Jon Krakauer

What is the longest time you have ever been left at home alone? Matt was left alone for seven weeks in the Maine wilderness at age 12. No friends. No family. No companionship whatsoever. Matt’s father showed wisdom in leaving him alone in the wilderness at age 12 for 3 reasons: the cabin needed to be protected, Matt demonstrated manly character, and Matt developed a friendly relationship with the Indians. The first reason Matt’s father should have left him alone in the wilderness at age 12 is…

“If this adventure proves fatal and you don’t ever hear from me again I want you to know you’re a great man (Krakauer 14).” Chris McCandless wanted to hike into the wild because he wanted to find himself. He saw his parents, who were not very open or exciting people. Chris lived his life through what his parents’ wanted/expected. This is something the Chris did not want. He wanted a purpose in life and that was something he hadn’t found yet. Going into the wild Chris did not know what was going…

to keep warm, which brings me to ponder why he would run away from the complete life he already had. But after I learned about Chris’ life back in El Segundo, California, I understood why he escaped to his only home he ever knew, the wilderness. In Jon Krakauer’s book “Into The Wild”, Chris Mccandless struggled to figure out his self-meaning and died in isolation in the wilderness, and I completely support his decision.“At long last he was unencumbered, emancipated from the stifling world of his…

In the memoir Wild by Cheryl Strayed, she recounts her 1,100 mile hike along the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). After losing her mother to lung cancer, her marriage ending in divorce because of her infidelity, her family struggling to stay connected, and her drug use, Strayed turned to the PCT in hopes of finding herself and becoming the woman her mother always hoped she would be. While visiting Minneapolis, she picks up the book, The Pacific Crest Trail, Volume 1: California. At first, she picks up…

believed he faced an inevitable death and mainly got what he deserved. These opinions originating mainly from Alaskan residents, as many believed McCandless was tainting the Alaskan image and the respect for nature. Yet, these opinions do not aline with Jon Krakauer's purpose of “Into the Wild” as the book serves as Krakauer's way of understanding McCandless's death. In opposition, people who are sensitive, mournful, or rebellious tend to relate to McCandless, emotionally and spiritually.…

change the way he live, but he didn’t think much of it. Krakauer states, “...urging the eighty-year-old to sell most of his belongings, move out of the apartment,and live on the road. Franz took these harangues in stride and in fact delighted in the boy company.”(pg 51) In other words didn’t take the advice. At the end, Ron Franz was convinced that he should do the same as Chris, explore. He decided to do this when once Chris left to Alaska. Krakauer states, “Astoundingly, the…

single person, no airplanes, no sign of civilization. He wanted to prove to himself that he could make it on his own, without anybody else’s help” (Krakauer 109). The only thing Chris would allow himself to be dependent on was nature itself. “The boy could hardly contain his excitement. He was, at long last, about to be alone in the vast Alaska wilds” (Krakauer 111). He found thrill in being independent. I find this thrill also, admittedly not having to go to the extreme length Chris went for…

Money Matters: The Art of Corruption Growing up in modern America’s east coast, a highly a pressure ridden, materialistic pothole. In the investigative journalism piece Into the Wild by John Krakauer, the author goes into the detailed adventures, and experiences Chris Mccandless endured both on his trek to Alaska and the time in the wild. Chris Mccandless, on paper, had the perfect life, he was raised by a well-to-do family outside Washington D.C., graduated Emory University with no student…

Into the Wild Essay “I felt in myself a superabundance of energy which found no outlet in our quiet life.” ( Tolstoy, Family Happiness) I believed Chris McCandless was not selfish for disappearing without telling no one about what he was thinking of doing or how he wanted to live his life. I chose this quote because Chris felt alone that no one understand his mindset, how he saw things, he didn't need wealth. Just to be free, and no one understood him, where he felt alone…

When humans are stuck in routines, trapped with distractions, and need more than a breath of fresh air, they may venture into the wild permanently, in an attempt to live deliberately. Chris McCandless, an independent thinker who followed the example of Henry David Thoreau, is a prime depiction of this; he left his abusive parents, his lavish lifestyle, and his money in an effort to be a self reliant human, one connected with nature in order to feed his soul. “Superfluous wealth can buy…