Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer is an interesting and impressive book. The expedition that Christopher McCandless took seems, at times, unrealistic for a young man to tale . Yet his story remains relatable, even the anti-adrenaline junkie. This is all due to Krakauer's use of literary devices and his own personal connection to McCandless. Anyone can write words on a page and have a someone read them. It takes a well developed author, however, to write words that make the reader feel. Krakauer did a stunning job by making his readers feel the depth of Chris McCandless’s story. The way Krakauer describes McCandless’s view in simple situations is captivating. “A baby-blue Ford Torino rests on blocks in the unkempt yard, weeds sprouting from its engine compartment” (Krakauer, pg 42). Krakauer writes, using imagery to create a picture in the reader's mind. His attention to even the minute details is …show more content…
In the beginning of the story McCandless is painted as a strong, intelligent and strong-willed young man who had no choice but to flee from an overbearing family and a cold and merciless father. “At long last he [Chris] was unencumbered, emancipated from the stifling world of his parents” (Krakauer, pg 22). The reason this seems bias is due to Krakauer drawing similarities between his father being similar to McCandless’s father. “By the time…. I enrolled in a distance college where no Ivy grew, I was speaking to my father with a clenched jaw or not at all” (Krakauer, pg 147). This shows that Krakauer also had problems communicating with his father, which means that he may be embellishing the harshness of McCandless’s own father-son relationship for a more dramatic flare and also to make both young men seem connected on a deeper level. While he didn't ultimately fail by showing this connection, he did lack in creating this
Krakauer’s use of stylistic devices throughout his book is quite phenomenal. Just a few examples of the stylistic techniques that he uses to uncover his tone are: polysyndeton, anaphora, and antithesis. Krakauer remains indifferent towards Chris for a good 6 chapters, states all the facts, and tells the story as it is. He uses no emotion appealing words to hint to us how he feels about Chris. His indifference is shown through his use of polysyndeton, which is the use of several conjunctions when not necessary.
The day is unlike any other. The mail has come and lying at the bottom of the stack is the favored Outside magazine. The headline reads, “Exclusive Report: Lost in the Wild.” The cover speaks of a twenty four year old boy who “walked off into America’s Last Frontier hoping to make sense of his life.” The monotony of the ordinary day has now vanished from thought as Jon Krakauer’s captivating article runs through the mind like gasoline to an engine. The article is not soon forgotten, and the book Into the Wild is happened upon three years later. The book relates the full story of Christopher Johnson McCandless and how he left his family and friends after graduating college in order to find himself. Krakauer based the book off of his article
Jon Krakauer had the same experience as McCandless with his family and travel to Alaska, but Krakauer knew more about survival and had company in case of any danger. Krakauer compares, “as a young man, I was unlike Mccandless in many important regard… And I suspect we had a similar intensity, a similar heedlessness, a similar agitation of the soul” (55). Acknowledging McCandless’s background, Chris left society because, in Krakauer’s point of view, of the “agitation of the soul” and the “similar heedless” of society. McCandless didn’t agree with society’s standards that being successful meant having a well paid occupation, especially when McCandless’s parents enforced it onto him. McCandless truly did not want to uphold the wishes of his parents, for Chris to go to college and get high paying career, but it wasn’t what Chris really wanted, so he left all of his conflicts with his parents and his values or “agitation of the soul” to create a new identity as Alex Supertramp and live in the wild. In today’s modern world, humanity lives in an environment where people are controlled and dependent on others. Chris’s father is someone he despises because of his characteristic of being controlling. Walter becomes controlling over Chris, who pressured him into college. As a result, Chris has an “agitation of the soul” to become independent, and a “heedlessness” for society and had an “intensity” for
Precise writers make linguistic choices to create certain effects. They want to have their readers react in a certain way. Go back through the text and analyze Krakauer’s use of words, sentences, and paragraphs, and take note as to how effective a writer he is.
Krakauer executes Into the Wild in a clear style, unbiasedly exhibiting the occasions of McCandless' life. His dialect is succinct and straightforward, making his written work open to perusers. While numerous biographers have a tendency to make fanciful regardless of the possibility that imaginable scenes and occasions to influence the record to peruse more like an account, Krakauer rather settles on a journalistic way to deal with his written
Krakauer begins his tale of his own adventure by restating the conclusion of Chris’s journey and outlines the opposing viewpoint to his own: “When the adventure did indeed prove fatal, this melodramatic declaration fueled considerable speculation that the boy had been bent on suicide from the beginning, that when he walked into the bush, he had no intention of ever walking out again” (134). Krakauer restates the demise of Chris in an attempt to establish the justification for adding his story, by reiterating McCandless’s fate at the beginning of the twin chapters detailing the author’s own adventure, Krakauer establishes a base from which he can contrast his decisions and experiences with those of Chris. Krakauer then goes on to liken himself to Chris, who earlier in the book is established as a voracious reader, by providing a list of authors that served as influences to him: “My reasoning, if one can call it that, was inflamed by the scattershot passions of youth and a literary diet overly rich in the works of Nietzsche, Kerouac, and John Menlove Edwards…” (135). Almost immediately after reminding his readers of the unfortunate demise of Christopher McCandless, Krakauer establishes himself as a youth not dissimilar to Chris. It is the immediate portrayal of
Krakauer is now an adult person with greater experience of a 23 year old, in where he lived a life like McCandless, which is a person that has the experience to talk about Chris McCandless’ death. Krakauer and McCandless both went into the wilderness of Alaska, but for different reasons. About the same age “I was twenty-three a year younger than McCandless”(Krakauer 135). Krakauer decides to go into the wild because of the idea of claiming of his idol Edward, edward “Climbed not for sport, but to find refuge from the inner torment that framed his existence”(135). Krakauer puts this similarities, and experiences related to nature in order to make himself to appear as a person that knows of what he is talking about. Other than Krakauer adventures
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is a well-written non-fiction piece about a seemingly fearless man named Chris McCandless who hitchhikes his way to Alaska in order to find his inner peace. While different people have various ideas upon what makes writing good, most would agree that the basic aspects of "good writing" include having a strong voice, being straightforward, and connecting to the reader. Krakauer's unique tone and voice accomplish these main goals and are major factors in what makes this book a success.
