Passage: He lived on the streets with bums, tramps, and winos for several weeks. Vegas would not be the end of the story, however. On May 10, itchy feet returned and Alex left his job in Vegas, retrieved his backpack, and hit the road again, though he found that if you are stupid enough to bury a camera underground you won’t be taking many pictures with it afterwards. Thus the story has no picture book for the period May 10, 1991-January 7, 1992. But this is not important. It is the experiences, the memories, the great triumphant joy of living to the fullest extent in which real meaning is found. God it’s great to be alive! Thank you. Thank you (Krakauer 37).
R: Through this passage, McCandless conveys how even though there is disappointment that his camera malfunctions and he cannot journal his journeys, it is a minor setback because the true goal of his adventures is to live life to the fullest. His goal is to leave all earthly materials, such as money, cars, and society behind him, in order to remove his “baggage” and focus on what matters most to his life. This statement struck me as quite resonant because as technology becomes a more and more prominent portion of everyone’s daily life, the amount of time and effort that we as a society put into appreciating nature, our friends, our family, and our daily activities become less and less. Instead, we take pictures so that we may “revisit” moments in our lives that were “touching”, when in fact the actual moments themselves
Jon Krakauer admires Chris McCandless for his adventurous personality. Chris stated “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. The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure” pg 56-57. Krakauer recognized McCandless’s urge to take initiative to change his situation and fill his void of darkness with light. In this case McCandless light was leaving everything behind , and taking a pilgrimage across the country to experience new things.
The story McCandless’s lifestyle persuades society to examine and observe the world from a different person’s perspective. It is believed in Krakauer’s novel that McCandless alienated himself from society because he was upset to learn that his father was a bigamist and others believed that he went to find himself through exploration. His journey teaches the larger picture of life such as living life in a way that makes you happy- a message shown in journals written by McCandless. Although he knew he was in danger he made no attempt to receive help and his journal entries portray no evidence that
McCandless is driven to isolate himself, and in this quote Gallien offers him a watch but wanted to throw it away because he wanted nothing about the world around him, “I don’t want to know what time it is. I don’t want to know what day it is or where I am. None of that matters.” (Krakauer 7) McCandless’s complicated relationships with others, especially his father’s unfaithfulness in the past years that sets him on a journey towards isolation himself. The authors distinguishes McCandless’s journey and constant traveling as his way of running away from his human connections. Extending isolating himself, McCandless ”... had successfully kept Jan Burres and Wayne Westerberg at arm’s length, swiftly out of their lives before anything was expected of him. And now he’d slipped painlessly out of Ron Franz’s life as well.”(Krakauer 55) Imagery plays a major role in the novel throughout events in order to give the reader a clear image being in McCandless’s shoes. With this in mind, Krakauer also incorporates powerful imagery involving his own experiences, “Clouds of mosquitoes materialize out of the sticky heat. Every few minutes the insects’ piercing whine is supplanted by the bloom of distant thunder, rumbling over the taiga from a wall of thunderheads rearing darkly on the horizon.” (Krakauer 176) The imagery displayed
Throughout the book, Krakauer documents the intoxicating life and death of Christopher McCandless, aka Alexander Supertramp, a young hitchhiker who embarked on an Alaskan Odyssey to explore himself and the wilderness. Like many before him, McCandless thought that he could give his life meaning by pursuing his “impractical fascination with the harsh side of nature” (Krakauer 85). At a young age, Chris lost his habitude for monotonous security and thus adopted an irrational and impulsive style of life. He believed that suppressing human relationships and deserting the materialistic world would strengthen his bond with nature. Christopher once wrote to his close friend that too many people were unwilling to change their troubling life and debatable circumstances because they were “conditioned to a life of security, and conformity, and conservatism.” Following up his conclusion he stated that this type of “secure future” brought peace to their mind, but in reality it was the most damaging thing that they ccould do to the adventurous spirit, being the very basic core of an individual’s passion (Krakauer 57). Christopher McCandless with his astounding spirit, the aspiration to succeed, and the longing to make things happen was determined to be free. He desired to live by his own moral code, without anyone putting shackles on his psyche. His plans went beyond what anyone could ever
Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild portrays Chris McCandless through his stubborn, yet intellectual drive to stray away from society, acting as an “oddball” in many people’s eyes in order to make the statement of the true meaning of life just as Fahrenheit 451 also is portrayed through Montag, a rebel acting against society. In a sense, Chris McCandless wants to prove that “the joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun” and through this, Chris McCandless takes on a journey for 144 days (Krakauer, Into the Wild). By endeavouring a 144 day journey before his demise, McCandless wishes to explain that taking risk allows exhilarating emotions to be felt, something in which is not acquired when in the confinements of self comfort. However, Chris McCandless understand and supports as to why young people take risks, that is because young people choose not to be influenced on the stigma that they will get old and not be able to have fun perse, in which the stigma is generated knowing “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
