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Effects of peer pressure on the youths
Effects of peer pressure on the youths
Effects of peer pressure on the youths
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Young Hearted Philosopher Entrapped by other’s expectation of his life and goals, a young man runs away from home to Alaska with minor assistance to create the life he will personally value. He goes by the name of Christopher McCandless, a former successful student who graduated from Emory University, destined by his parents to become a lawyer. Despite the multiple recognitions of achievement and possessing large potentials to become a wealthy American McCandless was not content with his current status. Stuck by the burden of his unaccepting parents for his desires, McCandless ventured off to the wilderness to live a life in contrast to American society as a way of following his own philosophies. The life McCandless created exposed the imperfections …show more content…
The cause of death was starvation by the consumption of expired wild potato seeds. At a glance, critics commented McCandless a naive individual who wandered through dangerous places for pure excitement. This assumption became debatable whether or not Chris McCandless was indifferent from other adventurers like Everett Ruess or Gene Rosellini. Based on the journal McCandless recorded of his adventure, there are numerous evidence that makes him unique from others. His original motive that drove him to leave home was the feud between McCandless and his abusive father whom McCandless was not proud of after the discovery of the double-family relationship. McCandless was not acceptable of his parent’s future plans sought for him, leading to the creation of Alex Supertramp, a man reincarnated to seek a new society. Chris McCandless was not simply an adventurer looking for truth; he was a trekking …show more content…
McCandless was unable to experience life by personal choice as long as his enduring mother continued assisting his violent father. Chris’s younger sister Carine, author of The Wild Truth, proclaimed that although she and Chris had a childhood life greater than an average child, the domestic violence revolved around the household was discomforting to Chris. During Chris’s hitchhike trip, he discussed to his friend Ron Franz that, “So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future” (Krakauer 56-57). McCandless had the life which any American teens would have wished for: wealth, intelligence, and a safe home. Even with all these attributes, the anger that circulated in his home created unrest, testifying the irony of receiving harm within a haven. It is because of this that led to McCandless’s initiate flee to Alaska. During the last weeks of McCandless’s residence in Alaska, he noted that American society could have improved if, “HAPPINESS [is] ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED” (Krakauer 189). If Chris’s parents, Walt
“I have had a happy life and thank the Lord. Goodbye and may God bless all!”(199), these were the last words of Chris McCandless in a picture with him smiling and waving good-bye. Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer is an extension of an article first published in Outside magazine. In the book, Krakauer further explains the journey of Chris McCandless, while providing his own insight to provide the reader a better understanding of the McCandless reasoning. McCandless lived a nomadic life after he graduated from college, traveling from South Dakota to Mexico. However, his two year journey proved fatal when he took a trip to Alaska, his greatest undertaking. Among his remains several books were discovered, including a copy of Walden by Henry D. Thoreau
The epigraphs presented by Krakauer before each chapter of the memoir Into the Wild dive deep into the life of Chris McCandless before and after his journey into the Alaskan wilderness. They compare him to famous “coming of age characters” and specific ideas written by some of his favorite philosophers. These give the reader a stronger sense of who Chris was and why he made the decision to ultimately walk alone into the wild.
Throughout Into the Wild, Krakauer portrays Christopher McCandless as an infallibly eager young man hoping to distance himself from the society he so obviously loathes, to "live off the land," entirely independent of a world which has "conditioned [itself] to a life of security." Chris, contrarily to this depiction, is disparagingly viewed by some as a "reckless idiot" who lacked the sense he needed to survive in the Alaskan wilderness. This derogatory assessment of Chris's mindset is representative of the society he hopes to escape and contains all the ignorance that causes him to feel this way. Nevertheless, he is misjudged by these critics, allowing Krakauer to hold the more accurate interpretation of Chris's character, his goals, and his accomplishments.
