Into the Wild

(Intro)
For my non-fiction book, I was drawn towards the book, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. I decided to go with the story of Chris McCandless because over the years, I have been enthralled by books dealing with surviving in the wild, and just adventures in general. Prior to reading this book, I read Into Thin Air by the same author. From Into Thin Air, I knew that Into the Wild would follow the same path of being a great non-fiction book that takes a biography to a whole new level. From reading the summary, I got a good general idea of Chris's adventure. What I learned was that he decided one day that he was going to give up all of his possessions and basically go from city to city, and one day, go into the wild in the forest of Alaska. However, what I didn't get from the summary were all of the details of his trip. This is why I am excited to read this book. I can't wait for Krakauer to reveal McCandless' expedition.


(Middle)
I am currently halfway through the story, and so far I am not nearly as hooked as I thought I would be. When I started to read the book, I thought that I would be reading about the adventure of Chris surviving in the wilderness, but instead the author provided the reader with his odyssey through the USA, and even in Mexico. At some point, the author would go completely off of topic and began to discuss other men who have gone on journeys, such as Chris, and then related the two people in the next couple of pages. Personally, I wasn't expecting nor did I enjoy those parts of the book.

However, the author did have some great parts in the story, and I definitely he included a few very essential things that all of us can learn by reading this book. One of the themes that I came across in the story was that some things in life aren't necessary to live a happy one. After reading Huck Finn for my first book, I couldn't help but notice how similar the themes are in both of the books. In Huck Finn, he gives up all that he had, which was an education, a house, and a good group of friends. Huck made a choice to give all that up, and sail south with Jim, a runaway slave. It he spent months on the raft, and he was happy. Nothing in the world could beat being on that raft. The same was with Chris McCandless. He leaves his parents and the upper middle-class suburban setting in which they raised him, and donates all his savings to charity. Then he eventually abandons his car in the desert, and actually burns his money on the desert floor.

Throughout the story, Chris writes multiple letters to his family and friends that he met on his odyssey. One of the people he meets in named Ron, who he develops a sincere relationship with. In one of his letters Chris states, "The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun... If you want to get more out of life, Ron, you must lose your inclination for monotonous security and adopt a helter-skelter style of life that will at first appear to you to be crazy. But once you become accustomed to such a life you will see its full meaning and its incredible beauty" (Krakauer 187). This quote is essence summarizes the entire story and the life of Chris McCandless. It reveals many things about Chris's character and really is the main theme of the story. All of the material possession like a car, phone, T.V., computer, tablet, they all mean nothing. In order to live a happy life, you need to explore, and take advantage of the beautiful things out in the unknown. It's a great theme for everyone to take into account and apply to their lives because most people don't understand the wonders of taking adventures.

(End)
After learning all about the life of Chris McCandless in the biography Into the Wild, I have now realized that Chris, even though he died from starvation, died in a happy place. He might've been suffering from food poisoning, starvation, thirst, or getting mauled by a bear, and McCandless would've died happily. He had such a passion for the adventures and the thrills that he experienced in the wild and just touring around the country. However one thing that did bother me about the story was the arrogance and ignorance that Chris had about going on this odyssey. Throughout the book, it's revealed that Chris believes that he can do whatever he wants, and he won't get hurt. The most significant is when he actually journeys into the Alaskan woods without any way of getting help.

Eventually, as the book progresses, his ignorance begins to fade as he begins his trip in the forests. In a letter he wrote to a friend he made named Wayne Westerberg. Chris wrote, "Please return all mail I receive to the sender. It might be a very long time before I return South. If this adventure proves fatal and you don’t ever hear from me again, I want you to know you’re a great man. I now walk into the wild" (Krakauer 69). This are exact words from Chris right as he is about to take his first step into the wilderness. The fact that he acknowledges the idea of dying, proves me and most other readers wrong when we say that Chris is ignorant and arrogant. It shows that Chris knows very well that he is about to embark on an adventure that could prove fatal.

After some thought about his ignorance, I compared it to Holden in The Catcher in the Rye. In this book, Chris uses his ignorance as a self defense system. If he knew that he was more likely to die than survive, he might've second guessed whether or not to give up everything. That was something he didn't want to do because he wanted this so badly, and he wanted to go and explore what was out their. Holden on the other hand uses his ignorance to protect himself, but in a different way. He doesn't want to grow up into the adult world, so what he does is just ignore the fact that he will one day grow up. Overall, I came around to the book. I'd give it a 3.75 out of 5 stars and would recommend it to people who love books about adventure.