I. Introduction
Into the Wild is an adventurous travel essay by Jon Krakauer who traces the life of Christopher McCandless, a stubborn young man who decides to "live off the wild". In this book, Krakauer illustrates all of Christopher's travels around the mainland of the United States all the way up into the wilderness of Alaska. Krakauer also includes journal entries written by Christopher himself and flashbacks/interviews of those who have helped Christopher during his journey and his family.
II. What was the author's purpose(s) in writing this book, and how can you tell? How well was this purpose achieved?
Krakauer's purpose is simple, he wanted to go in depth with McCandless' journey and the effects it has left after writing an article on him. He clearly stated his purpose in the author's note: "...Unwilling to let McCandless go, I spent more than a year retracing the convoluted path that led to his death in the Alaska taiga, chasing down details of his peregrinations with an interest that bordered on obsession." Krakauer put Christopher's adventuring in chronological order with refurbished dialogue. With scenes and events supported by McCandless' journal entries and left over memories of those who met him, it truly puts you into heart and soul of Christopher McCandless.
Krakauer ventured the places Christopher has been to, which hard to describe without witnessing it yourself.
I believe Krakauer also had a personal purpose in this essay being a mountaineer himself. I believe he wanted to share the amazing things Christopher has witnessed and the hardships he has endured. He shows this towards the end of the book where he talks about the time he climbed a new route on the Devils Thumb. It was easy to see that this was his purpose although it was given, and I believe it was achieved perfectly. Krakauer took it to the fullest and made this essay so realistic and compelling. His fascination lead him to truly go into Christopher's heart and soul to achieve something no one can even imagine.
III. Pick a character that interested you and write about them in depth.
Christopher McCandless or 'Alex Supertramp', the main man, is a typical yet abstract character. He came from a upper-middle class family and went to Emory University for four years majoring in history and anthropology. He received a high cumulative grade point average and was even offered entrance to the Phi Beta Kappa Society, an honors fraternity, but declined since he thinks titles are full of crap. McCandless was a highly spiritual and idealistic person with great endurance for whatever is thrown at him. Despite his heroic personality, his character has become a cliche. As I said in my first letter, his stubbornness of living in the wild is popular among many other young men who truly believe they can do it. The story of Christopher McCandless and Jon Krakauer himself have received much criticism. I'd have to agree with some of the things people have said.. calling McCandless a foolish man who underestimated nature unprepared or being a disgraceful child towards his parents concerns. Yet-- he knew the risks such as death and was quite aware of his lack of equipment. He wanted a challenge and in a way he wanted to prove something. It's hard to explain the true purposes McCandless wanted to achieve, but you can get a sense of it and it's just amazing. What I also appreciated about Christopher is the fact that he has kept contact with each person he has met during his travels. He would either phone them or send letters maybe even swing by for a visit. Those who have given him jobs let him know that he could come back whenever he needed the cash. McCandless was obviously a loved and sociable person and it made his travels a lot more unique.
IV. For what audience(s) is this book intended, and how can you tell? (In other words, for whom would you recommend this book?)
I'd say that this essay is perfectly appropriate for young adults who would be able to understand some emotion that is put into this book. I wouldn't say this isn't for a person who reads something like Twilight though. Definitely not for the kind of people who are into elementary reading. This is also perfect for anyone who has read Jon Krakauer's other works such as Into Thin Air which is about mountain climbing (so along the lines of travel and outdoor struggles).
This book is highly recommend to anyone who is interested in the hardships of living out in the wild or just travel. Into the Wild also gives a sense of preparation for an ordinary traveler to not underestimate anything and that there is no such thing as being too prepared. Although I'm not that interested in such things, I found this book astonishing. To put it in simple words, it shows how to "live life to the fullest" in a way. Christopher was a great kid who did good in school yet knew that there was more to it. He was the kind of person who wanted to escape from our modern society and try to do something new with his life. And with that, he met amazing people and left great memories. It's a great read for people who are curious about hitchhiking especially since it usually has a bad ring to it. Chris' encounters totally contradicts what you would typically think of people who would pick up hitchhikers or hitchhikers alone.
V. Conclusion
Overall, I believe Krakauer did an excellent job reporting about Christopher McCandless. Even though this is the third time I have read this book, it still raptures me. Particular stories about an individual's life intrigue me since everyone is obviously different. I rather look into their perspectives and ideology. Krakauer's ability to relive McCandless' life was done so flawlessly making this book seem too good to be true.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Into the Wild: Letter no. 3
Dear self,
This is the last letter and the end of the book.
Although towards the end of the second paper clip is when they started talking more about McCandless' death, I didn't want to say much until now. I guess this will just be based on everyone's reaction of his death..
First, I'd really like to talk about Christopher's family and his background.