Although Chris McCandless’ controlling and toxic family environment was a major motive for his escape, his deep-seated internal battle was simply an irresistible impulse for discovery and liberty. Chris’ journey shows a new level of freedom; what true independence holds. He set out into nature alone without support of family or friends, searching for a path unlike those of most, and running from a barred cage of conventional living. Unsatisfied and somewhat angry with himself and his life of abundance in money, opportunity, and security, his preceding experiences and determined character lead him to an inevitable flee into no-mans land. Throughout the novel, Krakauer wants the reader to understand that there is more to Chris than his habit of criticising authority and defying society’s pressures. He needed more from himself, and more from life. He wasn’t an ordinary man, therefore could not live with an ordinary life. Krakauer demonstrates this by creating a complex persona for Chris that draws you in from the beginning.
In Jon Krakauer's novel Into the Wild, the main character, Chris McCandless, seeks nature so that he can find a sense of belonging and the true meaning of who he is. However, it is the essence of nature that eventually takes his life away from him. At the end of his life, he is discovers his purpose and need of other people. After Chris McCandless death in Alaska, Krakauer wrote Into the Wild to reflect on the journey that McCandless makes. Krakauer protrays McCandless as a young man who is reckless, selfish, and arrogant, but at the same time, intelligent, determined, independent, and charismatic. Along with the irony that occurs in nature, these characteristics are the several factors that contribute to McCandless death.
Throughout Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, there are many details that help give the reader a deeper, more profound, meaning of the book's intended purpose. Krakauer is one of the most renowned American writers, publishing many books focused specifically focused on nature, and people’s struggles in nature. Through much of the book, Krakauer incorporates many examples of diction and imagery to help the reader grasp the essence of the book. By using a wide range of literary techniques, Krakauer is able to communicate the events that transpired throughout the book.
Into the Wild, written by Jon Krakauer, is a memoir about how living in the wilderness and how Chris McCandless lived nearly two years in the wild. Throughout the novel, Krakauer relates Chris’ adventures to his own experience in mountain climbing and living on his own. This is not your typical memoir where the author tells a story about their lives. Jon Krakauer is not the main character; however he tells a story of this boy who leaves his well-developed family for no apparent reason. But not only does he tell Chris’ story, he tells his own by fusing them altogether.
The novel Into the Wild is a nonfiction novel published by Jon Krakauer who investigated the life and death of a free spirited individual named Christopher McCandless. McCandless was a recent Emory University graduate who sought to suck the marrow out of life through an independent experience in nature and purposely sought to this experience in the rawest form of supplies. He was found dead in August of 1992 in an abandoned bus in the Alaskan wilderness. For the sake of his journey, he purposely didn't bring an adequate amount of food or supplies. Consequently, those who read of his actions wonder what evoked him to live the way he
The author skillfully uses literary techniques to convey his purpose of giving life to a man on an extraordinary path that led to his eventual demise and truthfully telling the somber story of Christopher McCandless. Krakauer enhances the story by using irony to establish Chris’s unique personality. The author also uses Characterization the give details about Chris’s lifestyle and his choices that affect his journey. Another literary element Krakauer uses is theme. The many themes in the story attract a diverse audience. Krakauer’s telling is world famous for being the truest, and most heart-felt account of Christopher McCandless’s life. The use of literary techniques including irony, characterization and theme help convey the authors
In Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer explores the human fascination with the purpose of life and nature. Krakauer documents the life and death of Chris McCandless, a young man that embarked on an Odyssey in the Alaskan wilderness. Like many people, McCandless believed that he could give his life meaning by pursuing a relationship with nature. He also believed that rejecting human relationships, abandoning his materialistic ways, and purchasing a book about wildlife would strengthen his relationship with nature. However, after spending several months enduring the extreme conditions of the Alaskan wilderness, McCandless’ beliefs begin to work against him. He then accepts that he needs humans, cannot escape materialism, and can