A hero can be represented as an icon of an idea desired by the rest of the world, but when a hero is only romanticised as one it shields the true person behind the mask. Chris McCandless is such a hero, who has been published as a hero and phenomenal adventurist through Krakauer's book, "Into The Wild." Through Krakauer's writing, McCandless has since been elevated to a stature of an American hero, while underneath the story we can see McCandless not as an American hero, but under the more appropriate title of an American Idiot.
Krakauer, through a transcendental tone towards McCandless, transformed the young boy of 24 to an American hero after his death, while in reality McCandless better fits the role of American idiot. While many adventurists
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Krakauer shows the boy as a hero seeking "opportunity in his predicaments while acting rashly while discarding of necessary possessions such as a rifle, and the burning of his money" (Krakauer 29). McCandless later realizes that one cannot survive without much needed supplies and regains some of what he lost to continue living on his great journey. Krakauer illustrates the action of burning his money as a poetic moment, almost inspiring, with a strong transcendentalist tone that makes the reader want to get rid of all possessions and burn their money as well, but this majestic illustration is false in its inability to show McCandless's rash nature and inability to think his actions through showing utter ignorance and childlike behavior. McCandless's ignorance is hard to pin through the makeup Krakauer has placed over the character, this prevents the readers from seeing the truth underneath the mask. Further in the book, McCandless reaches his final destination of Alaska and while fending for …show more content…
Matthew Power in The Cult of Chris McCandless points out the "enigma of Chris McCandless" through the themes of "self-invention, risk, and our complex relationship to the natural world while McCandless may have been a visionary man who wished to become one of a higher thinking and knowledge but through the mesh of lies that shield him he is only presented as an "unprepared fool, a greenhorn who had fundamentally misjudged the wilderness he'd wanted so desperately to commune with”. McCandless's hubris was one of the many reasons he did not survive his journey. He was too caught up in the pursuit of a dream that when it came down to acting upon it he was unable to succeed and fell under. There are many ways McCandless could've saved himself and got care and possible survived from his ordeal, one of the more obvious ways was to get up and leave. Some might ask those who envision McCandless as a hero, why didn't he get up and leave? While they may respond with, he was weak and couldn't leave, then why didn't he do it when he realized that he was not eating enough. McCandless's pride and ignorance ultimately showed throughout his life and are causes of his death as a
Although some might argue that McCandless should have notified his parents that he was going to take this trip, however, if he would’ve told his family they would have gone out of their way to bring him back home. Furthermore Mccandless did tell his parents that he was going on this trip and didn’t find the need to tell them where he was going minute by minute. He was an adult and understood what the consequences were. Ever since Mccandless was a kid he was isolated, he felt that he didn’t belong in the world he lived in.
A trait simply described as the overestimation of oneself can be a quintessential element in understanding a character’s downfall. People such as Chris McCandless, Oedipus and Tiger Woods are key examples when trying to relate, understand, and analyze what we know today as “Hubris”. The connections that can be made between each of these characters describe the very nature of how a hero will ultimately meet their bane as a result of being blinded by their own flaws. The death of Chris McCandless was an extremely controversial subject that involved many different people. The justification of his death can be argued in a way .
Chris McCandless’s journey has inspired many people around the world. However, some people view him as a hero and others as a fool. The Hero’s Journey describes the typical adventure of the archetype known as the hero, the person who goes out and achieves great deeds on behalf of the group, tribe, or civilization. Some would argue Chris’s story does not paint the picture of a hero because everything he did was based on himself. On the other hand, some people believe he was a hero and broke down many barriers for people across the world through his actions.
“To symbolize the complete severance from his previous life, he even adopted a new name. … He was now Alexander Supertramp, master of his own destiny” (Krakauer). As early as the first few chapters of Into the Wild, the reader can already see the distinguishable features of a rebel. Not only does Chris McCandless possess rebellious qualities, but he admired writers like Jack London, Leo Tolstoy, and Henry David Thoreau, all of whom possessed the same rebellious attitude.