McCandless’s relationship with his father, Walt McCandless is far from the ideal father-son relationship. Walt, a renowned NASA space engineer, seeks a certain path for his son’s future that McCandless is very stubborn to follow. After an excellent academic record throughout high school and college, his future looks quite promising. However, his want to not follow his path set before him by his parents are made very clear from his youth. In the third grade, when offered to join an accelerated program for gifted students, McCandless refused simply since it would mean that he had to do more schoolwork. Since then it has been clear that “Chris marches to a different drummer” (107), as one of his teachers recalled. The clash between his own desired path and the societally defined path pushed on him by his parents would have created a very significant internal conflict and it would be only made worse by finding out about his father’s affair. When visiting his childhood home of El Segundo, California, he discovers the double life that his father had lived as he was still in a relationship with his first wife, Marcia, even after he had Chris with Billie. At this point, his relationship with his entire family, including very close his sister, completely deteriorates. To McCandless, This serves to confirm his doubts in societally defined path and becomes a major turning point at which McCandless now is steadfast in his plans to escape society and travel into the Alaskan wilderness. Even in Fairbanks, Alaska, right before he makes the final act of journeying into the wild, McCandless still shows the profound influence father as he looks upon a satellite developed largely in part by Walt McCandless. Krakauer emphasizes the extent of McCandless’s disconnection to his family now as he states that “If the
In the book Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer wrote about Christopher McCandless, a nature lover in search for independence, in a mysterious and hopeful experience. Even though Krakauer tells us McCandless was going to die from the beginning, he still gave him a chance for survival. As a reader I wanted McCandless to survive. In Into the Wild, Krakauer gave McCandless a unique perspective. He was a smart and unique person that wanted to be completely free from society. Krakauer included comments from people that said McCandless was crazy, and his death was his own mistake. However, Krakauer is able to make him seem like a brave person. The connections between other hikers and himself helped in the explanation of McCandless’s rational actions. Krakauer is able to make McCandless look like a normal person, but unique from this generation. In order for Krakauer to make Christopher McCandless not look like a crazy person, but a special person, I will analyze the persuading style that Krakauer used in Into the Wild that made us believe McCandless was a regular young adult.
Was he a reckless idiot? That is the big question. This is what people always seem to talk about when they talk about Chris McCandless. There are many people who think that Chris McCandless was a reckless idiot who was mentally ill, or something else was wrong with Chris. It seems that almost everybody that met Chris thought maybe Chris was crazy or had problems. Here are just a few things that people said about Chris and his state of mind. Pg 40 Zarza admits saying, "he was always going on about trees and nature and weird stuff like that. We all thought he was missing a few screws. Pg 42 Charlie said, "seemed like a kid who was looking for something." Pg 45 Burres said "I thought Alex had lost his mind when he told us about his 'great Alaskan odyssey, ' as he called it."
Chris McCandless does not wish to follow defined life structure that society enforces to simply be alive, instead, he chooses to take a seek a path to live a life with purpose. Such an eagerness to seek detachment from what is expected by society, is enforced by not only McCandless but also Thoreau. A primary factor resembling this, is McCandless’ view that many people “live within unhappy circumstances...yet will not change…they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism...damaging to the adventurous spirit(40).” The detesting tone risen through the confliction of “unhappy circumstances” and “damage,” to “safety, conformity and conservation,” emphasis his will to separate from a lifestyle lacking change. This is done
Chris McCandless, the main character of “Into the wild” was angered by his father’s infidelity and bigamy. As a result, Chris McCandless wanted to separate himself from his family and he begins a spiritual adventure to search for his identity. Chris McCandless isolates himself physically and emotionally to find freedom and peace by adventuring into the wild. Therefore, McCandless escapes from Emory University and immediately flees his dull and predictable life, heading west without a word to his family. Although, McCandless journey ends in a tragic ending, he fulfilled his ambition by pursuing his ambition and inner peace. In conclusion, McCandless journey was both a search for inner peace and transition to maturity.
Jon Krakauer, fascinated by a young man in April 1992 who hitchhiked to Alaska and lived alone in the wild for four months before his decomposed body was discovered, writes the story of Christopher McCandless, in his national bestseller: Into the Wild. McCandless was always a unique and intelligent boy who saw the world differently. Into the Wild explores all aspects of McCandless’s life in order to better understand the reason why a smart, social boy, from an upper class family would put himself in extraordinary peril by living off the land in the Alaskan Bush. McCandless represents the true tragic hero that Aristotle defined. Krakauer depicts McCandless as a tragic hero by detailing his unique and perhaps flawed views on society, his final demise in the Alaskan Bush, and his recognition of the truth, to reveal that pure happiness requires sharing it with others.
