Introduction to Into the Wild

This book is about a young man named Chris McCandless who travels all around the place and eventually ends up in Alaska. The book starts with people finding his body in an old abounded bus in Alaska. The book then traces his steps from the past two years. Its tells about the things he did and the places he went going all the way up to Alaska where his body was found. It tells of his adventures on how he survived the years of his life out in the wild, and why he did what he did. The author uses story's from young people who disappeared into the wilderness for the basis of his story and intertwines his own events into the story. Much of the information is from the point of view of Chris McCandless through a journal he left behind about what he is going through.  The author uses his journals and interviews people Chris McCandless met during his two years as a vagabond to piece together his story.

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About the Author

Jon Krakauer is the author of Into the Wild he also wrote other books that included Eiger Dreams, Into Thin Air, and many more. He was born in 1954 in Corvallis, Oregon. He was taught about mountaineering by his father, and after graduating from Hampshire College in 1976 he got a job as a carpenter and commercial salmon fisherman. He divided his time between Colorado, Alaska, and the Pacific Northwest, while working. During his fee time he would go mountain climbing. In 1977 he went alone to Alaska to climb an ice cap, and sound a new route to climb a peak called Devils Thumb. In 1992 he climbed the West Face of Cerro Torre in the Patagonian Andes. Next in May 1996 Jon Krakauer climbed Mount Everest with five other people, they all reached the top. When a storm hit them coming back down four of them lost their lives. Jon Krakauer wrote an article about his experience on Everest for a magazine, and won an award for it. He followed this by writing a book about Everest called "Into Thin Air", it is a #1 New York Times best seller, and has been translated into 21 different languages.  From there he continued to write many more books, his most recent is "Under the Banner of heaven: A Story of Violent Faith", published by Doubleday in July 2003.

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San Diego, California

A place in the U.S. that I have never been before is San Diego. I would love to visit this place to be able to see all the wonderful and unique beaches, and visit the Zoo there as well. The weather can get very high temperatures in the summer and is cool, and comfortable in the winter. What I would love to do if I visit San Diego is surf, and spend time with my family who live there. I would love to kayak in the caves on the ocean coast and just have fun on the beach. It would be great to see my family because I only see them at Christmas and sometimes in the summer.  I would travel by plane.

Chris McCandless

Direct Characterization- Writer explicitly tells the reader what a character looks and acts like.

Indirect Characterization- Writer shows the reader what the character does, says, thinks, and/or feels, and then lets the the reader draw his/her own conclusions about the character.

Direct:
1. "He was an extremely intense young man and possessed a streak of stubborn idealism that did not mesh readily with modern existence" (author's notes)
2.  "he didn't appear to be very old: eighteen maybe nineteen at the most" (pg 3 chapter 1).
3. "The rifle protruded from the young man's backpack, but he looked friendly enough" (pg 3-4 Chapter 1)
4. "five feet seven or eight with a wiry build" (pg 4 chapter 1)
5. "he pulled over for a hitchhiker, an amiable kid." (pg 16 chapter 3)
6. "McCandless was smallish with the hard, stringy physique of an itinerant laborer." (pg 16 chapter 3)
7. "There was something arresting about the youngsters eyes. Dark and emotive, they suggested a trace of exotic blood in his heritage." (pg 16 chapter 3)
8. "He had the kind of sensitive good looks that women would fuss over" (pg 16 chapter 3)
9. "His face had a strange elasticity: it would be slack and expressionless one minute, only to twist suddenly into a gaping over-sized grin." (pg 17 chapter 3)
10. "It was a different story with Alex. He was the hardest worker I've ever seen." (pg 18 chapter 3)

Indirect:
1. "Long captivated by the writing of Leo Tolstoy, McCandless particularly admired how the great novelist had forsaken a life of wealth and privilege to wander among the destitute" (author's notes).
2. "He had an answer for everything that I threw at him" (pg 6 chapter 1)
3. "Gallien asked weather or not he had a hunting license 'Hell no,' Alex scoffed. 'How I feed myself is none of the government's business. Fuck there stupid rules.'" (pg 6 chapter 1)
4. "there was just no talking the guy out of it." (pg 6 chapter 1)
5. "Alex insisted on giving Gallien his watch, his comb, and what he said was all of his money" (pg 7 chapter 1)
6. "he could talk for hours" (pg 16 chapter 3)
7. "A lot of folks here in town got pretty attached to old Alex" (pg 16 chapter 3)
8. " He never quit in the middle of something. If he started a job he'd finish it, it was almost like a moral thing for him." (pg 18 chapter 3)
9. "He set pretty high standers for himself" (pg 18 chapter 3)
10. "He read a lot. Used a lot of really big words. I think maybe part of what got him into trouble was that he did too much thinking." (pg 18 chapter 3).

I think that Chris McCandless was a hard worker and a very smart person from what I have read so far. He seems like he does not want all of the things that people seem to want; for example a new car. He sounds as if he wanted to live off of only the things that he needed. He set up high goals for himself that may have gotten him into dangerous situations that it would not get any 'normal' person in. Although he did "too much thinking" it sounds as if he had a good heart and was kind to anyone he met along the way during his travels.

Symbolism

If I was to make a belt to show the journeys of my life and personality there would be many things I would consider. The first thing that I would add would be a palm tree. This is because I love the beach and the warm weather. I would also add a book because I enjoy reading about far away places. I would also include a pencil or paintbrush, I enjoy seeing and doing art. I would have a heart to remind me of my family and friends who are close to me. Capricorn because I was born in the month of December. A paw print, we've had several wonderful pets and this symbolizes loyalty which is very important to me. I would add a creek as well because I live right on Deer Creek and it's home. I also feel at peace and comfortable when I am around water. The last thing that I would add would be a sling shot because of all the family fun that I've had in the past with water balloon wars during our pond parties and kayak trips.

