Chris McCandless, the protagonist of Jon Krakauer's book "Into the Wild," was a young man who sought solitude and adventure in the wilderness. He was deeply inspired by two literary works: "To Build a Fire," a short story by Jack London, and "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience," an essay by Henry David Thoreau. These works had a profound impact on McCandless's worldview and ultimately contributed to his decision to embark on a journey into the Alaskan wilderness, where he tragically lost his life.
"To Build a Fire" is a story about a man who becomes stranded in the Alaskan wilderness during a cold winter day. Despite his best efforts, the man is unable to start a fire to keep warm and eventually freezes to death. The story is a cautionary tale
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Thoreau argues that people should not blindly follow the laws of the state, but should act according to their own conscience and principles. “Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once?” (Thoreau 367). Thoreau is explaining an idea that McCandless very much believes in and likely learned from Thoreau himself. The idea is that we should not blindly follow laws but follow our moral obligation. McCandless was drawn to this idea and saw it as a way to live a more authentic and fulfilling life. He believed that by rejecting society's expectations and material possessions, he could find true freedom and happiness. From "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience," McCandless learned the importance of standing up for his beliefs and following his own conscience, even if it meant going against the norms of society. He saw Thoreau's essay as a call to action, urging individuals to take a stand against injustice and oppression. McCandless was deeply committed to this idea and believed that by living a simple and authentic life, he could find true happiness and
Mia Pegher Mr. Maggs Honors English 9 January 8, 2023 Into the Wild The golden rule, or “treat others the way you want to be treated,” is one of the most cliche statements of life, but is an example of how Chris chose to live his life. Chris McCandless, a twenty-one year old from Virginia, the son of Walt, his father, and Billie, his mother, spent his life trying to live life freely, not bound to materialistic objects. He travels to Alaska in hopes of finding purpose and meaning behind life, but unfortunately dies a few months into his excursion due to reasons unknown. His experiences on his journey are illustrated in the book, Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer.
Jon Krakauer makes various claims about how Chris McCandless is a very noble person. Krakauer’s bias is throughout the book Into the Wild. The book is about Chris McCandless and his adventures across America. The book is his life story covering how he died and how he came to the point of his death. Krakauer uses his bias and various claims to show what type of person Chris really was and to show some of how Chris thought about the world and government.
In the Novel “Into the Wild” written by Jon Krakauer a student by the name of Chris McCandless graduates for Emory University and plans to go on a journey since he is done with college. Chris gets all of his college funds and donates them to the Oxfam organization, which is an organization that helps stop poverty and hunger in the United States. When he starts his journey he ceases talking to anyone including his family because he doesn’t want them to stop him and think he is a psychopath. Chris McCandless wants to go on a journey to a trail in Alaska. While hitchhiking to Alaska he ditches all his belongings and his car because of a flash flood.
Jon Krakauer's Into The WIld glorifies the journey of a young man, Chris McCandless. In efforts to make his life better by living in solitude, McCandless traveled all across America for two years exploring all different places to find a challenging, yet hospitable, place for him to leave. Chris took this step in his life to escape family issues and harassment and successfully lived for two years as Alex McCandless traveling through the West, South, and making his way to the Alaskan wilderness where he unfortunately faced his downfall. In August of 1992 on the Alaskan Stampede trail, Chris died of starvation, and Krakauer tracked his footsteps and journey after three years to understand Chris as person and why he made the decisions he made.
McCandless had some controversial ideals and flaws, but the lessons and inspiration he left behind cannot be denied. His unwavering commitment to his ideals is a testament to his inspiring mindset. The unique life he led serves as an inspiration to many but also as a reminder of the importance of considering the impact of one’s actions on others. Everyone can learn a great deal from McCandless’ life and should strive to live with a similar goal: To pursue a life with the freedom to be one’s true self. Works Cited Krakauer, Jon.
The Alaskan Scavenger Hunt Into the Wild, a true story and now a book written by Jon Krakauer. This story is about a young self driven independent college graduate who gave all his money to charity, gave his car away and hitch-hiked his all of over the United States seeking for adventure and his Dream. Chris McCandless abandoned everything he had and left without telling anyone. After two years of his journey, Chris McCandless was found dead in a bus located in Alaska. He had eaten potato seeds which was a big factor on how he died.