He was a good kid who respected his parents, especially his father, but never had a close relationship. When Chris left, he never kept close contact with them. Although his parents knew was that he was going to "leave", they didn't know where, when, or even why. His father offered him his credit card for any emergencies, but declined.
Then his parents got Christopher's hitchhiking ticket in the mail and they obviously freaked out and called the police to try to search for him. Their efforts of using a personal detective didn't even work. They never expected that Christopher would do this. He came from a high-middle class family and was an honors student. McCandless majored in history and anthropology and denied entrance to an honors fraternity. If you were to look at a person with that kind of profile, you wouldn't expect to get Christopher. He doesn't give a shit about titles or material stuff. He's all about good living.
His death took a huge toll on his family and those who met him throughout his adventure. His younger sister, Carine, took it the hardest though. Carine was the closest family he had. They understood each other and had a great relationship. Either way, his death scarred his family forever and it's hard to imagine how it would feel for his parents, outliving their own child. It was difficult for both his sister and mother to eat after discovering the news. While Carine was in the plane with her brother's ashes, she ate all of her food saying, "even though it was that horrible stuff they serve on airplanes, I just couldn't bear the thought of throwing away food since Chris had starved to death."
This is the last letter and the end of the book.
Although towards the end of the second paper clip is when they started talking more about McCandless' death, I didn't want to say much until now. I guess this will just be based on everyone's reaction of his death..
First, I'd really like to talk about Christopher's family and his background.
He was a good kid who respected his parents, especially his father, but never had a close relationship. When Chris left, he never kept close contact with them. Although his parents knew was that he was going to "leave", they didn't know where, when, or even why. His father offered him his credit card for any emergencies, but declined.
Then his parents got Christopher's hitchhiking ticket in the mail and they obviously freaked out and called the police to try to search for him. Their efforts of using a personal detective didn't even work. They never expected that Christopher would do this. He came from a high-middle class family and was an honors student. McCandless majored in history and anthropology and denied entrance to an honors fraternity. If you were to look at a person with that kind of profile, you wouldn't expect to get Christopher. He doesn't give a shit about titles or material stuff. He's all about good living.
His death took a huge toll on his family and those who met him throughout his adventure. His younger sister, Carine, took it the hardest though. Carine was the closest family he had. They understood each other and had a great relationship. Either way, his death scarred his family forever and it's hard to imagine how it would feel for his parents, outliving their own child. It was difficult for both his sister and mother to eat after discovering the news. While Carine was in the plane with her brother's ashes, she ate all of her food saying, "even though it was that horrible stuff they serve on airplanes, I just couldn't bear the thought of throwing away food since Chris had starved to death."
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Holocaust
Just some informational stuff on the Holocaust and Anti-Semitism in honor of the Holocaust week. Also practicing some essay writing..
Anti-Semitism is unconditional hate or prejudice against Jews due to either their cultural, religious, and/or ethnic background. Anti-Semitism has been around long before the Holocaust was even an idea. Its history dates back to ancient times where the Jewish revolted against the Roman Empire for religious and righteous reasons. Persecutions also took place against Jews during the Middle Ages where they would either be forced to convert or slaughtered. Anti-Semitism grew for centuries before reaching big history—the Holocaust.
The Holocaust was the largest genocide against Jewish people during World War II under Adolf Hitler. It also included discrimination and potential slaughter to those who opposed the Nazi movement, the disabled, homosexuals, Africans, Poles, Romani, Soviet civilians, Soviet prisoners of war, and political or religious opponents. The genocide was carried out in stages starting with discrimination and abuse. That then led to separation into the ghettos then transports to concentration camps where millions would be dehumanized, tortured, and murdered. Adolf Hitler and the rest of the Nazi party believed that Jews were unworthy people and were just a burden to the world. They viewed them as parasites to the superior Aryan race, so they must be exterminated.
Concentration camps played a major role in the Holocaust. Majority of the suffering and killing took place there. Auschwitz, located in Southern Poland, was considered the largest and most feared extermination camp of all. Prisoners would go through routinely selections to determine whether they will go to the right (work) or go to the left (immediate death). The elderly, ill, and young children would typically be placed to the left. They were unaware of what these directions meant at first, so some would go to the left to be with their loved ones (usually mothers who do not want to lose their children). The ones who go left would be led to the gas chambers convinced that they would be going through disinfection (shower), but to only discover that they were trapped helplessly with cheap toxic gas flowing from the "shower heads". Their deaths were not quick and those who were still alive by the end would still be shoved into the crematory. The others would be put through hard labor and be tormented by soldiers. They were constantly starving-- the only food they got was a small bowl of soup and a bit of bread. They would be shot at or critically punished for the smallest reasons. An estimated 1.1 million prisoners were killed with only 7,000 being liberated once the Soviet forces arrived in Auschwitz.
