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Analysis Of Into The Wild, By Jon Krakauer

Decent Essays

In the novel “Into the Wild”, the author, Jon Krakauer, memorializes the life of the young adventurer Chris McCandless. McCandless aspired to travel to Alaska to break loose from the traditional conveniences of society and civilization. During his trip, McCandless journaled about his adventures. However, he did not live long enough to disclose the details of his journey in person. After discovering McCandless’s story, Krakauer decided to write “Into the Wild”. Although Krakauer never met McCandless, Krakauer is able to authorize voicing a dead man’s saga in a trustworthy narrative because of his use of McCandless’s journals and letters, primary source information from Chris’s friends and family, and by showing the parallels between him and the life of McCandless. Jon Krakauer seemingly allows Chris McCandless to be the author of his own story. The first passage in the book is a letter that McCandless had sent to his friend Wayne Westerburg. Krakauer could have started the book in his …show more content…

A great portion of the book is made up of quotes and conversations that McCandless had with others. The aforementioned writing style of conversation allows for a trustworthy narrative because there is less opportunity to expose inaccurate details. Furthermore, Krakauer discussed McCandless’s life with many people who all had very different relationships with him and who knew him at different times in his life. McCandless’s family provided background for his childhood, and a friend, Jan Burres, tells of McCandless at an older age, nearer to the time when he was in Alaska. Utilizing multiple sources permits Krakauer to form his own narration by sorting through the biases of the others. Krakauer clearly spent an immense time analyzing the many writings of McCandless, enabling him to speak with such an authentic voice about his

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