Krakauer and McCandless both share a common interest for adventure and living on the road, however their approach to these interests is much different. McCandless ventured out to pursue his dreams with no experience living on the road; however he had high expectations for a life changing experience. His motivation for doing this was too escape his parent’s ignorance and to detach himself from society in order to restart his life and begin something new. It was his time to measure himself
While explaining to readers that Chris McCandless has given up all material possessions, John Krakauer made me reflect on myself and my many materialistic values. Parallel to McCandless, I deem material objects such as clothing, currency, vehicles, and much more absolutely vital to my happiness. However in this novel, McCandless is “unheeded, happy and near to the wild heart of life” with nothing but mere necessities for survival (Krakauer, 1996). Not only have I placed these objects at high value to myself, but reading this novel I have begun to sense that by doing so I have missed out on the pure happiness that could be derived simply from life itself. McCandless is on a quest for a “raw, transcendent experience” and purely rejects materialism, yet “his spirit is soaring” (Krakauer, 1996). He demonstrates this by donating the remainder
The journey that Mccandless went through, was done all by himself. Not one time in the book did the author say that he was tired or he wanted to stop adventuring. He always wanted to do more. My generation is filled with technology and electronics, and sometimes I wonder if I could even live without electronics, but now I know that Mccandless lived a life without the new phones and laptops. He navigated the world by using nothing but the stars and a map. The book made me believe that there really is a beautiful world behind a screen and we can’t ever enjoy the items we receive unless we have fun outdoors. Mccandless did not care that he didn't have his car anymore, or that he burned all of his money. He was having a great time exploring the world, and that was his main
The plot of The Great Gatsby, a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is driven by Jay Gatsby's
After reading The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, I was able to gather a small playlist of songs that can relate to the book. The lyrics in these songs relate to scenes, symbols, and different characters in the book.
Understanding oneself is one of the most important factors in living a free life, and living on the road can be a big part of this process. In the novel, Into The Wild, Jon Krakauer writes about a boy who ventures into the wilderness and inevitably learns more about himself on a journey right before he dies. In order to avoid his problematic family, Chris McCandless journeys into danger where he meets people who help him learn more about the world. Although he does eventually meet his end in Alaska, he leaves the world without worries or regrets. By living on the road and in nature, Mccandless is able to live the life that he wants and be free from the clutches of society. While living on the road can prove fatal, it allows a person to find themselves and avoid the problems of society; therefore, people should look to nature in order to better understand themselves.
“The orgastic future that year by year recedes before us” is the unattainable goal of those living in Tom and Daisy’s world—a world where lives are wasted chasing the unreachable (Fitzgerald 180). In his 1925 novel The Great Gatsby, author F. Scott Fitzgerald suggests that making any progress whatsoever toward this aspiration often requires people to establish facades that enable them to progress socially, but that a crippled facade will backfire and cause detriment to its creator. In the passage where Nick realizes who Gatsby is on page 48, Nick observes two different versions of Gatsby—one that is reassuring and truthful and another who “pick[s] his words with care” (Fitzgerald 48). Nick is at first attracted to Gatsby’s constructed
“The Great Gatsby” is a novel by the American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. First published in 1925, it is set on Long Island's North Shore and in New York City from spring to autumn of 1922. The novel takes place following the First World War. American society enjoyed prosperity during the “roaring” as the economy soared. At the same time, prohibition, the ban on the sale and manufacture of alcohol as mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment, made millionaires out of bootleggers. After its republishing in 1945 and 1953, it quickly found a wide readership and is today widely
Jay Gatsby come from new money, and it took him a lot of time and effort to get to where he is now, the West Egg. Gatsby is a man that some women aspire to be with, he has a goal and focuses on getting there, while on his way to reach his goal, he’s also trying to get the love of his life. He works (even if it’s with crime) hard and studies hard to impress Daisy who is his motivation. Gatsby is seen as mysterious for always being a “secret host”, on the outside people fear Gatsby, they believe every rumor told about him; however they still attend his luxurious parties. Although his guest attend his parties, he doesn't, he watches from a distance because he hopes that is parties will draw Daisy to him. Gatsby is seen as desperate for love,
The idea that one can truly redefine oneself if he or she really wants to is a comforting feeling. During the 1920s, there was newfound opportunity in the United States.. Because of a more contemporary world, the governing rules of how people should and should not live their lives changed. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby is an example of a dreamer who lives his life solely to reach a goal. Throughout this text, honor is defined as the respect that high society has for one another.