(Krakauer 45)’” Unfortunately, he died, but along the book Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer, he takes his readers through Chris’s journal entries and journeys before he heads to Alaska. Naturally, Chris had the ability to be independent through his way into Alaska but had some flaws that caused his death; one
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer Chris McCandless was just a victim of his own obsession. The novel "Into The Wild" written by John Krakauer revealed the life of a young bright man named Chris McCandless who turned up dead in Alaska in summer 1992. In the novel, John Krakauer approached carefully McCandless's life without putting too much authorial judgment to the readers. Although Chris McCandless remained an elusive figure throughout the novel, I can see Chris McCandless as a dreamy young idealist who tries to follow his dream but failed because of his innocent mistake which prove to be fatal and irreversible. Still, Chris McCandless's courage and passion was something that we should all be proud of.
Thoreau and Emerson would be rolling in their graves if they knew that Chris ultimately failed as a transcendentalist, yet he is praised as one too. From Walden to “Self Reliance” by Emerson, they all share a few things in common, mainly that their authors lived to publish their exploits. Towards the end of the movie it is shown that Chris was mostly incoherent by his last few days. Anything that he had even attempted to write down at that point could be false due to his altered state of mind from starvation, dehydration, general loss of sanity from being alone for so long, and the poison berries that eventually took his life. No one could really doubt it had Chris simply just survived.
It was easy for McCandless when he was “young, to believe that what you desire is no less than what you deserve, to assume that if you want something badly enough, it is your God-given right to have it. When I decided to go to Alaska that April, like Chris McCandless, I was a raw youth who mistook passion for insight and acted according to an obscure, gap-ridden logic. I thought climbing the Devils Thumb would fix all that was wrong with my life. In the end, of course, it changed almost nothing. But I came to appreciate that mountains make poor receptacles for dreams.
Although the note stated that McCandless was injured, in which it would be the possible reason why he died young, people were not sure exactly how he died, yet the annotations found in McCandless journal states how he was starving for about the last two months of his life. Whether McCandless died by starvation, injury, or both, it is recognized by both the readers and author that he died in a slow painful way, however, the author describes the last picture McCandless took of himself. Krakauer states, “But if he pitied himself in those last difficult hours-because he was so young...alone…because his body betrayed him and his will had let him down-it is not apparent in the photograph. He is smiling in the picture…Chris McCandless was at peace, serene as a monk gone to God.” (199) The author first describes the profound pain that McCandless could have been suffering and follows how McCandless, although suffering, was happy and not disappointed with his outcome of his life. The way the author references to the last picture and profoundly explains what the character could have been feeling and showing in the image, is a way the author, Krakauer, presents his argument, of living life with no
With the knowledge Chris had, he could have been someone greater in life instead, he chose the path to follow “his great Alaskan odyssey.” Not only was Chris academically smart, he was a great drummer not greater than his sister, Carine, and great in running but wasn’t great on getting taught. In third grade, Chris place a high score on a standardized achievement test and was placed in an accelerated program. Although being fully aware he was academically smart he refused to do any extra work. Billie, Chris’s mother, stated “ He wasn’t happy about it because he had to do extra schoolwork (Krakauer 107)” Chris didn’t have to work hard like most of his grade but hated following stupid rule formats. While getting A’s and B’s without any effort Chris got good grades but got only one bad grade by his physics teacher.
Before he knew it the sergeant stepped aside and Farquhar fell though the bridge to his death, but this is not the e... ... middle of paper ... ...ay to end such a captivating story, but for those who were able to catch on it may actually seem quite peaceful. When reading Bierce’s story much of it does not make sense to a first time reader, how could Farquhar do all of this but in the end had died of a broken neck. When reading and analyzing the story further the experiences Farquhar has, the reader starts to sense that he was dead. Bierce made Farquhar an optimistic man and in his world between reality and imagination this is how he survived. Farquhar used his imagination to escape death, even though in the story he did die he used his imagination to escape his own pain and suffering by pushing his own mind into believing that his imagination was reality he would survive and did survive.
Readers know that because of the details told at the beginning of the story and through the quote that was used in the second paragraph. Although he felt some resentment towards his father, he still felt obligated to bring him back to the reservation. That is where the theme of family comes into the story. Victor’s father died in his hot trailer and was not found for at least a week. Victor knew the trailer his father was staying had to have smelt ripe.
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. The settings in the story have impacts on the theme of young manhood. Chris leaves his family and decides to go on a journey to find a new life. Christopher felt affected in his family presence so he sends his final school report to his family: “McCandless was thrilled to be on his way north, and he was relieved as well-relieved that he had again evaded the impending threat of human intimacy, of friendship, and all the messy emotional baggage that comes with it”(Krakauer,55). He believes that this is a way to find his true identity and peace of mind, which he thought could be achieved by fleeing into the wild.