This book Into The Wild is about how a young man wants to get away from the world. He does escape from society, but ends up dying in the process. The author, Jon Krakauer, does a great job of describing Chris McCandless and his faults. Chris is an intelligent college graduate. He went on a two-year road trip and ended up in Alaska. He didn't have any contact with his parents in all of that time. Krakauer does a great job of interviewing everyone who had anything to do with McCandless from his parents, when he grew up, to the people who found his body in Alaska.
Life is a form of progress- from one stage to another, from one responsibility to another. Studying, getting good grades, and starting the family are common expectations of human life. In the novel Into the Wild, author Jon Krakauer introduced the tragic story of Christopher Johnson McCandless. After graduating from Emory University, McCandless sold of his possessions and ultimately became a wanderer. He hitchhiked to Alaska and walked into the wilderness for nearly 4 months. This journey to the 49th state proved fatal for him, and he lost his life while fulfilling his dream. After reading this novel, some readers admired the boy for his courage and noble ideas, while others fulminated that he was an idiot who perished out of arrogance and
In 1992, Christopher McCandless set off on an odyssey into the backcountry of Alaska, an adventure that had proved fatal. After McCandless's corpse was found, Jon Krakauer wrote an article on the story of Chris McCandless, which was released in the January 1993 issue of Outside magazine. The article had received a negative response; several readers criticized McCandless for being foolish and ill-prepared, and showed no sympathy or remorse for his death. McCandless has been referred to as a nut, a kook, and a fool. However, McCandless was not a nonsensical man. In 1996, Jon Krakauer's novel, Into the Wild, was published. The novel uncovers more detail of McCandless's story. Into the Wild rebuts the idea of McCandless being someone who is foolish, and speaks of the many occasions where McCandless has demonstrated great perseverance and determination. The novel also proves the intelligence of McCandless, and brings insight into McCandless's psyche. The following examples will illustrate how McCandless was not a fool, but someone to admire.
Into the Wild, written by John Krakauer tells of a young man named Chris McCandless who 1deserted his college degree and all his worldly possessions in favor of a primitive transient life in the wilderness. Krakauer first told the story of Chris in an article in Outside Magazine, but went on to write a thorough book, which encompasses his life in the hopes to explain what caused him to venture off alone into the wild. McCandless’ story soon became a national phenomenon, and had many people questioning why a “young man from a well-to-do East Coast family [would] hitchhike to Alaska” (Krakauer i). Chris comes from an affluent household and has parents that strived to create a desirable life for him and his sister. As Chris grows up, he becomes more and more disturbed by society’s ideals and the control they have on everyday life. He made a point of spiting his parents and the lifestyle they lived. This sense of unhappiness continues to build until after Chris has graduated college and decided to leave everything behind for the Alaskan wilderness. Knowing very little about how to survive in the wild, Chris ventures off on his adventure in a state of naïveté. It is obvious that he possessed monumental potential that was wasted on romanticized ideals and a lack of wisdom. Christopher McCandless is a unique and talented young man, but his selfish and ultimately complacent attitude towards life and his successes led to his demise.
Into the wild is a non-fiction book which expanded from the nine-thousand-word article by Jon Krakauer. This article ran in the January 1993 issue of the magazine Outside. Jon Krakauer was very much drawn toward the tale of McCandless and decided to write his story. He spent more than a year tracking down the details of the boy’s tramp. Then he used matter-of-fact tones to narrate what he chased on the path about the boy. The framework presented in this book can be separated into three parts: (1) retracing, including the interview with most of the important people who once kept company with Chris; (2) wildness, presenting mails generated from readers and several idealists that were in the similar situation with Chris; (3) affection, including the memory of parents, sister and friends.
“Into The Wild” by John Krakauer is a non-fiction biographical novel which is based on the life of a young man, Christopher McCandless. Many readers view Christopher’s journey as an escape from his family and his old life. The setting of a book often has a significant impact on the story itself. The various settings in the book contribute to the main characters’ actions and to the theme as a whole. This can be proven by examining the impact the setting has on the theme of young manhood, the theme of survival and the theme of independent happiness.