Before extermination and concentration camps were liberated, prisoners would be forced to go on “death marches” where they would march for miles in the freezing cold with no food or water to another camp. If one were to slow down or fall, they would be shot and killed immediately.
After the camps were liberated, members of the Nazi party were hunted down and executed. Many committed suicide or simply ran off. Today, there are a handful of people who deny the Holocaust despite the mass amounts of proof.
Yeah. I know this is really.. basic and not so in-depth information, but that was the point. So... the end.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Into the Wild: Letter no. 1 + 2
Dear self,
Although I have already read this book in the past numerous times, I always become refreshed by this bone-chilling story. I'm glad that I'll be able to take this chance to actually dissect this book. Cheers to good reading!
I've noticed that the first two chapters are dedicated to the start of Christopher's-- or Alex's journey to the wilderness of Alaska and it's abrupt end. I found that to be quite interesting rather than putting everything in chronological order..
It's a bit frustrating reading about McCandless since he's so damn stubborn. In the beginning, Gallien offered him to buy him new gear and stuff and yet he still refuses. I understand that it's his personal policy to live off his own and stuff-- but he's leading himself to his death! I guess it's just not worthy or as achieving if you leech off others.
Although investigators passed off his death from starvation in the beginning, I remember that he was actually poisoned from eating bad berries/herbs or something like that. I'm not sure if that is approached by Krakauer towards the end or if the case was revisited after the publication of this book. I simply do not remember.
His journey overall was pretty long. I believe in total it was around 2 years and then 4 months into Alaska. "Alex Supertramp" met amazingly nice people and lived.. humorously. It's like he doesn't give a shit sometimes, but at the same time he has so much to say or represent.
What I enjoy about this book is that it doesn't only include McCandless' adventure, but the criticism he and the author himself has received. To be honest, I agree halfway with those who opposed McCandless' dumbass ignorance. He is part of the cliché of another idealistic and selfless young man who wants to take on mother nature as an adventure.. a realization or something.
The thing I happen to like about McCandless is how he keeps in contact with the people he has met. He doesn't reach them constantly, but a few phone calls or postcards a year. It's like they have become a significant aspect of his journey.
Anyways, after the brief introduction of his start and death, Krakauer continues with the journey in the mainland. Chris drove his ass all the way to the west, Arizona, where he eventually abandons his beloved Datsun along with other equipment due to a flash flood. Skipping his hitchhike from Arcata, California-- his parents are frantically worrying over Christopher. They received his ticket for hitchhiking towards the end of August and are totally unaware of what he's trying to do. They're utterly baffled especially since he abandoned his Datsun (which he defended when his parents offered to buy him a new car). Reporting to their local police department was obviously no good so they sought help from a known army general who turned them to Peter Kalitka, a private investigator. He caught some leads.. but of course never found McCandless.
Although I have already read this book in the past numerous times, I always become refreshed by this bone-chilling story. I'm glad that I'll be able to take this chance to actually dissect this book. Cheers to good reading!
I've noticed that the first two chapters are dedicated to the start of Christopher's-- or Alex's journey to the wilderness of Alaska and it's abrupt end. I found that to be quite interesting rather than putting everything in chronological order..
It's a bit frustrating reading about McCandless since he's so damn stubborn. In the beginning, Gallien offered him to buy him new gear and stuff and yet he still refuses. I understand that it's his personal policy to live off his own and stuff-- but he's leading himself to his death! I guess it's just not worthy or as achieving if you leech off others.
Although investigators passed off his death from starvation in the beginning, I remember that he was actually poisoned from eating bad berries/herbs or something like that. I'm not sure if that is approached by Krakauer towards the end or if the case was revisited after the publication of this book. I simply do not remember.
His journey overall was pretty long. I believe in total it was around 2 years and then 4 months into Alaska. "Alex Supertramp" met amazingly nice people and lived.. humorously. It's like he doesn't give a shit sometimes, but at the same time he has so much to say or represent.
What I enjoy about this book is that it doesn't only include McCandless' adventure, but the criticism he and the author himself has received. To be honest, I agree halfway with those who opposed McCandless' dumbass ignorance. He is part of the cliché of another idealistic and selfless young man who wants to take on mother nature as an adventure.. a realization or something.
The thing I happen to like about McCandless is how he keeps in contact with the people he has met. He doesn't reach them constantly, but a few phone calls or postcards a year. It's like they have become a significant aspect of his journey.
