In the book, Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer writes of his personal experience to add more to Chris McCandless’ story and to the readers understanding of his character. After Krakauer had written the article on Chris, many people had believed that Chris was a suicidal kid who wanted to rebel against the world and his parents. Krakauer, however, did not believe that this was the case because at one time he and Chris had similar characteristics and dreams, “As a youth, I am told, I was willful, self-absorbed, intermittently reckless, and moody. I disappointed my father in the usual ways. Like Chris McCandless, figures of male authority aroused in me a confusing melody of corked fury and hunger to please.” (Page 134, paragraph 3) Regarding this, Chris and Krakauer were very similar people when they had decided to …show more content…
Like Chris, Krakauer went through harsh and difficult situations and did not feel as confident during his adventure as he did before it. One of the reasons Krakauer adds his experience to the story is to do away with the thought that Chris McCandless was suicidal. Krakauer did not believe that Chris was because he was so similar to Chris when he took his journey, “…had i not returned from the Stikine Ice Cap in 1977, people would have been quick to say of me - as they now say of him - that i had a death wish. Eighteen years after the event, I now recognize that i suffered from hubris, perhaps, and an appalling innocence, certainly; but i wasn't suicidal.” (Page 155, paragraph 5) Krakauer shares this because he wants people to look at Chris as more than a kid who had a death wish. Overall, these additions to Into The Wild bring a different view and understanding of who Chris McCandless
He chose to see the bright side because he was truly living his dream. Another literary device Krakauer included was, Krakauer tells the narrative of Chris McCandless' survival throughout his quest into the wild through flashbacks. For instance, the third chapter describes how Chris McCandless works in Carthage. Krakauer saves the rest of the narrative
Many had believed this action to be done out of stupidity, however Krakauer deduced that this was not the case since Chris had graduated from Emerson University with stellar grades (Read) and therefore must be
Chris was very well known among his few friends for his insightful and radical conversations. One such quote from Krakauer’s novel includes “he was like that about everything. You aren’t supposed to think about heavy-duty stuff in high school. But I did, and he did, too, which is why we hit it off.” (Krakauer 113).
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.
In Into The wild, Krakauer narrates the last couple of journeys Mccandless had on his adventure to Alaska where he ultimately died. Mccandless Touched many people's lives through all of his journeys. Mccandless went on these journeys because he was confused in life when he figured out his dad had cheated on his mom. This changed Mccandless to the point he began to hate his parents. Mccandless had a lot of confidence in himself so he left on an adventure to find his identity.
“I think I'm going to disappear for a while”(20). Is what we all wish we could do at some point in our life just disappear or change who we are. No matter how far we go or how fast we run will never be able to outrun who we truly are. After graduating in 1990 from Emory University, Christopher McCandless took off on a road trip without leaving trace behind with only one thing on his mind his destination, Alaska. Based on Krakauer's own experience of going into the wild he uses that to try and justify Chris’ decisions.
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
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.
"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."
After reading Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, I wondered to myself why I should even care about Chris McCandless. I can see how some think Chris McCandless was an idiot and he was trying to kill himself. After I dove deeper into this question, I learned that Chris McCandless story teaches us important life lessons. Chris McCandless teaches us to get out of our comfort zone. Ronald Franz was an older man who encountered Chris McCandless and gave him a ride from Salton City California to Grand Junction Colorado In Chris’s last letter to Ronald Franz, he says “So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation…
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.
In Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, he focuses on one main person, Chris McCandless. Krakauer explains most of Chris's life and even, at times, puts his own input into the pages of this book. Chris McCandless (a.k.a Alexander Supertramp) was from Chesapeake Beach, Maryland. Chris had a father, Walt McCandless, a mother, Billie Mccandless, and a younger sister, Carine. Chris's obsession with nature and high-risk activities was believed to start when "Walt took Billie and his children from both marriages to climb Longs Peak in Colorado."
What happened instead was that McCandless died at an early age, whilst Krakauer barely made it to tell the tale; proving nothing of value came from their journeys. While life on the road can offer solace to individuals who have struggled in their lives, it is unfathomable to think that the wilderness will offer them any embrace to their ambitions; therefore it should not be pursued as it leads to family issues and ignorant behavior. Life on the road can provide one with a sense of independence from the confines of society. For example, Chris McCandless decided to escape the societal
Into The Wild was a tremendous story which Shaun Callarman did not have many positive things to say about Chris McCandless, the main character. He went on this adventure to find out what life is all about in his own eyes. He wanted to see how different living in the wild really was compared to society because he was not satisfied with his living arrangements and household. Shaun’s quote says that he thinks “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.
Chris McCandless was a college student with a need for adventure. On April 28, 1992, he left on a journey which would lead to the end of his life. After news of his death had reached public ear, most people came to the same conclusion: Chris McCandless was an uneducated, arrogant boy who went on a journey seeking death. However, in the novel Into the Wild, Jon Krakaur portrays Chris McCandless’ transcendental quest as a journey full of wonder. Throughout the novel, Krakaur defines McCandless as an intelligent, hard working, determined young man.