Emile Berliner

It is no secret that the idea of wilderness grips every American citizen. Some authors including, William Cronon, have gone to great lengths to explain American infatuation with the wild. Cronon in his article The Trouble with Wilderness, Or Getting Back to the Wrong Nature, presents the sublime nature of wilderness as one of the reasons Americans imagine nature. I believe both I, Krakauer and Chris McCandless disagree with William’s Cronon’s assessment of the American psyche. Rather than seeing…

FORREST GUMP: THE USE OF HIS SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION The sociological imagination is the very foundation of the science of sociology and the understanding of the sociological aspects of the world around us. Forrest Gump is a perfect example of someone using their sociological imagination. The movie is based on Forrest telling strangers stories about his life. They were simple stories to him, but the movie viewers got a deeper look into his impact on society from the 1940s to the 1980s. Forrest…

In his essay, “Walking,” Henry David Thoreau discusses a number of ideas on wilderness and society, and makes several bold claims about society’s detrimental effect on the “wild.” He begins by expressing his affinity for taking long walks on which he “saunters” outdoors. Thoreau explains that not everyone is equipped with the necessary disposition for these types of journeys and says, “no wealth can buy the requisite leisure, freedom, and independence which are the capital in this profession.”…

James Truslow Adams’ definition of the American Dream was that “life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement”. To be an American means that every citizen has an equal opportunity to have a fulfilled life of freedom, happiness and success. An extreme situation in which this lifestyle can be found and understood is in the book, Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer. The book illustrates the life of Chris McCandless, a young…

Christopher Johnson McCandless went on a grand adventure, but did not come back to regale the experiences he had to his friends and family. His death was the talk of the nation for a short while, so there are many opinions about Chris’s actions. Some think he just had to be insane to do what he did. Others put him up on a pedestal, and admire him for his courage. My opinion is that Chris was not crazy, he was just a stupid, inexperienced, arrogant boy who wanted to prove he could survive on his…

This is a true story of two young men that have similar lives and similar life goals. The stories are written by Pete Fromm, and Chris McCandless. In the book, Indian Creek Chronicles, Pete Fromm portrays his life changing risky seven month long winter journey as a new found love as mountain man. Living the wilderness on his own in a self-written biography about his journeys. The movie, Into the wild, is Christopher’s story of his sudden feel of the need to escape from his every day life and…

Whether it is giving up everything you have and starting over to figure out who you are or starting from the bottom to prove that you can achieve the American Dream even if you are at your lowest point in your life, everyone has something that they would do to achieve a goal of theirs. Chris McCandless and Adam Shepard both had a goal for their journey, however both were very different. Chris McCandless wanted to start over and abandon his previous life because his whole journey from home to…

Chris McCandless was an intelligent man when it came to book work or tests, but was considered to be a fool and ignorant when it came to like. McCandless runs away from his problems and leaves everything he knows to go live in the wild. He traveled across the country meeting new people and seeing new places. Was he just unlucky or was it his own actions that lead to his death. Chris is what we call book smart. He excels in school related activates. For example “graduating with honors from…

As a rule, what surrounds a character in a book, either a different culture, or geography, tends to change their moral principles. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, is a perfect example of how even though someone has everything they need, they can end up doing insane things. Mccandless, the main character, is affected by extreme environmental surroundings, because his thinking shifts from being brave to feeling morally guilty . Cristopher, used to have all he wished, but because of his…

I agree with Callarman’s argument. Chris McCandless was a top student and athlete at Emory University. He graduated and already had a great career set for him. He had no business going into the Alaskan Wilderness. Why he went into the Alaskan Wilderness? I don’t know. He just made his decisions based on his arrogance. I don’t think he made the best decisions when he was on his own, but they were the decisions he wanted to make. He…