NAME: Naima Campbell Period: 7
MAJOR WORKS DATA SHEET
Title: Into the Wild
Author: Jon Krakauer
Date of Publication: January 13, 1996
Genre: Biography, Non-fiction, Travel Literature Biographical Information about the Author Who is the author? Include the author’s birth/death (if applicable) dates, educational background, occupation, awards, etc. What are the author’s qualifications for writing on the subject? Is the author an authority in the subject area? How does the author present the subject and his/her expertise?
The author, Jon Krakauer, was born April 12, 1954. He is a mountaineer and an American writer. He married Linda Mariam Moore in 2010. Krakauer attended Hampshire College, Emery University, and Corvallis High School.
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Page 52. “Franz grew increasingly fond of McCandless. ‘God, he was a smart kid,’ the old man rasps in a barely audible voice.” This piece of information given by Ron Franz helps give background on Chris and provides some insight on how he affected people.
In chapter 8, from page 71 to page 85. Krakauer tells the story of Gene Rosellini, John Waterman, Carl McCun, and Everett Ruess. He does this to show similarities among them and Chris, but he only goes off tangent.
In chapter 1, Krakauer starts out by stating, “Jim Gallien had driven four miles out of Fairbanks when he spotted the hitchhiker standing in the snow beside the road…” This allows the reader a better chance at understanding what is happening. Using third-person sets distance from the author and the characters, which provides clarity.
The whole book is told out of chronological order, which means that a reader can become easily confused. By doing this, the story becomes a lot less clear.
Setting
Describe the setting(s) and the mood the setting(s) create Describe the significance of the OPENING scenes from the
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The main places that are important and add to the story are Alaska because Chris died there and South Dakota because Chris worked there and met important characters there. The setting creates a natural and idyllic mood. The nature of the places Chris travels creates a feeling of wanderlust, yet anxiety because of what could happen.
The opening scenes of Into the Wild are in third-person narration, which adds clarity to the story. The opening scene is of Jim Gallien finding Chris on the side of the road and then giving him a ride to Chris’s destination. This is very significant because it shows how Chris got to the Alaskan wilderness and because it also provides insight on what Chris was like and why he was so stubborn.
Describe the significance of the CLOSING scenes from the text. The closing scene shows Billie and Walt McCandless at the site where Chris was found dead. They begin to accept his death and come to terms with the fact that he wanted this and it ended terribly. This is very significant because it adds to the theme of the story and because it helps the reader better understand the relationship between Chris and his
Kyle Yin Ms. Everett ERWC, 2, 10 3 February 2023 Chris McCandless: Idealism and Imperfection In April of 1992, a young man named Chris McCandless walked into the Alaskan wilderness alone and attempted to survive off the land. 113 days later, his body was found by hunters, dead of starvation. Four years later, the author Jon Krakauer picked up on his story and published the book, Into The Wild, detailing McCandless’ story and eventual death. McCandless went into the wild to follow his very specific ideals:
When he wrote this letter, he thought only of himself and his excitement to become one with the wild. McCandless never considered that his bluntness and un-attachment could potentially harm others. While one could argue that Chris was simply to the point in his letters, something his friends valued in him, and that he never meant to hurt the Burres’ family, there is no denying his purposeful harm of his family. Chris went as far as to say, ““ . . . with one abrupt, swift action I’m going to completely knock them out of my life.
Rhetorical Analysis of Jon Krakauer’s “Into the Wild ” Jon Krakauer ’s purpose in writing Into the Wild is to recount Chris McCandless’ journey, physical and metaphysical, from college in Georgia to his death in Alaska, through the use of factual, and anecdotal evidence. Krakauer uses factual evidence to establish that he is a trustworthy narrator capable of giving the reader a realistic scope on the events in the story. Jon uses anecdotal evidence to see into Chris’ psyche from the various perspectives found in the book’s excerpts, including how Jon understands the events.
Christopher McCandless’s was a young wise man and stubborn guy that was intelligent he knew the right answers to respond which got himself out of things but also got himself into difficult situations that were not processed right. McCandless was raised in a upper middle class family in Annandale Virginia by parents Walt and Billie. He had eight siblings which one he was super close to named Carine and the rest were half siblings from his dads first marriage. Growing up Chris had a rough childhood with his parents problems and the affairs they had. McCandless would question himself why people would treat each other bad he would try to make a sense of the world.
