Introduction

Into the Wild by John Krakauer is a book written about a young man named Chris McCandless. After Chris graduated from Emory University in Atlanta, he gave away all of his saving , about $24,000, and left his family behind to travel. He later burnt his car and all the money in his wallet. McCandless got a ride from a man who took his to an Alaskan trail. All he had was 10 pounds of rice, which he abandoned, a rifle, a camera, rifle rounds, and a few books to read, one being a guide on plants you can eat. The story starts off with the discovery of McCandless's body inside of an abandoned bus in Alaksa. The cause of death was guessed to be starvation but never was decided. Chris was missing for two years and survived about 112 days in the Alskan wilderness where he made camp in an abandoned bus, kept a journal, ate berries and roots, and hunted game. Into the wild has recently been made into a motion picture that recounts the events of McCandless's adventure to the Alaskan wilderness.

Jon Krakauer Biography

Jon Karakauer was born in 1954 in Corvallis, Oregon. Krakauer was taught by his father about climbing mountains when he was about 8 years old. After graduating from Hampshire College in 1976, Krakauer divided his time between Colorado, Alaska, and the Pacific Northwest, earning his living as a carpenter and salmon fisherman, spending most of his free moments in the mountains. Krakauer became an avid climber climbing mountains such as the remote Stikine Icecap in Southeast Alaska, where he went three weeks without encountering another person, and climbed a new route on a peak called the Devils Thumb. In 1992 he climbed the West Face of Cerro Torre in the Patagonian Andes, which was once considered the most dangerous montain on earth.
In May 1996 Krakauer reached the top of Mt. Everest, but during the descent a storm engulfed the peak, taking the lives of four of the five teammates who climbed to the summit with him.

Jon Krakauer is now a very famous author with writing books like Into the Wild, Into Thin Air, and others.

Place in the U.S

A place that I would like to go in the U.S is the Grand Canyon. I have never been there before and I would want to go there someday. The Grand Canyon is know for how large it is and the amazing views you get from it. The Grand Canyon is visited by
hundreds of thousands of people from all of the U.S. It is one of the most visited places in the U.S. I think that it would be a very fun trip to visit the Grand Canyon because I hear it is an amazing place to be.

Picture: http://www.astrofoto.ca/stuartheggie/Grand_Canyon/Grand_Canyon_23.jpg

Direct and Indirect Characterization of Chris McCandless

Direct Characterization- Direct Characterization tells the audience what the personality of the character is
Indirect Characterization- shows things that reveal the personality of a character
definition from: www.dictionary.com

Direct and Indirect Characterization

Direct:
1. McCandless is well educated. Krakauer shows this when he says that, “In May 1990, Chris graduated from Emory University in Atlanta, where he’d been a columnist, and editor of, the student newspaper, The Emory Wheel, and had distinguished himself as a history and anthropology major with a 3.72 grade- point average.” (p.20)
2. McCandless is confident because he thinks he can survive in the wilderness with the small amounts of food and gear he has. “No thanks anyway, I’ll be fine with what I’ve got.” (p.6)
3. Chris is unorthodox because he lives a strange lifestyle that is very simple. Krakauer shows this he describes Chris’s room, “Chris had lived off campus in a monkish room furnished with little more than a thin mattress on the floor, milk crates, and a table.”
4. He was a hard worker at whatever he did. “It was a different story with Alex. He has the hardest worker I’d ever seen.” (p.18)
5. He is afraid of water. Krakauer tells the reader this when Chris says, “I was out on the ocean in a canoe, and I almost drowned when a storm came up.” (p.5)
6. Chris is very determined. Jim Galien tries to talk him out of it but he says that, “there was no talking him out of it.”
Indirect:
1. Chris is very independent. Krakauer shows this by him telling about Chris’s tendencies to go away from the popular options and running away from his home. He shows this when Chris is talking to Jim and says that he is going to “live off the land for a few months” which shows that he has run away from his home. (p.4)
2. Chris is a likable guy. Everyone he meets seems to like him. When Wayne Westerberg meets him he describes him as “an amiable kid” and that “There was something arresting about the youngster’s eyes.”
3. Chris finds lots of meaning in books. The book shows this because when he is found with all the books in the bus with him and that he gave his copy of War and Peace to Wayne means that books meant a lot to him. “Before departing, he gave Westerberg a treasured 1942 edition of Tolstoy’s War and Peace.” He tells Wayne to find deeper meaning the book while reading it.
4. Chris has problems with his family. Krakauer shows this when he is talking to Galien and says, “Alex answered calmly that no, no one knew of his plans, that in fact he hadn’t spoken to his family in over 2 years.”
5. Crhis wanted to be free from the modern world. He shows this when he severs the connection from his old life by changing his name to Alex Supertramp. “No longer would he answer to Chris McCandless, he was now Alex Supertramp, master of his ouwn destiny.”

Google Earth Into the Wild Journey

The Google Earth expedition showed me a little more about just how much Chris traveled. I think it is amazing how much ground he covered in the amount of time he did. He traveled through most of the country and made lasting impressions on everyone he met. He had amazing adventures on his trip which I think made everything he did worth while not only for him to be able to find himself but the amount of peoples’ lives that he changed along the way. Chris had the ability to make new friends and change his own life. Chris made his mark on our country through the lives he touched and lessons he taught about taking chances on what you believe.