A prosecutor’s job is to find evidence to support his case against an individual accused of breaking the law while a defense attorney tries to present evidence to prove the innocence of the person accused. Neither can be truly be unbiased about their evidence but each of them is motivated to confirm a particular position. Much like a defense attorney, in his biography, Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer attempts to prove that McCandless’s tragedy was not due to his incompetence or lack of knowledge about the wild. He asserts emotions and rational onto McCandless’s experience as well as drawing similarities between his personal experience and McCandless’s in order to create a more sympathetic response from readers. Krakauer presents many of his own assessment of McCandless’s emotions and rationales that may seem very factual to readers. These assertions allow him to further romanticize McCandless’s experience in the wilderness and reassure the characteristics he assumes about his subject. The biographer gave an authoritative voice over McCandless when he claims “the desert sharpened the sweet ache of [McCandless’s] longing, amplified it, gave shape to it” (32). This portrayal given by the author exemplifies McCandless’s attraction for nature. And when McCandless left Franz for the second time, Krakauer claims, “McCandless was thrilled to be on his way north, and he was relieved as well” because he escape the “threat of human intimacy, [and] of friendship” (55). There is little evidence to suggest that this statement is written in McCandless’s diary, but this explanation helps to sharpen readers’ perception of McCandless’s escape from human intimacy. In order for readers to distance themselves from making quick judgements about McCandless, the author gives many detailed interviews of people who have spent some time with him before and during his journey into the wild. Those interviews follow a similar structure: they are critical of McCandless at first but are later charmed by his intelligence and determination. In the first chapter, Gallien has picked up McCandless on the highway and he immediately wonders “whether he’d pick up one of those crackpots [...] liv[ing] out ill-considered Jack London fantasies” (4).
-- In this quote Eric Hathaway reveals that McCandless was more than just his criticizing persona, He was a caring person who defies the pressures of society, which can be supported with his trips to the underdeveloped parts of town. He is a self-reliant individual who stands for individualism.
Throughout the novel, Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer sincerely disentangles the haunting enigma of Chris McCandless. By tracing the places, people and experiences intertwined in the life of McCandless, Krakauer narrates the life story of a puzzling corpse found in a bus buried in the Alaskan frontier in a truly authentic way of storytelling. Although Krakauer inserts direct quotes from people who McCandless came into direct contact with and experts from primary source journals, Krakauer’s own voice in the narration of the dead man’s life is trustworthy due to the similarities the protagonist and the author share. Common connections such as similar paternal stress made outstanding impacts in both men’s lives, starting at a young age. Furthermore, a sort of agitation with the soul ailed Krakauer and McCandless fueled by a reckless persona confined in the modern world. Lastly, a craving for human contact when in total isolation troubled both the author and subject in their adventures narrowed in the natural world. The mutual bond apparent to the reader between Krakauer and McCandless makes the writing in the novel sincere enabling Krakauer to speak of a dead’s man life with profound authority and truth. Unconditional understanding through shared paternal issues, agitation of the soul, and need for human contact grants Krakauer access to divulge into the conundrum of Chis McCandless and authority to earnestly narrate the mysterious
While on the road and meeting people all over the country it becomes apparent that McCandless tragic flaw is in part to do with his love for simplistic beauty but also because of his fear of forming long-term relationships. Since leaving his old life, McCandless took the role of a vagabond, which he greatly enjoyed. One of the people he met on his adventure was an older man named Ron Franz. As
In the novel “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer, Krakauer tells the story of a Chris McCandless through different points of view perceived from people close to him. Despite the fact the Krakauer did not personally know Chris McCandless, Krakauer uses opinions from himself and others to help conclude meaning and impact behindMcCandless’s journey. Krakauer introduces events in the story in an order such that it also introduces the significance behind them. These techniques help the reader conclude the mystery behind Chris McCandless’s journey.
Each human is significantly different from the others in every aspect. The world outside of us operates on various different perspectives. The social beings that we are, it seems only acceptable that we understand those perspectives for better connections with not only others but also have a better understanding of ourselves. Jon Krakauer had a reason for which he pursued the life story of Chris McCandless. He also had a distinct purpose for sharing all his discoveries with the rest of the world. He wanted to the world this kid who decided that he would only do what he wants to do, which led him to Alaska, and ultimately his death. All through the glorified ‘story’ of Chris McCandless’s brave and strong-minded
In Into the Wild Krakauer remarked “Over the past 15 years, I’ve run into several McCandless types out in the country. Same story: idealistic, energetic young guys who overestimated themselves, underestimated the country, and ended up in trouble.” (Krakauer 51). This runs counter to Peter’s aver, “When you consider McCandless from my perspective, you quickly see that what he did wasn’t even particularly daring, just stupid, tragic
In the beginning of the book “Into The Wild” by Krakauer, Krakauer admits that his bias opinion on McCandless will show throughout the book. This could be seen through descriptions the actions of McCandless. Krakauer portrays McCandless as noble due to his description of the decisions and encounters McCandless faces.