Anyways, after the brief introduction of his start and death, Krakauer continues with the journey in the mainland. Chris drove his ass all the way to the west, Arizona, where he eventually abandons his beloved Datsun along with other equipment due to a flash flood. Skipping his hitchhike from Arcata, California-- his parents are frantically worrying over Christopher. They received his ticket for hitchhiking towards the end of August and are totally unaware of what he's trying to do. They're utterly baffled especially since he abandoned his Datsun (which he defended when his parents offered to buy him a new car). Reporting to their local police department was obviously no good so they sought help from a known army general who turned them to Peter Kalitka, a private investigator. He caught some leads.. but of course never found McCandless.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Renewed Goals
I truly believe that I have not improved as much as I wanted to these past few months..
Why? I don't even know bro. I suppose it's because of my lack of this and that and constant tumble overs that just screw me over. I realized that once the 500 word mark was required, I had to borrow ideas. I understand that it's perfectly fine to do, but it's not what I originally wanted to do. I wanted to bring up my own ideas and curiosities, but it just haven't been.. happening. I don't know what else to say about my writing so I'll just talk about other academic goals.
So far, I'm very proud of myself. My total outcome for this year is incredible. I've made so many improvements and new accomplishments. I have also gained more confidence too (kind of.. it varies). For the first time in my life, I've achieved a 3.6 GPA and made it onto honor roll. I'm pretty sure it's a great accomplishment, right? My mother has been going crazy about it. She constantly brags to her friends or family even though my grades aren't entirely perfect. I've also grown to like math which used to be my sworn academic enemy. I'm kind of upset that I'm not able to go into pre-calculus next year since my summer physics course will clash with any other class I might try to take. I guess that's what I get for not paying attention in algebra for like three years.
Along with my achievements, I do have many disappointments.
I switched my claaaasses! Afrlgkjfklh'lk; I still haunts me everyday because it's just so shameful. It makes me feel so unprepared for unexpected things in the near future because you can't always go choosing your superiors or teachers. I'm really neutral on this situation because I have two sides to it: I should be able to take up the challenge and prove myself vs. I used to be a shitty student so I can't handle this shit right now.
God damn I'm so lame.
The biggest goal I have right now is to make it through AP Physics next year! It's the one thing I'm looking forward to-- yet at the same time afraid of. I'm really glad that I want to take AP physics because 1.) I enjoy the subject and 2.) I want to possibly major in it and have it involved in my future careers. I suppose I'm just afraid that I'll be unable to keep up and just fall behind with no hope of catching up. It's apparently a really difficult class and more than 100 students attended the informational meeting so I'm also afraid of the competition of getting in. Wow, I just sound ridiculous now. But yeah.. I don't know. Small stuff? Hopefully taking a class over the summer will help prepare me. I mean, the closest thing I got to physics was 8th grade physical science-- which I didn't even pass. I'm screwed.
Why? I don't even know bro. I suppose it's because of my lack of this and that and constant tumble overs that just screw me over. I realized that once the 500 word mark was required, I had to borrow ideas. I understand that it's perfectly fine to do, but it's not what I originally wanted to do. I wanted to bring up my own ideas and curiosities, but it just haven't been.. happening. I don't know what else to say about my writing so I'll just talk about other academic goals.
So far, I'm very proud of myself. My total outcome for this year is incredible. I've made so many improvements and new accomplishments. I have also gained more confidence too (kind of.. it varies). For the first time in my life, I've achieved a 3.6 GPA and made it onto honor roll. I'm pretty sure it's a great accomplishment, right? My mother has been going crazy about it. She constantly brags to her friends or family even though my grades aren't entirely perfect. I've also grown to like math which used to be my sworn academic enemy. I'm kind of upset that I'm not able to go into pre-calculus next year since my summer physics course will clash with any other class I might try to take. I guess that's what I get for not paying attention in algebra for like three years.
Along with my achievements, I do have many disappointments.
I switched my claaaasses! Afrlgkjfklh'lk; I still haunts me everyday because it's just so shameful. It makes me feel so unprepared for unexpected things in the near future because you can't always go choosing your superiors or teachers. I'm really neutral on this situation because I have two sides to it: I should be able to take up the challenge and prove myself vs. I used to be a shitty student so I can't handle this shit right now.
God damn I'm so lame.
The biggest goal I have right now is to make it through AP Physics next year! It's the one thing I'm looking forward to-- yet at the same time afraid of. I'm really glad that I want to take AP physics because 1.) I enjoy the subject and 2.) I want to possibly major in it and have it involved in my future careers. I suppose I'm just afraid that I'll be unable to keep up and just fall behind with no hope of catching up. It's apparently a really difficult class and more than 100 students attended the informational meeting so I'm also afraid of the competition of getting in. Wow, I just sound ridiculous now. But yeah.. I don't know. Small stuff? Hopefully taking a class over the summer will help prepare me. I mean, the closest thing I got to physics was 8th grade physical science-- which I didn't even pass. I'm screwed.
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