How Does Krakauer Use Syntax In Into The Wild

The novel, Into the Wild, written by Jon Krakauer, is a riveting, cautionary tale about the death of Chris McCandless, a young man who embarks on a journey to Alaska to seek the truth of happiness through the solitude of nature and free himself from the constraints of society. No doubt, the ongoing theme throughout Krakauer’s novel is the dysfunctional father-son relationship between Chris and his dad. In fact, McCandless died before he had the chance to grow out of his anger. Into the Wild examines the fatal expedition of Chris McCandless as he breaks all ties from society and challenges his ability to survive in the wilderness. Through the use of primary sources, situational irony, and syntax, Krakauer thoroughly captures the compelling tragedy of Chris McCandless. Throughout the entirety of the novel, Krakauer uses many primary sources to narrate Chris’s trip and the various experiences he encountered along the way. Through interviews, letters, and …show more content…
Krakauer strives to ideally display the type of person Chris was, rather than the “reckless narcissist” or “noble idealist” outsiders viewed him as. For example, the author uses complex sentence structures to show the complexity of Chris: “Didn’t matter what it was, he’d do it: hard physical labor, mucking rotten grain, and dead rats out of the bottom of the hole- jobs where you’d get so damn dirty you couldn’t even tell what you looked like at the end of the day” (Krakauer 18). Chris was always making situations harder than they needed to be, which is a constant theme throughout the book. However, Chris is extremely intelligent and was always questioning life and creating challenges for himself, some of which may have been too challenging. In any case, Chris’s perspective on life was difficult for people to understand, but Krakauer creates an arranged, syntactic viewpoint of the raw existence Chris longed