To me Chris did not want to make it out of the wild, because he did not take anything with him, he did not want any help, and after a while he stopped writing to people. Krakauer said in chapter four on page twenty-nine, that ¨One Hundred twenty-three dollars in legal tender was promptly reduced to ash and smoke,¨ when I read that I felt as if McCandless was ungrateful for the money that he had. He could of used that money for food, water, clothes, shelter, or even to find his way back home. Jack London author of ¨To build a fire¨ said McCandless is finally just a pale 20th-century burlesque of london’s protagonist, who
Henry David Thoreau wrote the essay “Civil Disobedience” to inspire people, just like Chris, to challenge laws that they feel are unjust. Chris is faced with the choice of rafting down a river without a permit and breaking the law, or complying with regulations he feels are limiting his freedom. The act of rafting down the river without a permit demonstrates how the new, more authentic Chris does what he wants, not what society wants him to do because the “government is best which governs least” (Thoreau, Civil Disobedience, 388). Chris continues to break the laws he feels are unjust and quits his job because it requires him to wear socks, a policy he believes does not affect his productivity.
Kaylee Satterwhite Professor Murphy English 1101 October 30,2016 Into the Wild In the book Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer focuses on naive Chris McCandless. McCandless isolates himself from the world and goes soul searching to find who he really is in hopes of finding peace. McCandless grew up in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., and he is very talented both in sports and his academic work. At an early age Chris shows a love for the outdoors and has a very adventurous side of him that the rest of his family can see .
The book Into the Wild is a true story written by Jon Krakauer. Into the Wild tells the true story of 24-year-old Christopher McCandless in Alaska's Denali National Park and Preserve, where he starved to death in an abandoned bus after spending four months foraging and hunting game. Intelligent but burdened by anger at his brilliant but overbearing and imperfect father, McCandless went entirely without human contact for four months in an attempt to purify himself of
Into the Wild Essay Being on your own can truly bring out who you are as a person. In life, people tend to take the path most traveled, this is usually the easiest/simplest path to take. In Jon Krakauer’s book, Into the Wild, he implies that people who choose their own path in life should be admired because it shows how a person gaining their own independence can and will bring out how they truly are as a person. In Chris’s life, he always has to abide by the rules of society, which he never enjoyed doing.
Freedom in Nature In the 1990’s, a young man sets off to go on a Great Alaskan journey. This man's name was Chris McCandless, or what he liked to call himself on the road: Alexander Supertramp. McCandless was a bright individual who wanted to go against societal standards and live off hardly anything in an area that would bring him peace, in the Alaskan wilderness. Jon Krakauer tells McCandless’s story in the form of a book while Sean Penn tells this story in the form of a film, both entitled Into the Wild.
Into the Wild, written by Jon Krakauer, is a non-fiction book based on the real-life story of Christopher McCandless, a young man who leaves his comfortable life behind to live in the wilderness of Alaska. The book is a fascinating exploration of McCandless's motivations and the reasons behind his decision to abandon society and embrace the wilderness. One of the key themes in the book is the tension between the desire for freedom and the need for human connection. Throughout the book, Krakauer explores how McCandless's desire for freedom and independence led him to reject the traditional trappings of society, including money, possessions, and even his own name.
According to John Krakauer in Into the Wild, he shows how McCandless and others have a unique perception of the wilderness because they have this awareness of free belonging to the wild. Their perspective has them in a reassurance of capturing their life in the wilderness, thinking about how it will change their whole perspective from daily struggles. In agreement with Leo Tolstoy in Into the Wild, “I wanted movement and not a calm course of existence. I wanted excitement and danger and the chance to sacrifice myself for my love. I felt in myself a superabundance of energy which found no outlet in our quiet life” (15).
As evident by this quotation by Thoreau, his motives purely consist of living in the idealistic states of nature rather than that of “civilization”. Thoreau also stated, “I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life…”- (taken from Henry David Thoreau’s “Walden”). Thoreau, in this statement shows that he is completely self reliant in the sense that he alone went out to nature to reap what he could and survive by his merits alone, sustaining himself only on what nature had to offer. While conversely McCandless could only survive with a