Here is a quote from the book in which Krakauer demonstrates his personal opinion of McCandless and uses his own personal past actions he made as a young man to help show the connection between his younger self and Chris and why he has these opinions about Chris. This quote shows that Krakauer believes based on his own experience that Chris did not want to die and was not on a suicide mission. Along with this opinion proven throughout the book through observations and personal experiences Krakauer continues to be a presence and incorporates other opinions and factual things to disprove the people who are against McCandless and prove what he thinks is right. He disproves the thought that Chris might have been on a suicide mission. He disproves
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Show MoreKrakauer 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
"I think that Chris McCandless was bright and ignorant at the same time. He had no common sense, and he had no business going to Alaska with his Romantic silliness. He made a lot of mistakes based on ignorance. I don’t admire him at all for his courage nor his noble ideas. Really, I think he was just plain crazy."
Realist: This means to have an understanding of what can be accomplished. By using this word, Krakauer was able to let the readers know that he viewed McCandless as more of a realist than an idealist. Being a realist is a noble trait, due to its denotation meaning of the word which implies that one knows their own limit and weakness and knows how to set forth and complete a goal. Ambivalent about killing animals: The meaning of the phrase is having mixed or contradictory feelings or ideas about killing animals.
What are the different versions of family in McCandless’ story? Discuss both Chris's biological family and the families he creates for himself along the road. In the novel Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, Christopher McCandless encounters many families outside his previous family living in Annandale, Virginia. In his journeys, Chris, later known as Alex, discovers that he has multiple chances to create families beyond his own.
In conclusion, Krakauer proves Chris’ sanity by using rhetorical devices. Chris was not insane: he was an idealistic man who became a martyr for a different lifestyle, one of freedom and
Born in A Different Life Life on the road is an idealistic way to escape from societal problems. There is no denying that it grants individuals satisfaction by allowing them to fulfill their goals, as well as providing immense freedom and control over one’s life; however, it is a fundamentally illogical path to take due to nature’s malevolence. In Into The Wild, Krakauer writes a biography about a young man named Chris McCandless, in which he illustrates the similarities between himself and McCandless’s overly ambitious journey to accomplish feats in the wilderness. Coinciding with their similarities, they also faced an oppressive father figure at home, which lead the both of them to believe that their journey will provide them an answer to their problems at home. McCandless planned to survive in Alaska by living off the land while Krakauer wanted to be the first one to climb the Devil’s Thumb.
Above all Chris McCandless was an arrogant man. He refused many offers of help he got under the ground of that it was cheating. His arrogance led to him taking unnecessary risks which led to him encountering many hapless events. A quote from Into the Wild, his sister Carine said, “ Chris didn’t think twice about risking his own life, but he never would have put Buckley in any kind of danger (Krakauer 128). This really shows that without a person to keep a handle on him, to give him a conscience about what he was putting himself into, he was really the only one credible for his ultimate demise.
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.
Bringing a map, keeping some money with him, accepting items that people offered him, and many more factors contributed to his death. Dozens of predictions were made on how Chris died. Jon Krakauer wrote an article in the New Yorker specifically on how Chris died. “The probable cause of death, according to the coroner's report, was starvation.” (Jon Krakauer “How Chris McCandless Died”)
“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.
An example of Krakauer’s use of anecdotal evidence as a method of reporting on Chris’ trek is through his speculation in regards to Chris’ death. Backed by his personal understanding of hiking and Chris’ knowledge pool, “[Jon suspected] that McCandless’s death was unplanned” (Krakauer, 1997, p. 92), an assumption with
Chris McCandless was in his early 20’s, he was the kind of that guy that wanted to learn and experience life without all of the material things. He wanted to be independent from his parents and friends so Chris did something that would be insane for most of us humans but to him, it wasn’t. He went into the wild of Alaska for months, in fact, McCandless even thought he could make it out alive at the end of his journey. As a matter of fact, he was known as being a risk taker and enjoyed being out and about in the nature side of the world. Many would believe that Chris McCandless went into the wild to purposely kill himself; however, I myself believe that McCandless did not do it purposely.
Both Chris McCandless and Ralph Waldo Emerson are against modern society’s way of living and believe one should live their life in a non-conformist lifestyle driven by the awe of nature. Emerson wrote an essay called “Nature”. There he talked about the relationship one should have to God through nature, and was a popular role model of the transcendentalist movement. Emerson was anti-governmental, believing one cannot own nature or the land. He also writes about how he feels welcomed in nature, more so than he does in a village or society, favoring the natural land over the land humans created.
It is true that Krakauer mentions his own viewpoint of McCandless, but people can still have different opinions on him. For example, in chapter eight people have made up their opinions on McCandless base on reading the Outside article. They said he was “forsaken a loving family,” unprepared, not wise on going to Alaska, and was preparing to die (Krakauer 74). However, that point is not true because it was based on what they read from the article. By reading the article they only know the exterior of him and not know the reason why he went to Alaska.
Chris McCandless: A Reckless Idiot Chris McCandless was a reckless idiot and there is no denying that basic truth. Chris McCandless was a man born into a middle class family. Chris had parents that loved him, a roof over his head, and food to eat. Despite all those riches he had, he threw them away. Chris was a very selfish man.