Christopher Paolini

A good portion of Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer, is focused on the characterization of the protagonist, Chris McCandless. Krakauer shares his opinions on Chris frequently throughout the duration of his novel. Krakauer very purposefully dictates what anecdotes he wants to include in his novel to shape how the reader views Chris. A very prominent theme that is made apparent to the reader about Chris is how young he is. By making this, a theme Krakauer asks the reader to treat Chris’ adventures…

During the late sixteenth century, Spain had been fueled with fervor for colonial expansion. This reflected the European ideology of the time, which entailed the culturally myopic notion that Europe was the paragon of civilization, and that European nations had not only the right but also the obligation to civilize and westernize barbaric people from barbaric cultures, and to seize and imperialistically re-appropriate their foreign land. Jan Van Der Straet’s allegory “Discovery of America:…

The holiday of Columbus Day has kindled an undeniable amount of controversy over the years. Whether or not it should be celebrated is debatable because while Columbus did open up the Americas to commerce with Eurasia, his travels also led to the decimation and abuse of the Native American population. The current Columbus Day is overly simplified. To extract the true meaning of Columbus Day, Columbus himself must be removed from the center of the holiday, and the holiday should recognize both the…

One of my favourite books and movies is Jon Krakauer’s Into The Wild (1996) that was adapted to the screen by Sean Penn in 2007. The film follows the true story of Christopher McCandless’ expedition across North America and his time spent in the Alaskan wilderness where he died alone. During the film viewers are taken along a journey where they see the main character search for his true place in the natural world independent from the trappings of a normal suburban life. The movie is beautifully…

Columbus found something further than the west and the other side of the Atlantic. • The priest, known as Peter Martyr, started to use the world “New World” and noticed that what Christopher found really was a New World. After Christopher’s first expedition, some of the men that were educated took thirty years to realize that the world really was going through an adjustment. • In 1497, John Cabot, along with the English, desired to…

On the sandy shores of Mexico in 1519, Hernan Cortes strode off of his ship and stepped into unfamiliar territory. Around the small group of conquistadors was a half-naked crowd of native Aztec people – people who thought that Cortes was a messenger from their gods. Little did these so-called savages know, within a few short years millions of their race would be massacred and their way of life would be destroyed. Up and down the coast of the New World, Europeans took advantage of the weaker and…

"So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism." (76) These unhappy circumstances are what Chris McCandless in Into the Wild was trying to escape when he left on his journey. Some people could argue that Chris was unsuccessful in his adventures because he didn 't survive, however I disagree. I believe that Chris McCandless was extremely successful,…

The Adventures of Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus, born as Cristoforo Colombo, was born in Genoa, Italy in October, 1451. His father, Domenico Colombo, was a wool weaver. His mother’s name was Susanna Fontanarossa. Christopher had three brothers, and one sister. As a teenager, he first went to sea. He helped on the ships of many different trading voyages. Christopher was Roman Catholic. We know this about him because he often wrote biblical texts in his letters. Christopher Columbus…

Regarded as a hero of American history for “discovering the new world,” Christopher Columbus never actually set foot on North America. Mooring his ships to land he suspected to be Asia in 1492, Columbus’ discovery was a chain of islands in the Western Atlantic, today known as the West Indies, several hundred miles off the southeast coast of what is modern day Florida. In fact, of the four voyages he made across the Atlantic, he never traveled any further north than the Bahamas. Discoverer is an…

contribution of Christopher Columbus in the “conquest of paradise” it is debatable whether he was personally responsible for the failure of two cultures’ ability to interact successfully, and if he does really deserve the title of “discoverer of America.” Previous social and political conflicts play a crucial role in the modern day debate about Columbus. With these conflicts come arguments that side in favor of Columbus’ findings and some that side against them. Named after Saint Christopher,…