Alaska Range

is an outsider to properly judge whether Chris’ trip was a waste? Compared to the numerous pictures he took over the course of his excursion, he appeared to be having the time of his life, smiling brightly in every photo. Chris aspired to go to Alaska, and he did. He allowed himself to set society by the wayside and take care of himself finally. He did not reject society altogether, he simply left society with the intention to return. In the song “Society” by Jerry Hannan, he asks society…

that does not mean he was delirious to do what he did. Leaving his family was a choice he had to make and nobody else would do it for him and he knew that. He was not a psycho or a “narcissist” as Jon Krakauer quoted from people that resided in Alaska and gave their thoughts about McCandless…

Certain patterns emerge, such as a traditional hero on a journey towards self actualization. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer portrays this hero’s journey. The protagonist of the novel, Chris McCandless, hitchhikes to Alaska and walks alone into the wilderness, north of Mt. McKinley. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. He thought that the reality of the modern world was…

From that, it is easy to understand that McCandless was the type of person who thought he did not need anyone but also that the mainstream world he lived in was corrupt, clearly since once he had settled in Alaska he wrote: “No longer to be poisoned by civilization he flees, and walks alone upon the land to become lost in the wild.” (Krakauer 163). In “Survivor Type” by Stephen King, the main character, Richard Pine, had done quite erroneous things that defined…

McCandless felt awful by the society, and even by his own family. Krakauer describes McCandless’s new life upon being free in Alaska as “unencumbered, emancipated from the stifling world of his parents and peers, a world of abstraction and security and material excess, the world in which he felt grievously cut off from the raw throb of existence” (Krakauer 22). After discovering…

wealth has pushed the idea of happiness aside for many Americans. Christopher McCandless, however, refused to comply to this tradition. McCandless abandoned many of his material objects, carrying only what he could carry on his back, to hitchhike to Alaska where he believed happiness could be achieved through complete absorption in nature. McCandless’s method of attaining happiness is often criticized, seen in Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, for being “reckless” (Krakauer Author’s Note), as…

Studying the motivations of humanity, American Literature analyzes the positive and negative effects of fearing the unknown. Terror and panic brought on by fear are more paralyzing than any other feeling within the human range of emotions. American Authors assess behavioral changes caused by the crippling fear of the unknown, ranging from personality shifts, to reckless behavior, investigating the way fear affects different individuals. Tim O’Brien uses his war book The Things They Carried to…

Should the Electoral College Be Abolished? For a long time, Americans have questioned the way that the Electoral College system is run and how many hoops a person must jump through to become the President of the United States. The Electoral College system was set in place by the framers of the Constitution because they did not like the idea of a direct vote but wanted the citizens of the United States to have a say in the way the country was run. Not only do the Presidential candidates have to…

He too set off on a journey into the last frontier when he was 23. Both had a similar idea: live a free life in the Alaska wild. The main difference between the two was one was more prepared than the other. He has seen dozens of the same types of young people looking to reinvent themselves in the unforgiving terrain. Each person, he says, is either killed or rescued.…

“Happiness is only real when shared.” was written in Chris McCandless’s journal. The journal was found when the police and hitchhikers found his body in an abandoned bus where he had been living off the land in Alaska. This quote reflects McCandless’ belief because it tells you that he was happy sharing his journey with the people he met along the way. In the book, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer discusses some other explorers that shared the same desire to experience the extremes of life. It…