Symbolism In Chris Mccandless's Journey

“Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb-nail.”(Where I Lived, and What I Lived For) Simplicity and going to Alaska were McCandless’ striving points. “McCandless spoke frequently to the denizens of the Slabs about his plans for Alaska.”(Into the Wild) McCandless, though seemingly unpredictable, had an idea as to what he wanted from life. McCandless saw the problems of having a complex life, and provided himself closure by taking on a new thought process. “Albert Einstein said that you cannot solve a problem with the same mind-set that created it.” (The Charitable-Industrial Complex) McCandless never overwhelmed himself with responsibilities or questioned what items to carry on his

--These words gives a clear and rational explanation of McCandless’s decision to venture into the wilderness. It shows that he was allured to the wild journey because of the pleasure it would provide him, tempted by a primal desire that could not be fulfilled by a mere human.

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

McCandless was trapped in a society that created an illusion of his own fake happiness while he was looking to discover himself. He possessed a desperate need to find the true meaning that only he could answer. McCandless quotes “I'm going to paraphrase Thoreau here... rather than love, than money, than faith, than fame, than fairness... give me

Jon Krakauer diverges from the story of McCandless’s journey, to inform the readers how all of the other adventures that occurred were similar. He wanted to show how other people were in his situation, that wanted to conquer the world with what the others had with them.

Jon Krakauer reveals the good in McCandless that is hidden from all his other previous mistakes. Although McCandless struggles with the concept of intimacy, he is gifted in the act of perseverance. Another thing McCandless has learned is survival, as presented with how long he stayed alive with limited resources. McCandless is a hard working individual as Krakauer as stated through the theme of perseverance. McCandless has many travel experiences, he’s traveled across vast parts of America, which is quite challenging especially with the lack of money because the world is a very materialistic place. His adventure through Mexico is another example of his survival skills as he only had very limited amounts of rice as food. Lastly, before he died

Krakauer writes in Author's Note “He was an extremely intense young man and possessed a streak of stubborn idealism that did not mesh readily with modern existence, long captivated by the writing of Leo Tolstoy McCandless particularly admired how the great novelist had forsaken a life of wealth and privilege to wander among the destitute. By writing this, Krakauer is admitting to his ideas on which he tries to shed light on McCandless story instead of having negative remarks. He wants his readers to know that McCandless follows what he believes in which is to wander in nature and follow the ideas of transcendentalism, which he landed on a land that he was seeking for. Also, Krakauer's demonstration of McCandless and his ethical ideas are proven as Krakauer writes on page 106, “but Christopher Johnson McCandless came into the world with unusual gifts and a will not easily deflected from its trajectory.” This proves that McCandless has a complex personality, but most importantly the author knows and understands his kind of complexity, McCandless was a stubborn young man, who wants his way, but what sets him apart from others is that he did something that others did not have the courage to do and most importantly he would not let anyone deter

At the end of the chapter, McCandless tells the man to try living his life as simple as possible in order to find happiness. Hinting that McCandless could have felt a need to live a plain life in order to be content.

Although he knew what Walt had done to Marcia and still had two children with Billie it was unforgivable. He had that feeling of guilt and he was not to let Walt acknowledge the newly information Chris had discovered in California. Instead he was to rebel and to slowly disclude himself from the family that he felt ashamed of. Truth is what young McCandless was greatly affected of the news that his father had given him about Walt’s first wife. In a way it seemed that Mr. McCandless had lost himself and that is what influenced the ideas of his pursuit of happiness was only capable in the wild where you come to the truth. It’s like a test it shows you the true meaning of surviving this dog eat dog world, it is where it tests your faith, your strength (physically and mentally), and your will to have an open mind. That is what Mr. McCandless craved the purity of the bonds between individuals but he was disgusted of the wrong his father’s doing. That is what caused his reactions of the need of finding some type or form of purity and true beauty. Yes Mr. McCandless had the money, had the education, and had his future set, but to him none of that mattered, that credibility of loyalty played a major factor on the decision he made to have no further communications with his parents, the truth is the purpose of all Mr. McCandless’s choices and

First, and the most noticeable, is Krakauer’s use of narration. The main purpose for writing this book was to tell the full truth of McCandless’ journey and in parallel, clear his reputation of a irrational young man. Krakauer wanted to show the reader that McCandless was not an arrogant kid that had outrageous ambitions to trek through Alaska, and one way he did this was by emphasizing McCandless’ intelligence through the use of narration by friends and family members. “Alex was Big on the Classics: Dickens, H.G. Wells, Mark Twain, Jack London. London was his favorite. He’d try to convince

McCandless lead a mostly enjoyable life; he was born into a considerably rich and high end family, and received outstanding grades through his years in school. He was well liked, and built up a motivated and optimistic persona, yet despite this, he decided to abandon his life and reach for “an endlessly changing horizon”(57). His life, while possibly seen as luxury by

He believes, unlike the Alaskans believed, that McCandless knew what he was doing and that he could have survived if not for his recklessness. He believed that the death of this boy might have been caused by the wild potatoes he had been living on (Krakauer, 193). Although, it could not be proven nor verified, this is what Krakauer, himself, concluded through his research. Krakauer also goes on to point out the distinction of his own self from McCandless, albeit of the various similarities. “As a young man. I was unlike McCandless in many important regards; most notably, I possessed neither his intellect nor his lofty ideals.” (Krakauer, 155). Krakauer regards McCandless as being much more clever and resourceful than he believed himself to be. That is what made him different from the young boy. Krakauer, himself, had given up on his passions after that dangerous encounter, whereas, McCandless had fought through until his last

Krakauer focus on the life that McCandless had when he decided to leave from his old life because it reflects the good thing that he did while he was on his journey. When McCandless left his old life he meet franks, Westerburg and a lot of other people in where he changed their life. After Frank got the news from the hitchhikers Franz told Krakauer “I turned my van around, drove back to the store, and bought a bottle of whiskey. And then went into the desert and drank it. I wasn't used to drinking, so it made me sick.

Just like Krakauer, McCandless had a calling for adventure. He could relate to McCandless , because he had a similar adventure to Alaska. Krakauer didn’t view McCandless as a incompetent person like most ,but a unique

Adventurer and journalist, Jon Krakauer, in his novel, Into the Wild, shares the story of McCandless’ journey. Krakauer’s purpose is to convey that McCandless was in fact an idealist and not insane to his Outdoor Magazine readers. In chapters 1-7, McCandless encounters several people as he goes along his journey. Krakauer uses the rhetorical strategy of characterization to explain McCandless’ personality to the readers.