In the book “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer, Chris McCandless had many decisions to leave his old life behind and start over. Chris’ decision to leave was justified for the following reasons. When he suddenly disappeared, it made it easier for him to let go of his past and focus on what he wants to do in the future. McCandless could make all his own decisions, nobody had a chance to tell him that he could not leave and certainly did not allow anyone to find out where he was going. Finally he didn’t agree to social norms.
Throughout the book, McCandless acted as if he knew he was not going to survive his travel plans to Alaska by separating himself from friendships and relationships. Before he started to make his way up north, McCandless sent two cards with a similar message that "it was great knowing you" and "this is the last you shall hear from me" (69). These messages make the readers question if McCandless knew he was going to go die or planned on dying in Alaska. Saying goodbye to somebody is never easy; however, a statement to encompass forever is difficult to use. People may wonder how long he planned on staying into the wild.
McCandless explores the wild by hitchhiking towards Alaska. McCandless meets new friends along the way. Ronald Franz notices that McCandless is hitching back out to the bajada and stops to offer him a ride. He eventually creates a strong bond with McCandless and wants to adopt him. Franz shows how hard it is to say farewell when Chris leaves for San Diego.
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. Experiencing different things in
He must use his imagination rather than using his instincts to survive. As the man started on his journey he was warned by an old man to not travel alone on the Yukon. If the man would have listened to the old man in the beginning of the story he would have never had to endure any of these challenges. Because the man likes to think for himself, it costs him his life. London shows readers that the outcome of events can change drastically if actions are analyzed with instinctive insight.
McCandless’ adventure turns fatal averse to the code hero–as is understood from his notes. His journal and note elude that he was “too weak” and “am all alone, this is no joke”, he needed help, or he may die (Krakauer, 20). While we do not know the full range of fear McCandless was experiencing we can presume that he was afraid of death although content with it at the end of his life. The movie Into the Wild by Warner Herzog is not recognized with as much validity as Krakauer’s book and therefore is not an accurate representation of McCandless’s death. Krakauer illustrated similar feelings, “It is easy, when you are young, to believe that what you desire is no less than what you deserve… it is your God-given right to have it… Chris McCandless… acted according to an obscure, gap-ridden logic.
Behind this humor, however, is a deeper meaning. The absurdity which each character experiences brings to light the message of the story: war is pointless. Colonel Cathcart, who put in place the unwritten rule of “Catch-22” did so simple because he wants to be promoted to a General. Major Major has never even flown a mission yet is promoted to Major because they “needed a new Major.” Major Major just wants to be left alone so he creates his own “Catch-22” so that no one can see him. Yossarian, who quickly learns that the Catch-22 means no escape, just wants to go home.
Maybe he was too immature to see that his actions were selfish. He could have notified his parents and sister, whom he claimed to love, about his plan. He could have explained why he chose to do what he did, instead of letting the family suffer in ignorance about his future. Like Janis Joplin indicates by singing: “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose”, freedom is only achieved when you are alone and penniless. Christopher have maybe thought of “nothing left to loose” as material items, and forgotten that love, even though it is abstract, is something you carry with you everywhere you go and is almost impossible to get rid of – therefore having something to loose is
Are the berries he finds poisonous? Slowly, Brian learns to turn adversity to his advantage--an invading porcupine unexpectedly shows him how to make fire, a devastating tornado shows him how to retrieve supplies from the submerged airplane”(Paulsen). Unlike the man in To Build A Fire this boy was nowhere prepared to take on the journey of living in the woods alone, he had no background knowledge and everything he had to do was off of gut feeling, he was never sure. However, the boy was resourceful just like the man and was able to find ways to further prolong his living. The man in the short story made sure the dog went first so he would know when the ice was too thin, the boy in this story had things help him along the way like the tornado and porcupine.
He could be charged with manslaughter”(Valgardson 258). This shows that he is thinking through what could happen to him. Stories also show us not to repeat things. In the short story A Matter Of Balance, it states,”at this point, there was nothing to do but return the way he came” ( Valdardson 254). This shows that Harold was in a situation that he could not get out of.