Literary Analysis of Into the Wild
Literary Analysis of Into The Wild
Imagine spending thirty days alone in a tent or a cabin in the wilderness with no technology, electricity, running water, and any form of communication. Every day you wake up to the sight of the beautiful, tall trees and the various wildlife living in the area. Most of the time, you can hear the many sounds of nature: the majestic songs of birds, the whistling in the wind, and trees rustling. But sometimes all you can hear is nothing but silence. Most of us would not be able to do this and we would most likely want to be anywhere but here. Not many people will experience living in the wilderness, but for those who have will have memories to treasure forever. Among those people who would choose this way of living is Chris McCandless. Jon Krakauer's novel "Into The Wild," Krakauer attempts to recreate and tell the story of Chris McCandless's journey to Alaska. Unfortunately, because of McCandless's untimely death in the Alaskan wilderness, there are many mysteries that will be left unanswered such as his decision to go there. There are many speculations regarding the causes for McCandless's journey because there is no valid proof. Even the author Krakauer forms his own theory. He accurately hypothesizes "youthful derring-do" (182) as a motive for McCandless's "Alaskan odyssey" (157); in addition, the transcendentalist ideas—escapism, simplicitism, nonconformity, and spiritual connection—McCandless internalized from the literature he read fused with his animosity towards his parents compelled him to venture "into the wild" (134). Krakauer correctly attributes McCandless's youth and risk-taking personality as one of the driving forces in his journey. Since he was young, he enjoyed a life of adventure and action. According to the article "This Is Your Brain on Adventure" by Florence Williams, risk takers have "three major emotional ingredients: desire for adventure, relative disregard for harm, [and] impulsivity." These
Imagine spending thirty days alone in a tent or a cabin in the wilderness with no technology, electricity, running water, and any form of communication. Every day you wake up to the sight of the beautiful, tall trees and the various wildlife living in the area. Most of the time, you can hear the many sounds of nature: the majestic songs of birds, the whistling in the wind, and trees rustling. But sometimes all you can hear is nothing but silence. Most of us would not be able to do this and we would most likely want to be anywhere but here. Not many people will experience living in the wilderness, but for those who have will have memories to treasure forever. Among those people who would choose this way of living is Chris McCandless. Jon Krakauer's novel "Into The Wild," Krakauer attempts to recreate and tell the story of Chris McCandless's journey to Alaska. Unfortunately, because of McCandless's untimely death in the Alaskan wilderness, there are many mysteries that will be left unanswered such as his decision to go there. There are many speculations regarding the causes for McCandless's journey because there is no valid proof. Even the author Krakauer forms his own theory. He accurately hypothesizes "youthful derring-do" (182) as a motive for McCandless's "Alaskan odyssey" (157); in addition, the transcendentalist ideas—escapism, simplicitism, nonconformity, and spiritual connection—McCandless internalized from the literature he read fused with his animosity towards his parents compelled him to venture "into the wild" (134). Krakauer correctly attributes McCandless's youth and risk-taking personality as one of the driving forces in his journey. Since he was young, he enjoyed a life of adventure and action. According to the article "This Is Your Brain on Adventure" by Florence Williams, risk takers have "three major emotional ingredients: desire for adventure, relative disregard for harm, [and] impulsivity." These