Into The Wild, By Jon Krakauer

Throughout the story, Krakauer tells the reader more and more about Chris’ relationship with his parents, if it even is one. Chris never felt quite sure to be himself around his parents, forming his every move to how they wanted him to live through standards and rules. Sporadically in the book the reader learns different parts of Chris’ life, including what his parents thought of him. Krakauer states that Walt, Chris’ father, said, “‘He didn’t think the odds applied to him. We were always trying to pull him back from the edge”.

Into the Wild was written by Jon Krakauer and describes the life of a young man named Christopher Johnson McCandless. Chris also went by the name of Alexander Supertramp, or Alex, to most people who he came across in order to stay off the grid. Chris ultimately abandoned his old way of life to achieve his long-term dream of visiting the Alaskan wilderness and living solely off the land. Throughout his journey, Chris hitchhiked his way to almost all of his locations.

Each man had his own goals and purpose for taking upon himself that certain project to accomplish. The purpose of McCandless's journey was he wanted to make it to Alaska without taking anything from anyone. Chris wanted to live off the land and not take short cuts by flying places or in his words anything that was considered “cheating.” Krakauer stated, “Chris McCandless intended to invent a new life for himself, one which he would be free to wallow in unfiltered experience. ”(4)

Society today thrusts us toward cookie cutter, secure, and stationary lives, and Chris McCandless spends every waking moment breaking his way

Heroes are ordinarily portrayed as life-savers, triumphant soldiers, or self-sacrificers, but Into the Wild tells the story of a different kind of hero. Chris McCandless may not inherit the typical heroic traits that many would expect, but through his courageous travels, Chris changed the perception of modern society on a global scale. While some argue that he was nothing more than a rebellious fool, there is no denying he made an impact on the hearts of the few he met along the way and the numerous readers of the novel. Chris McCandless is a hero because he reminds the world to value the joy of true simplicity, authenticity over materialism and falsehood in his inspiring journey into the wild. People from many backgrounds and fields may dispute that Chris was simply rebellious and foolish to go out on a dangerous journey alone, but others argue it was more heroic than foolish.

Book Arrangement Into the Wild displays, a picture of Chris McCandless on the first page then follows with a map of his travel route to the Stampede Trail in Alaska. There is no table of contents, but there are chapters in the book there is also an epilogue. Also, there is an author's note on how he compiles the book. There are several other maps inside the book, so the reader can understand where McCandless is on his journey.

Into the wild is a book, by Jon Krakauer, which tells the captivating story of how a man's imaginable future of an impoverished life, excluded from society,  eventually leads him to his everlasting Utopia. Chris McCandles was  a man who was not fascinated by the companionship of society. He was a man who found joy in living a life, which some would call underprivileged. He was a man who showed his strong-will through his determination to live a life full of alluring adventure in the wilderness. As Chris wrote, "No longer to be poisoned by civilization he flees, and walks alone upon the land to become lost in the wild."

He was a strong believer in being alone and finding yourself through nature. This is evident in all of the books he carried with him- Thoreau and Jack London style books. The young man took the ideas in these books and lived them. Chris has a version of himself in his mind, as a man who is connected with the wild. It is easily seen in the book that he tried to be as close with nature as possible.

Chris’s word choice of “conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism” highlights the stressful limitations of society and just how many forces entrap someone. By saying “conditioned” he is also implying that the forces are ever present throughout someone's life which makes them near impossible to escape. The quote relates back to the theme of individuality, a characteristic that embodies Chris as a whole. McCandless rejects traditional societal roles, forging his own path for a more “genuine” life for himself. However he is taking it a step further, feeling that individuality is not just right for him but could also benefit the lives of others, in this case

It was to hard for him to leave the people he cared about. Krakauer conveys Chris as emotional and human. He had feelings and plans. He may have made some crazy decisions but had reasons for them. Throughout the book there are times that Krakauer uses evidence to show that Chris was completely crazy.

Chris clearly loves the idea of living in nature much more than living within society. In his letter to Wayne Westerberg, he says, “I’ve decided that I’m gonna live this life for time to come. The freedom and simple beauty of it is too good to pass up.” While travelling the country, Chris experienced a sense of freedom that he had never felt before in his life since he went on this journey directly after graduating from college. Once he made it to the Alaskan wilderness, he had complete control over his own life.

“If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.” ―Maya Angelou. Jon Krakauer’s true story titled Into the Wild is about a man who decides to throw away his old life and escape the rules of conventional society. Twenty-two-year-old Chris McCandless came from a well-to-do family in Virginia and, without warning, abandons everything. He changes his name, loses contact with his family, gives away his car and all his money, and begins a two-year long journey hitchhiking to Alaska where he eventually dies of starvation.

He was not concerned with the trivial details of life that most people would have. He constantly tried to get away from society. Chris never wanted to stay in a place for too long. He had a mentality of “Don’t come closer or I’ll have to go / Holding me like gravity are places that pull” (Vedder, Guaranteed). Whenever Chris got close to someone he would always leave.

Based on a real story, Into the Wild can make us think from different perspectives about what the main character Christopher McCandless did. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is a dramatic but also remarkable story from a young, newly graduated, college student that escaped for a long wild journey but never came back. As time passes throughout the book, the reader may notice how the main character interacts with society and nature, finally McCandless dies in the wild but even though he was struggling for survival he died happy. Some people never get out of their comfort zone, others are tired of it and retire from their comfort zone to have different experiences in life, some are good enough or some are terrible.

Towards the beginning of the movie, after Chris has another long day full of tragic events, he discovers that his wife is leaving him and taking their son, Chris Jr., with her. After noticing a nickel while using the payphone, he begins to reflect upon Thomas Jefferson and all human’s unalienable rights, “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” He focuses on the pursuit of happiness and wonders how Jefferson knew to include the pursuit part.