McCandless and McCunn's ventures into the wild had similar intentions and strategies. Although, the outcome of their ventures were slightly different. Both men displayed a certain degree of common sense. They were both friendly, curious, responsible, educated and intelligent men. Having fairly average lives, with big aspirations for their future.
Into The Wild portrays a man who went on a fatal unforgettable journey through the alaska wilderness. Chris McCandless was a man with great courage and the ability to live on his own made him more of a hero going on his fatal journey. Many would say he was foolish or not thinking right, but that is not the case. The case here is simply a man with courage wanting to fulfill is beliefs through his journey. One may ask what is courage.
"I think that Chris McCandless was bright and ignorant at the same time. He had no common sense, and he had no business going to Alaska with his Romantic silliness. He made a lot of mistakes based on ignorance. I don’t admire him at all for his courage nor his noble ideas. Really, I think he was just plain crazy."
After reading Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, I wondered to myself why I should even care about Chris McCandless. I can see how some think Chris McCandless was an idiot and he was trying to kill himself. After I dove deeper into this question, I learned that Chris McCandless story teaches us important life lessons. Chris McCandless teaches us to get out of our comfort zone. Ronald Franz was an older man who encountered Chris McCandless and gave him a ride from Salton City California to Grand Junction Colorado In Chris’s last letter to Ronald Franz, he says “So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation…
How does a person know if they have accomplished their life goal? It is very important to everyone to achieve a goal in life. People want to feel as though they died having their goal completed. In the novel Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer, Chris McCandless has a goal of a transcendental lifestyle. The lifestyle he is striving for is similar to that of Thoreau's and Jack London’s.
Christopher McCandless, the protagonist of the novel and film Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer, is not your average guy. Driven by his minimalist ideals and hate for society, he challenged the status quo and embarked on a journey that eventually lead to his unforeseen demise. A tragic hero, defined by esteemed writer, Arthur Miller, is a literary character who makes an error of judgment or has a fatal flaw that, combined with fate and external forces, brings on tragedy. Christopher McCandless fulfills the role of Miller’s tragic hero due to the fact that his tragic flaw of minimalism and aversion towards society had lead him to his death.
Chris McCandless was a college student with a need for adventure. On April 28, 1992, he left on a journey which would lead to the end of his life. After news of his death had reached public ear, most people came to the same conclusion: Chris McCandless was an uneducated, arrogant boy who went on a journey seeking death. However, in the novel Into the Wild, Jon Krakaur portrays Chris McCandless’ transcendental quest as a journey full of wonder. Throughout the novel, Krakaur defines McCandless as an intelligent, hard working, determined young man.
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is a biography that follows Chris McCandless and his journey through the wilderness while finding himself along the way. Chris McCandless died in the August of 1992 after a four month journey through places like Mexico and Alaska. Krakauer investigates his actions and analyzes his identity after his death, trying to find meaning within his seemingly unnecessary expedition. Chris McCandless constructs his personal identity as a man who wanted to be challenged and inspired by his actions and interests with people he met on the road, and his beliefs and values as a stubborn person. Chris McCandless’s actions are unusual in many ways; for one, he graduates college with honors, but instead of pursuing a career,
Perspective of Christopher McCandless’s Life Callarman’s argument to Christopher McCandless’s is relatable and understanding, but he does not see the full picture. Christopher McCandless had everything in his life: money, material, family, prestige etc. but the only thing he wanted to fully experience is the outside world, to get out of his comfort zone and see how nature really feels like. I would agree with Callarman’s argument because he was arrogant and unenlightenment, but I also would disagree because he died doing what he loved and a place he wanted to be.
Argumentative Essay In “To Build a Fire,” the story of an unnamed man traveling along the Yukon Trail with a dog is told. Throughout the story, the man’s death is foreshadowed. The husky that he is traveling with has a natural instinct and understands, seemingly more than the man, that traveling the Yukon Trail in the freezing cold temperatures is extremely dangerous. The man soon learns how cold it is when he spits.