The Alaskan Gold Miner

Improved Essays
An Alaskan gold miner must make a long journey across the vast Yukon, fighting for survival. After spraining an ankle, he is left behind to face the unforgivingness of nature. He must fend for himself, living off of berries and tiny animal life, crawling across the deserted tundra alone. The man becomes so weak that he is no longer able to haul all of his gear; he must leave it all behind, continuing on as a sick wolf starts trailing behind him. The man becomes so starved that he decides to kill a wolf by biting its neck to continue his journey before coming across a ship and is rescued by scientists. A man foolishly attempts to make a journey through the Yukon, traveling with a husky on an extremely cold day. As a newcomer to the Yukon, he

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Research Paper A bow hunter accidently broke his leg, and crawled for days to survive. John Sain is an experienced bow hunter, and was hunting for elk deep into the forest. It supposed to be a short trip, but because of the accident he had to survive in the wilderness for four days. He even thought of suicide, but his family helped him to survive.…

    • 455 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    On April 28, 1992 a young man, going by the name of Alex Supertramp, ventured his way to Fairbanks, Alaska. He was seen carrying little food and equipment, and claiming he wanted to live off the Alaskan wilderness, where he would find solitude far away from civilization. Four months later, a moose hunter discovered his decomposed body in an abandoned Fairbanks City Transit Bus just along the Stampede Trail. The starved remains weighing only 66 pounds, was later identified as Christopher Johnson McCandless. Following his death, many people began to question McCandless's state of mind and purpose of living in the wild.…

    • 449 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The cold doesn’t seem to bother the man, a newcomer to the Yukon, who plans on meeting his friends by six at an old claim. The day steadily grows colder, the man realizes his unprotected cheekbones ill freeze but doesn’t pay attention to it. He follows along the creek trail, watching out for concealed springs so his feet won’t get wet. He decides to stop to have lunch and builds a fire, even though his fingers are numb, to dry his foot gear. As the man was taking off his shoes, clumps of snow falls from the tree and puts out the fire.…

    • 1597 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    January 24,1848 was a normal day at the John Sutter's Mill. When James Marshall went down to the stream and saw a gold nugget. He told John Sutter and he agreed to be his partner for finding gold. They tried to keep it a secret but someone saw them looking for gold and told everyone. Then everyone wanted gold and people from all around the world came to test their luck on finding gold.…

    • 224 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    He obviously has lack of experience if he can't tell if it's too cold to take on such a big task. The man wanders out into the great Yukon not knowing the weather conditions and nine hours into the hike the dog breaks into the ice and gets his legs wet as the man pulls…

    • 579 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Leo Tolstoy, a novelist who wrote about the benefits of living penniless, also one of Chris’ role models, “had been an enthusiastic sexual adventurer” “despite his famous advocacy of celibacy”(122). Chris was able to look past Tolstoy’s flaws but, was “incapable of extending such lenity to his father”(122) after learning that he was unfaithful to Chris’ mother. Chris was overly excited to travel to Alaska, so much that he failed to prepare for the harshness of the Alaskan environment. His biggest mistake was refusing to pack a map, which most native Alaskans believe is the most essential item needed in the wilderness. Although Chris made multiple trips to an Alaskan university, to research vegetation in Alaska, his experience level was significantly lower than that of an Alaskan expeditor.…

    • 734 Words
    • 3 Pages
    • 1 Works Cited
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    After the publication of into the wild, McCandless’s excursion lives on in what one Alaskan park ranger calls the “McCandless Phenomenon” (Christian ---), more than a hundred people annually visit the bus where McCandless died. It has been reported that seventy-five percent of the rescues in that area are form the trail leading to the bus, in fact some have even died trying to reach it.(Moss--) McCandless’s…

    • 1361 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Chris McCandless’ campaign to the Alaskan wilderness results in his eventual death. Jon Krakauer describes this tale in Into the Wild, eloquently painting McCandless’ life as the man he writes about ventures out alone. Krakauer uses dramatic irony, sophisticated syntax, and exposition to establish ethical appeal as he tells Chris McCandless’ journey into the wild. Firstly, Krakauer paints the reader’s image of McCandless by sharing the memories of those who met McCandless on his journey.…

    • 194 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    The main character, Chris McCandless, immediately following his graduation of college, abandoned everything he had: his home, his family, his financial future; and set out on an adventure he had believed to be destined for. Throughout the time he had traveled, McCandless had met and befriended numerous other people and, to much of his dismay, had formed personal connections and associations with them. After more time, McCandless eventually found himself in the woodland tundras of Alaska and, with all his ignorance, died of…

    • 1490 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    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.…

    • 891 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The California Gold Rush

    • 1283 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Gold Rush was one of the biggest events that have happened in the United States of America prior to 1848. It was one of the biggest economic sources of California and the Californian people. 1849 Gold was discovered in the Sierra Nevada 's on the California side. Many people around the world heard about it and traveled all over the place from China, Japan and even down in South America. It was a Gold frenzy that had set in from Novice miners to big industry started a gold rush to California.…

    • 1283 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The man was unfamiliar with the land and the harsh conditions. He had to learn his way around and use his prior knowledge of survival skills to help him make it through his journey. Buck and the man were brand new to the treacherous Yukon which was a main reason for their struggle to…

    • 1164 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    To Build A Fire Analysis

    • 370 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Out in the cold, the worst problem in the dangerous Yukon is freezing to death. While walking suddenly,” the man broke the thin ice and fell through. It was not deep.” Unfortunately he “wet himself halfway to the knees,” (London…

    • 370 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    In the end, he had to find quick jobs in cities he was in in order to fund his travel and buy his equipment to go to Alaska. He didn’t take the time to learn about the area he was going into or what was in the area, whether it be civilization or what animals were there. One example is an animal that he shot. He thought that he shot a moose but in reality, he shot a caribou. Samel, an Alaskan…

    • 151 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Imagine leaving a simple comfortable life behind to go live out in the snow. Now, on top of being completely alone imagine having little knowledge on how to survive. Sound fun? Well, this is exactly what Chris McCandless did. McCandless traveled into Alaska with rice and a small amount of knowledge on poisonous berries, told from the story.…

    • 1274 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays