Chris Krakauer s Non Fiction Book Into The Wild - 1515 Words

Imagine this: a young adult vanishes without a trace to venture off into the wild and â€Å"discover† himself. With the bearings of a modern-day bildungsroman, such a story may not seem uncommon; after all, young adult novels and films have both glorified and censured the youthful adventure tale, perpetuating an image of adolescents (particularly young males) as courageous yet foolhardy individuals who adamantly desire self-discovery. Such depictions may not be far from reality, as demonstrated by the story of Chris McCandless in Jon Krakauer’s non-fiction book Into the Wild. Krakauer presents a relatively objective account of 24-year-old McCandless’s brief sojourn in the Alaskan wilderness and the events leading to his death, offering opinions from individuals who criticized the young man’s arrogance and foolhardiness as well as those who extolled McCandless as a noble, brave hero. To establish an extreme and unyielding stance on Chris McCandless – viewing him as either a righteous idealist or an inexperienced dunderhead – would disregard McCandless’s nuanced personality and his sensitive familial circumstances. When one takes into account McCandless’s estrangement from his family and his worship of author Jack London’s The Call of the Wild, it becomes clear that while McCandless was an ignorant and overconfident hypocrite who was unable to survive in the wild, he genuinely adhered to his beliefs and was not wholly responsible for his own death. McCandless’s unusual familyShow MoreRelatedJon Krakauer And Chris Mccandless1015 Words   |  5 PagesJon Krakauer and Chris McCandless Into the Wild, a novel talks a young boy called Chris McCandless who was born in a rich East Coast family and traveled to Alaska by hitchhiking until he walked into the wilderness and then he dead. He loved to adventure, seek a place without civilization and escape where he lived. The author of the novel, Jon Krakauer, has similar experience to McCandless. Jon Krakauer climbed Devils Thumb, the one of dangerous mountains in Alaska alone when he was twenty-three,Read MoreInto the Wild Paper1504 Words   |  7 Pagesamp; Play April 13, 2011 How Krakauer Balances his Bias? Jon Krakauer s non-fiction novel  Into the Wild  explores the mystery surrounding Christopher McCandless and his life before he inevitably ran off  into the heart of the Alaskan wilderness in an attempt to discover himself in some manner.  In order to tell this story as accurately as possible, Krakauer uses a variety of techniques to give different perspectives to Chris’ life. The most prominent decision Krakauer makes though is in regards to