McCandless Smart or Crazy

"The Cult of Chris McCandless" Question's answered:
There is a never ending debate on who Chris McCandless was, and weather or not he was sane. There are two sides to this argument shown in the article "The Cult of Chris McCandless." The one side looks up to Chris as a hero or inspiration whereas the other sees him as a crazy man who threw away his life.  The negative side of this argument says that he may have had some type of illness and although that may be true there is no way to prove mental instability. So I think that part of the argument should be left well enough alone. They say that he came to Alaska unprepared and that is a true part of this story, this is a valid point. McCandless should have been more prepared instead of arrogantly thinking it would just work out, however, that does not make him crazy or insane. The people who are the positive side of this argument look up to him as a teacher and mentor. They are right to admire what he has done in his life because not many people could have done what he did and be fine with their own death. It is hoped that his fatal  mistake shows the people who want to follow in his footsteps that they should take some precautions that Chris did not take. Sean Penn is the director of the movie "Into the Wild" and he has a positive view of Chris McCandless. I do agree with what he was saying about Chris.

My Final Impression of Chris:

I personally think that Chris McCandless was not crazy or insane at all just that he was being himself. Although he made many mistakes along the way and the one lead to his death. He lived his life the way he wanted to, and not many people are that daring to go and chase their dream like McCandless was. He said it himself in a his farewell letter; he lived a good and happy life and none of his actions were regretted. He did what he had to do to be happy and not many people could go out and travel around the world like he did. I think that the way he lived his life scares people and they don't understand where he was coming from. Although there are many people out there like McCandless who can relate to him. There are just many different kinds of people in the world and if there were not this world would be a pretty boring place.

Editoral Essay on Chris McCandless

McCandless: Dyeing for a Dream

Walking in Chris McCandless’s shoes

By Adriana Baker

  “’I figured he would be OK, he explains. I thought he’d probably get hungry pretty quick and just walk out to the highway. That’s what a normal person would do;’” (Krakauer pg 7). Jim Gallien could not have been more wrong about what would happen to the young Chris McCandless as he followed the Stampede Trail in late April 1992. Many who knew him could have never guessed either, Chris McCandless’ body was found in the Alaskan wilderness four months later and ever since there has been a debate on whether he was a hero and a great kid or a person who was mentally disturbed and on a suicide mission. I personally think that he was just a normal person following his dream, into the wild.
  Many people who think that McCandless was on a suicide mission were more than wrong. McCandless said it himself in his farewell letter “I have had a happy life and thank the lord” (Krakauer pg199) and with this letter he is holding it up to a camera smiling. This shows that he did not regret anything he did and embarking on this great adventure is what he wanted to do, it does not show the slightest sings of someone so upset that they are on a suicide mission. If he did want to kill himself why wait two years and then go to an Alaskan trail with what he thought would be sufficient supplies. If he truly wanted to die would he not have just killed himself.
  Many people who find McCandless to be crazy do not understand where he is coming from, and cannot relate to him at all. This shows that maybe these people do not want to try and understand him as a person. The people who did know him grew quite attached and knew that he was a smart and humble guy. Although he could be stubborn in his ideals, he knew what he was getting himself into and they knew of his previous adventures. He had an effect on many people through his travels; he helped to solve many problems these people had by working for them and helping them while asking nothing in return. The people who chose to get to know him and help him in his travels may not have completely understood him but at least they tried. This helped them see where he was coming from and help form the book “Into the Wild” by John Krakauer. This booked tried to follow his last two years on the road and what exactly brought him to his death. The perosnla interviews with the people whose lives were touched by “Alex” reveal an intelligent young man with a passion for adventure out to see the world. They felt that he had experience taking care of himself and believed that he would be back after his trip into the Alaskan wilderness.
  McCandless was not an outcast or antisocial, in fact, he made an impact on many lives and had the foresight to have mail “returned to sender” during his absence and even said goodbye to friends before this extended trek into the wilderness. In the postcard he sent to Westberg postmarked April 27 he says “…If this adventure proves fatal and you don’t ever hear from me again, I want you to know you’re a great man. I now walk into the wild.”(Krakauer p.69) These are hardly ramblings of anyone you would consider a social outcast. He was well educated and perfectly capable of living within society, he simply chose to follow a dream.
  I understand that many of the native Alaskans think that McCandless must have been on a suicide mission or extremely foolish to take this adventure without what they consider better preparations. They are a hardy population that have been raised and experienced the harsh climate. Many of the Alaskans cite travel magazines and adventure guides that paint a misleading picture of their extreme climate. McCandless and his friends all felt that he was experienced and would survive this journey. It is unfortunate that the river swelled and he couldn’t just walk back out to the highway.
  Chris McCandless was a well-educated, intelligent and deeply caring person to those who knew him. He had many successful adventures that led him and others to believe that he could survive the Alaskan spring and summer. He was not suicidal as is evidenced by his journal writings. If he had been unbalanced his farewell to the world would have taken a different approach. He tells everyone that he enjoyed his life and thanks God. His postcards to friends also illustrate that he was not a social outcast. McCandless’ stubborn streak and inability to accept others help/advice from those around him proved fatal. It is admirable that McCandless followed his dream but he was not as well informed as you should be when heading out into the wilderness to survive. You should always be prepared and have an emergency plan when trekking into the wilderness.


Works Cited:
Krakauer, Jon. “Into the Wild” New York: Anchor Books 1997.