Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

A detailed Summary of Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

Sometimes a character may be pushed over the edge by our materialistic society to discover his/her true roots, which can only be found by going back to nature where monetary status was not important. Chris McCandless leaves all his possessions and begins a trek across the Western United States, which eventually brings him to the place of his demise-Alaska. Jon Krakauer makes you feel like you are with Chris on his journey and uses exerts from various authors such as Thoreau, London, and Tolstoy, as well as flashbacks and narrative pace and even is able to parallel the adventures of Chris to his own life as a young man in his novel Into the Wild. Krakauer educates himself of McCandless' story by talking to the people that knew Chris the best. These people were not only his family but the people he met on the roads of his travels- they are the ones who became his road family.

McCandless, an intelligent child to say the least, was frustrated with orders by anyone. He wanted to do things his way or no way and he does this throughout his life. Whether it was getting an F in physics because he refused to write lab reports a certain way (an F was something that was never on McCandless report card) or not listening to advice from

Chris met many people who helped him along the way. He made an impact on everyone he met. People know him as both Chris McCandless and Alex Supertramp. He began calling himself Alex along his travels. Many other adventures that traveled into the wild changed their name also so it is possible that Chris was just following along. This is doubtful though because Chris was not a follower. For some reason or another he probably just wanted to change his name, maybe to completely separate himself from his old identity. This identity was the one his parents and siblings knew him as. Chris loved his sister but just could not get along with his mother and father even though he would always have a love for them and they would also love, be attached, and worried about him. This rift between parents and child caused much of the motivation for Chris to leave. His final name was inscribed in various areas around where he was found dead at the bus site. Whether it was a travelling couple or a man who owned a grain business, Chris had a spot in all of their hearts. Wayne Westerberg was one of the main helpers of Chris along the way. Chris was not only Wayne's employee at the grain factory but he was also his friend and Wayne played a fatherly role to Chris. Chris would write Wayne more often than he would his own father and would visit him when he needed to make money for supplies for his next trip. Chris sent his final postcard to Wayne and even hinted that the postcard might be the last contact they ever had. People who just gave him a ride and some free supplies also remember Chris. Anyone who he met remembers him because he was a truly unique individual. One of the main people that Chris effected was the author of this novel.

his parents to the extreme of leaving society to go into the wilderness, McCandless definitely was not a follower. His parents were told by one of his teachers at an early age that Chris "marched to the beat of his own drummer". Chris never lost his ability to do things the way he wanted and when he wanted to do them. After receiving his diploma from Emory in 1990 he set off on a two-year escapade that would eventually end his life but in my opinion, if Chris could start over he would probably not do things much differently. I think he would still donate his $25,000 to an organization, leave his car in the woods, burn the remainder of his money, and hitch-hiked across the United States. The only thing he might do differently is finding a way not to starve to death at the end of the novel.

In the beginning of each chapter, Kr

Some common words found in the essay are:
Wayne Westerberg, Wild Krakauer, Alex Supertramp, Tolstoy London, Jon Chris, Chris Chris, Thumb Chris, Alexander Supertramp, , Jon Krakauer, people chris, people met, chris mccandless, family people, exerts various authors, jon krakauer, various authors, exerts various, people told, chris met, chris sent, family people met,

Approximate Word count = 1740
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English