Laken

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

About the Book: The novel based on a true story, //Into the Wild// by Jon Krakauer was published in 1996. The book starts off by telling about the body of a young man was found dead in the artic turrain of Alaska. This body belonged to Christopher McCandless, the main character of //Into the Wild//. McCandless graduated top of his class from college and had a bright future ahead of him before he burned all of his money, abandoned his car, renamed himself Alex Supertramp and backpacked through the mainland of the United States before going to Alaska to live in the wild for a few months. The book //Into the Wild// follows McCandless, as best as one can, on his journey through interveiws and narrations.

About the Author: ==== Jon Krakauer was born in the year 1954 in Brookline, Massachusettes but moved to Corvallis, Oregon when he was two.That was where his dad first taught him mountaineering at the young age of 8. He graduate from Hampshire College in 1976. Thereafter, he spent his time in Colorado, Alaska, and the Pacific Southeast making a living out of being a carpenterand and a commercial salmon fisherman. In his spare time, he climbed prestigious mountains such as Devil's Thumb and Mt. Everest. Krakauer also wrote //Into Thin Air and Under// the //Banner of Heaven,// both are National Bestsellers. //Into Thin Air// has been translated into 24 different languages. Portland Oregonian said in praise to Kraukauer that "few outdoors writers can match Krakauer for bringing outside adventure to life on the page." ====

[|Learn more about Jon Krakauer's most recent book Under the Banner of Heaven!]
Characters and Conflict: ==== The main character Christopher McCandless was an idealistic loner who traveled the country meeting various people and in his short time with them changed their lives forever. He kept his identity a secret by naming himself Alex Supertramp to prevent his family from finding him and bringing him home. McCandless did not think his family understood him so he doubted that they would understand why he needed to do this trip. McCandless went into the Alaskan terrain, despite people's pleas for him not to, with minimal and very cheap gear not suited for the Alaskan Terrain. He also had a very flimsy plan of what he was going to do in Alaska anad no backup ideas. These mistakes lead to events that resulted in his death. ====

Theme: ==== In //Into the Wild// Jon Krakauer deomstrates that everyone should, at one point in their life, live in the wild rather than live a traditional life style which is staying in one place for long periods of time, and having a career, through the idealistic character of Christopher McCandless. ====

Book Review: ==== Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is one of the most compelling books there is to read that takes place in nature. The idealistic main character fascinates the reader by his unique, somewhat warped, view on life. The main character makes whoever reads this book want to travel the United States of America and see all of its secret treasures. Through the interviews and maps that Krakauer includes in the book he allows the reader to feel as if they went on the epic journey with the main character. It is difficult to put down the book once you have started to read it. Krakauer knows how to write a gripping novel that keeps the reader's attention. He has a special talent that allows him to translate nature's beauty and the emotions of others into a heart wrenching but beautiful novel. ====

‍‍‍Style ‍‍‍  Book Setup: ==== Krakauer starts his book from the last person, who saw McCandless alive to the discovery of his body, then goes back two years to retrace where McCandless went before Alaska. The very first interview of the book, on page one, is with Jim Gallien about when he met McCandless. Gallien said “I had driven four miles out of Fairbanks when I spotted the hitchhiker standing in the snow besides the road, thumb raised high shivering in the gray Alaskan Dawn” (Krakauer 1). The second interview of the story was done given by, Samuel, the man who discovered the body. During his retelling he says “It was not until I walked around to the other side and saw a head sticking out that I knew for certain what it was” (Krakauer 13). Next Krakauer writes about the first town McCandless stayed at after he left his parents house. ====

Book Setup: ==== Krakauer integrates personal stories and stories of other people who have been in a similar mindset or situation as McCadless was before her died. According to David Stevenson “(Krakauer) devotes a full chapter to the precedent set by Everette Reuss, another talented idealistic youth who disappeared, possibly by design, into the desert outside of Escalante, Utah, in 1934” (Stevenson 1). Another example saw in the story was brought to light by Robert Imbelli. Imbelli retells how “Krakauer evokes the experiences of early Irish monks who, at the risk of their lives, sailed off to distant islands in a quest for solitude and salvation” (Inbelli 1). McCandless went into the wild in search for solitude and salvation also. Then “Krakauer draws parallels to his own reckless youthful exploit in 1977 when he climbed Devil’s Thumb” says //Publishers Weekly.// Krakauer compared his reasons to climb Devil’s Thumb to the reason Christopher McCandless went into the wild. Krakauer explains that “figures of male authority aroused in (him) a confusing medley of corked fury and a hunger to please” (Krakauer 134). ====

= =  Diction/ Syntax: ==== Krakauer describes Christopher McCandless as intelligent. To help show this point Krakauer uses larger sentences and more complex words. Krakauer shows the reader an example of this on page 167 when Krakauer says “Although McCandless was enough of a realist to know that hunting game was an unavoidable component of living off the land, he had always been ambivalent about killing animals (Krakauer 166). ====

Tone: ==== By including passages at the beginning of the story Krakauer adds a personal tone to the story which allows the reader to share a deeper connection with Christopher McCandless. Imbelle specifies that “Krakauer begins his chapters with quotes from McCandless’s postcards to friends, various graffiti McCandless scrawled at the abandoned bus, passages he’d highlighted in Jack London and Thoreau, Tolstoy and Pasternak." The second chapter of Into the Wild begins with a passage of writing that he wrote on a log outside of the bus where he died. The log read “Jack London is King/ Alexander Supertramp/ May 1992” (Krakauer 9), this helped form some of the common personality traits McCandless contained allowing the reader to identify with him. ====

Works Consulted "Editorial Reviews." Rev. of //Into The Wild,// by Jon Krakauer. //Amazon//. Amazon.com, 1995. Web. 14 Dec. 2011. [] Imbelli, Robert. "Review of //Into Thin Air// and //Into the WIld." Commonweal// 125.21 (2 Dec. 1998): 23-24. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Vol. 248. Detroit: Gale, 2008. //Literature Resource Center//. Web. 17 Dec. 2011. Krakauer, Jon. //Into the WIld//. New York: Villard, 1996. Print. Stevenson, David. "Review of //Into the Wild//." //Western American Literature// 31.2 (Summer 1996): 163-165. Rpt. in //Contemporary Literary Criticism//. Vol. 248. Detroit: Gale, 2008. //Literature Resource Center//. Web. 17 Dec. 2011.