In the Wild Causes and Consequences
Jagdeep Sahota
Professor Bollinger
English W131
19 March 2013
Paper 3
Obsession with McCadless
According to author Jon Krakauer in his book Into the Wild, he details the last moments of Chris McCadless’ life: “In April 22, a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness.” (Krakauer I). Chris gave up all his savings to charity, burned his money, abandoned his truck and changed his name to Alex Supertramp, who was found four months later in a broken down bus. One might think that McCadless died because of the wilderness. It was his own stupidity that led to his demise. However, when researching his story, Krakauer discovered that McCadless was an intelligent young man who knew what his was getting into. Jon Krakauer was
Krakauer puts a tremendous amount of time in writing the book about McCadless’ life. The reasoning for this is most likely because, like McCadless, Krakauer is also an outdoorsman. Alaska, unlike any other state is mostly wilderness. The wilderness is not threatened enough by man to cease the growth of nature and its glory. The also means unlike any other state Alaska is prone to vastly greater threats than other wilderness areas across the United States. The normal man is out of touch with this way of life since it is so different than anything we have available to us. Krakauer however was not new to the Alaskan terrain. He had been down paths similar or even the same as McCadless. Krakauer was even noted to have climbed the Alaskan mountains by himself. This reason alone is good enough for Krakauer to feel a connection but Krakauer had a deeper connection than just this. When Krakauer said, “I thought climbing the Devils Thumb would fix all that was wrong with my life. In the and, of course, it changed almost nothing “(55) you knew McCadless and Krakauer were connected on a deeper lever. Krakauer saw the wilderness as an escape or a solution to his problems at home. It would seem the only
Professor Bollinger
English W131
19 March 2013
Paper 3
Obsession with McCadless
According to author Jon Krakauer in his book Into the Wild, he details the last moments of Chris McCadless’ life: “In April 22, a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness.” (Krakauer I). Chris gave up all his savings to charity, burned his money, abandoned his truck and changed his name to Alex Supertramp, who was found four months later in a broken down bus. One might think that McCadless died because of the wilderness. It was his own stupidity that led to his demise. However, when researching his story, Krakauer discovered that McCadless was an intelligent young man who knew what his was getting into. Jon Krakauer was
Krakauer puts a tremendous amount of time in writing the book about McCadless’ life. The reasoning for this is most likely because, like McCadless, Krakauer is also an outdoorsman. Alaska, unlike any other state is mostly wilderness. The wilderness is not threatened enough by man to cease the growth of nature and its glory. The also means unlike any other state Alaska is prone to vastly greater threats than other wilderness areas across the United States. The normal man is out of touch with this way of life since it is so different than anything we have available to us. Krakauer however was not new to the Alaskan terrain. He had been down paths similar or even the same as McCadless. Krakauer was even noted to have climbed the Alaskan mountains by himself. This reason alone is good enough for Krakauer to feel a connection but Krakauer had a deeper connection than just this. When Krakauer said, “I thought climbing the Devils Thumb would fix all that was wrong with my life. In the and, of course, it changed almost nothing “(55) you knew McCadless and Krakauer were connected on a deeper lever. Krakauer saw the wilderness as an escape or a solution to his problems at home. It would seem the only