Summary Of Into The Wild By Jon Krakauer

The story of Chris McCandless is a long story that is complex to tell in its entirety. This essay will analyze Jon Krakauer’s book, Into The Wild, in an attempt to pursued you that Krakauer did a magnificent job telling McCandless’ story up to his death. I’m sure that Krakauer had lots of things he wanted to get across to the readers of this book. One of the more apparent purposes for writing this book is to show the realistic side of what McCandless was thinking and did. Krakauer quoted McCandless saying “Please return all mail I receive to the sender. It might be a very long time before I return South. 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

The things that happen to McCandless at the end make me cringe every time I read it. There is just something about a person grasping for help just to receive none. Krakauer also lets some of the people from the story know when he interviews them. They often have very sad reactions that stir emotions. He specifically describes how McCandless’ mother reacts saying “As she studies the pictures, she breaks down from time to time, weeping as only a mother who has outlived a child can weep, betraying a sense of loss so huge and irreparable that the mind balks at taking its measure. Such bereavement, witnessed at close range, makes even the most eloquent apologia for high-risk activities ring fatuous and hollow.” (Krakauer 132) Another approach Krakauer takes that makes me feel a bit emotionally unstable is when he talks about his dad and his relationship with him. A lot of the ways he portrays his dad remind me a lot of how my dad is. It gives and deep connection to what I am reading. Also the entire story is sad due to how he starts off by spoiling to you that he dies and then he starts skipping around. The skipping around kind of helps make you forget that you just found out that he died in the end. It makes you cheer for him even though you know he is going to die. A good emotional quote from him is “Some people feel like they don 't deserve love. They walk away quietly into empty spaces, trying to close the gaps of the past.”

Every single environment is described properly. He describes the harsh environment of Alaska making you feel like you are there and in the action. Krakauer is able to give us such vivid details because he traveled the long road McCandless traveled. He individually talked to and abundance of people that had influence on the story. We are also given the opinions that the characters have of McCandless. He words all this in a way that allows us to formulate our own opinion of McCandless. This wording that allows us to make our own opinions while still giving us his opinion makes me believe that he is a very skilled writer, and that he was the proper man for this job. Some people may argue that he was very biased in his opinion due to him and McCandless being so alike, but he does a good job of allowing us to think what we want. His wording also gives me a good idea of who he is writing this