Krakauer completes gaps in Chris’ story; but loses objectivity as he intertwines Chris’ experiences and emotions with his own. Though Krakauer’s details about Chris provide insight, his emotional involvement in Chris’ life becomes an
In Jon Krakauer’s book “Into the Wild,” there is a big emphasis on relationships between people—especially between Chris McCandless and his companions—that influence their decision-making and what ultimately happens to them. Chris’ friendships with people he meets after leaving Emory for good can be analyzed through his letters to them, as well as their own accounts of how Chris affected them. Chris became close to many wanderers and travelers, not only because he wanted to get to Alaska, but also because of their personalities. Like him, many of his companions on his journey to Alaska were not content staying in one place, and were constantly moving. Unlike Chris, however, they were willing to accept him, and develop a real relationship with
Krakauer also put some of McCandless’ journals and letters in the book. According to Shaun Callarmans analysis Chris McCandless had no business going to Alaska. Callarman thinks Chris McCandless is just plain crazy. Callarman doesn't admire his courage or noble ideas. Even though Shaun Callarman thinks Chris McCandless was bright and ignorant, also made mistakes because of his arrogance, I disagree with Callarmans analysis
Throughout chapters 8 and 9, the author showed his bias towards Chris McCandless, which is an act of defiance to his position as an objective journalist, when he attempted to alter the readers’ negative point of view towards Chris by the introduction of different people who had similar experiences and characteristics as him and then making comparison. After reading the previous chapters, the readers have already made their own judgement on Chris, which are probably mostly negative. To address this issue, Krakauer initiates chapter 8 by introducing negative comments and mails not only about Chris but also to him, the author. These will serve as an argument that he will later attempt to disprove while at the same time, still informing the readers about what makes Chris special and unique.
Despite Krakauer 's honorable attempts to portray Chris as someone who is relatable and should be pitied, Chris is portrayed as careless and inconsiderate. Krakauer 's biased diction end up showing Chris as stupid and egotistical. In the beginning Krakauer starts off make Chris a relatable person however after the first few pages Krakauer turns Chris into a superficial rich entitled person who thought he was able to do anything without repercussion. There are many instances where Krakauer reveals Chris as such. Chris may have been innocent in his ideals but that was his mistake, “For most of the sixteen-week ordeal…McCandless more than held his own.
The Alaskan Bush is one of the hardest places to survive without any assistance, supplies, skills, and little food. Jon Krakauer explains in his biography, Into The Wild, how Christopher McCandless ventured into the Alaskan Bush and ultimately perished due to lack of preparation and hubris. McCandless was an intelligent young man who made a few mistakes but overall Krakauer believed that McCandless was not an ignorant adrenalin junkie who had no respect for the land. Krakauer chose to write this biography because he too had the strong desire to discover and explore as he also ventured into the Alaskan Bush when he was a young man, but he survived unlike McCandless. Krakauer’s argument was convincing because he gives credible evidence that McCandless was not foolish like many critics say he was.
What really drove Chris McCandless into the wild? I believe the top three of the countless reasons that drove McCandless into the wild was the emotional damage from his parents, rebellion of the youth & risk taking tendencies, and his hubris and detestation against authority and/or someone telling him what to do. Some may believe that Chris McCandless went into the wild because of his literary heroes Leo Tolstoy, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau , and Jack London but the real reason he left everything was because of those reasons. In this essay I will elaborate on why I believe those are the reasons that drove McCandless into the wild.
“If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.” ―Maya Angelou. Jon Krakauer’s true story titled Into the Wild is about a man who decides to throw away his old life and escape the rules of conventional society. Twenty-two-year-old Chris McCandless came from a well-to-do family in Virginia and, without warning, abandons everything. He changes his name, loses contact with his family, gives away his car and all his money, and begins a two-year long journey hitchhiking to Alaska where he eventually dies of starvation.
As each chapter come’s there is an account from Chris’ diary to accompany it. Along with this is some type of quote/ inspirational passage which lets us in on what is to come in the chapter ahead. Krakauer is able to maintain this structure throughout the whole book and through this we are able to pick apart the journey of Chris McCandless to construct our own opinions about his mysterious persona. The structure Krakauer creates for us in Into the Wild is significant to our understanding of Chris and his journey as it sheds insight onto his life from many different
Based on a real story, Into the Wild can make us think from different perspectives about what the main character Christopher McCandless did. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is a dramatic but also remarkable story from a young, newly graduated, college student that escaped for a long wild journey but never came back. As time passes throughout the book, the reader may notice how the main character interacts with society and nature, finally McCandless dies in the wild but even though he was struggling for survival he died happy. Some people never get out of their comfort zone, others are tired of it and retire from their comfort zone to have different experiences in life, some are good enough or some are terrible.
To begin, Christopher’s narration has a significant impact on the novel because it allows the reader to know what Christopher is thinking. If a reader is aware of what the protagonist of a novel is thinking, it becomes much more facile to understand his/her actions or other thoughts. “And there were signs saying Great Western and cold beers and lagers and CAUTION WET FLOOR and Your 50p will keep a premature baby alive for 1.8 seconds and transforming travel….and I groaned to cover up the noise because I had taken my hands off