Although Krakauer, through much of Into the Wild, offers a defense for McCandless’s-not to mention others’ and even his own-affinity for daring and high-risk behaviors, in Ch. 13 he concedes that those who engage in these behaviors often lack the empathy necessary to see the weight of their actions through the perspectives of friends and loved ones. McCandless’s sister, Carine, had taken note of this carelessness with his life. When Krakauer was meeting with her for an interview after Chris’s death, Carine had said that “Chris didn’t think twice” about the potential lethality of his situation, save for when he had “[Buckley] with him” (128). By including the perspective of a close family member, Carine, Krakauer is able to prove that McCandless,
Chris McCandless, subject of Jon Krakauer’s successful novel, Into the Wild, met his fate in the Alaskan wilderness. McCandless donated all his money to OXFAM America after double majoring in anthropology and history at Emory University, then walked away from his old life. He took on the name Alexander Supertramp, and the next time his family would see him would be as a corpse, brought to his knees by nature’s unforgiving presence.
Krakauer inserts himself many chapter’s trying to show that McCandless is not an anomaly. In chapters 8-10, he told stories of others like Rossellini , John Waterman and Carl Mccunn who had gone into the wild, all of whom perished. In chapter 14 and 15, Krakauer’s parallel and connection with McCandless was seen “I believe we were similarly affected by the skewed relationships we had with our fathers. And I suspect we had a similar intensity, a similar heedlessness, a similar agitation of the soul.”
Imagine someone you love walking off into the woods and never seeing them again. The book, Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer tells the fatal tale of a young man by the name of Christopher McCandless and the time he walked into the woods. Krakauer writes about the adventure Christopher McCandless was on in the final months of his life leading up to his death in the Alaskan Wilderness. Krakauer recounts; the places McCandless went, the things he did, and the people he met along the way. Not only that, Krakauer also went back to those places and talked to the people that McCandless met and got their view on McCandless. A lot of people who read the story believe that McCandless was selfish by going on this adventure that ultimately cost him his life;
In Jon Krakauer’s novel, Into The Wild, the main character, Christopher McCandless renders many reactions from a variety of people. Contrary to most opinions McCandless was not insane nor was he arrogant; in actuality, he was a noble idealist who acted upon his dreams. McCandless was a compassionate man who was dedicated and upheld his ideals and principles. What he sought was life in the simplest form; no longer wanting anything to do with life's troubles.
An extremely young man named Chris McCandless was the one who ventured into the wild on an expedition to isolate himself from a corruptful society. Most of his decisions and choices were poor and this ultimately led to his downfall. However, he has left a major impact on many people around the world and his story has been adapted into many films, documentaries, short-stories, and novels. One person in particular, Jon Krakauer, an American writer and mountaineer, tells of Chris’ life story and his legacy in his own version. In the non-fiction journalistic piece of writing, Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer characterizes Christopher McCandless as content and adamant.
Gallien, a resident of the area who had spent hours on the road months earlier with McCandless, gives his impression:“‘There was just no talking the guy out of it,’ Gallien remembers. ‘He was determined. Real gung ho. The word that comes to mind is excited. He couldn’t wait to head out there and get started’” (6). His determination seemed unstoppable, but he later gets interrupted by basic desires. His indecisiveness about living in the wild or in a bus, shows how much his morality wavers. Krakauer expresses what he feels when he encounters the bus after McCandless’ death:“I feel uncomfortable, as if I were intruding, a voyeur who has slipped into McCandless’s bedroom while he is momentarily away”(179). It was apparent to the three men who found McCandless’ remains that McCandless transformed this old bus on the Stampede Trail into his own personal ‘bedroom’, which infers that he had been living there for a while. This behavior reveals how much he wanted to be in a safe and enclosed living environment, despite saying otherwise. He had degraded himself and his own standards, as he continued to spend his time in the bus, instead of outside. Krakauer describes the location of where McCandless was living in the so-called wild when he states, “Ironically, the wilderness surrounding the bus-the patch of overgrown country where McCandless was determined ‘to become lost in the wild’-scarcely qualifies as wilderness by
“ ‘I won’t run into anything I can’t deal with on my own.’ ” (Krakauer 6)