twine and a hook. When others tried to give him something of theirs that would help him he would refuse it or leave it behind. Also he left during the springtime without doing any research about Alaska, which gets him trapped with the bus because of the river rising due to the melting snow. These mistakes were the cause of McCandless’s over confidence. One fault for Chris McCandless’s death was due to the fact that he was super overconfident...
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...“I wished to acquire the simplicity, native feelings, and virtues of savage life; to divest myself of the factitious habits, prejudices and imperfections of civilization… and to find, amidst the solitude and grandeur of the western wilds, more correct views of human nature and of the true interests of man”(Krakauer 157). Christopher McCandless is neither a pilgrim nor a suicidal narcissist. A pilgrim is defined as one who journeys for a religious purpose. Although “God” is mentioned multiple times throughout the novel, McCandless never states that his reasoning for traveling to Alaska was because “God put him in the land of righteousness- Alaska”. McCandless also did not journey on his Odyssey to find God or improve his relationship with...
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...Everyone has to Face the Wild Things can change in the blink of an eye; we adapt and change so those changes don’t bring us down. In the Call Of The Wild Buck gets taken from his home and his life changes in a flash forever, he has to change his ways of thinking to live in a new world. My aunt’s mother got divorced so she had to change her ways to survive and take care of her siblings. My aunt and Buck got taken away from their lives that they were used to and had to change and survive for the best, not just for them but for everyone around them. Seeing both of them walking down the street you would never expect the hardships they went through and this goes for anyone you would meet on the street. In The Call Of The Wild Buck gets taken from the life he's always known and has to change and adapt to this new life in a very physical way. It all started when Buck was sold to the Man in the Red Sweater by Manuel. He was beaten and broken by the man in the red sweater. When he got taken by Perrault and Francois...
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...Both Henry David Throeau’s Walden and Jon Kraukauer’s Into the Wild speak of entering a solitary existence in order to find peace and tranquility in their own personal worlds. Thoreau wrote about his visit at Walden pond, whereas Kraukauer related his text to the nonfiction story of Chris McCandless’ journey into the wild Alaskan terrain. Besides the similarities, both McCandless and Thoreau had different approaches in their own pursuit of life alone that would later determine their separate fates. In everyone’s life, there will be a point in which we feel a sudden urge to just get away. We come to realize that there could be more than just the materialistic things. We come to wonder the meaning behind everything. In Henry David Throeau’s Walden,...
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...McCandless ends up maintaining contact with them, which effectively undermines his whole intent of coming out to Alaska. He came out there to distance himself from the modern world; by keeping contacting with those he encounters and befriends, he is essentially setting himself up to become a hermit, rather than a true wild man. In my mind, this sort of behavior does not help him settle into the land. If he wants to be successful in independently living off the land, then he needs to detach himself from all that is social, but he does not. This means that there remains a tiny part of him that is still social, still connected to the modern world. Knowing how this story all culminates in his death, I would say that McCandless’ untimely death stems from this lack of critical preparation and...
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