Into the Wild by John Krakauer
Into the Wild by John Krakauer
| 1. “SOS I need your help. I am injured, near death, and too weak to hike out of here. I am all alone, this is no joke. In the name of God Please remain and save me. I am out collecting berries close by and shall return this evening. .”(John Kraukauer, 2012. Page 12 | 1. These are the exact words of Christopher McCandless as taken from his dairy. He is addressing SOS to save him since he is injured.
2. Though he has taken a journey into the wild alone, McCandless now wishes to be saved from an impending death. 3. Even in his dangerous pursuit of freedom, McCandless comes to a point of defeat. He cannot help himself and he now wishes to get help from people though he had distanced himself from people to go all alone. 4. The quote makes me reflect on how important other people are in my life. I would want to live well with others and never wish to be alone and helpless when other people can commune with me
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| 2 “No longer would he answer to Chris McCandless, he was now Alexander Super tramp, master of his own destiny.” (Krakauer 2012.) Page 23. | 1. The author tells the audience how determined McCandless was to cut himself off from his people, and past.
2 Christopher McCandless wanted a new identity, he had made considerable effort to cut himself off completely, and he does not even contact his sister who was close to him for two years, abandons his car and belongings. 3 By acquiring a new identity, McCandless would never go back home. He embarks on a journey of no return. It’s like being reborn. 4 My experience is that there is a time I felt the master of my own destiny. I had come to a degree of independence which is a product of deliberate decisions. But not to cut off my past, our history is the point of reference. |
| 3 ‘McCandless was thrilled to be on his way north, and he was relieved as well – relieved he had again evaded the impending threat of human intimacy,friendship and all the messy emotional baggage that comes with it. He had fled the claustrophobic confines of his family. He’d successful kept Jan Barres and Wayne Westerberg at an arm’s length, flitting out of their lives before anything was expected was expected of him.” (Krakaeur 2012) Page 55 | 1 Kraukaeur tells the audience how McCandless was happy to be on his way north.
2 it tells of how he did not want to be close to anyone even his family. 3 McCandless does not put into consideration the bonds of intimacy. He abandons his responsibilities, family and friends. He has himself only to be accountable to he does not care the hurt he causes those close to him, love him and care for his safety. He kept his friends at bay and slipped away before anything was expected of him. 4 There are times I feel that I would rather be left alone by even friends and family to make important decisions. But many times I come to appreciate their love and concern, which surpass whatever quest that makes me desire solitude. |
| 4 “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 are a great men, I now walk ‘Into the Wild’ (Krakauer 2012) Page 69. | 1 it is McCandless speaking to Wayne Westerberg about his walk into the wild.
2 It is Christopher’s last words before he goes to the Alaskan wilderness. 3 McCandless acknowledges that he might not survive which makes the adventure suicidal. So long as he gets real experience and freedom, he did not mind how dangerous his pursuit would be. 4 My experience is that there is a time that I wanted change in my life that I was ready to take certain risks. Though my risks may not have been life threatening, I knew one can take risks because of a quest. |
| 5. “A man who has given away a small fortune, forsaken a loving family, abandoned his car, watch and a map and burned up the last of his money before traipsing off into the wilderness.” (Krakauer 2012) Page 71. | 1 Krakauer addresses the audience asking the essence of McCandless’s quest.
2 McCandless had parted with all he would call important to concentrate on his quest. 3 the actions of Christopher McCandless seem completely pointless. It does not make sense to embrace some pursuits in life. 4 there comes a point in my life when I want to find out the real meaning of life, to get to a point of defining the reason behind my very existence. Such moments, even m small possessions are meaningless. |
| 6 “But there was a side of him that was a little bit dreamy, a little bit out of touch with reality” (Kraukauer 2012) Page 81 | 1 Kraukauer telling the reader how hard it is for McCandless to cut himself off.
2 McCandless still felt part of the past. 3 No one can completely change himself. There will always be part of him that remembers the past and behaviors from the past pulling you 4 in my life there are some memories from the past that I can’t completely erase. |
| 7 “I have known too much of the depths of life already, and I would prefer anything to an anticlimax” ( Krakauer 2012) page 87 | 1 McCandless speaking to the reader about how he was set to finding his purpose.
2 He is sure he would not settle for anything less 3 At times one loses hope of missing to know their purpose. Coming to terms with the fact that you may miss the final thrill can make you accept death. 4 I have pursued my purpose with zeal, not wanting to miss anything and failing to find my purpose is also unimaginable. |
| 8 “As she studies the pictures she breaks down from time to time, weeping as only a mother who has outlived a child can weep. Betraying a sense of loss so huge, so irreparable. Such bereavement witnessed at close range, makes even the most eloquent apologia for a high risk activities ring fatuous and hollow”( Krakauer 2012) page 132 | 1 Krakauer explains the grief felt by McCandless’s mother after his body was discovered.
2 Billie McCandless weeps for her son feeling the pain of his death and his betrayal of her love. 3 the passage emphasizes the cruelty of Chris McCandless’s actions, no matter how important it was to hi, by going into the wild alone, he caused so much pain and suffering to his parents and family. 4 it made me reflect on the many times I have hurt my parents and family out of my selfish quests and desires.
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| 9 “Seven weeks after the body of his son turned up in Alaska wrapped in a blue sleeping bag that Billie had sewn for Chris from a kit, Walt studies a sailboat scudding beneath the window of his waterfront town house . ‘How is it he wonders aloud as he gazes blankly across Chesapeake Bay, that a kid with so much compassion could cause his parent so much pain.”(Krakauer 2012) page 103. | 1 Kraukauer telling the readers about Walt McCandless’s feelings about his son’s death.
2 we learn that Christopher McCandless had been a compassionate person, so may be his quest was fueled by something he disliked with the way Americans live. 3 McCandless cuts his family out of his life deliberately. His anger towards his parents seems to be the source of his quest. 4 Like McCandless sometimes I have acted a bit selfishly such that those close to me have wondered how such a compassionate person can act like that. |
| 10. “A trance like state settles over your efforts; the climb becomes a clear – eyed dream. Hours slide by like minutes. The accumulated clutter of day – to – day existence – the lapses of conscience, the unpaid bills , the bungled opportunities, the dust under the coach , the inescapable prison of your genes. All this temporarily forgotten, crowded from your thoughts by overpowering clarity of purpose and by the seriousness of the task at hand.” (Kraukaeur 2012) Page 142 and 143 | 1 Kraukaeur explains to the reader the feelings he had while climbing the Devils thump.
2 it is an explanation of high risk activities 3 the passage shows the intense focus that is required to survive high risk activities. Daily activities cannot interfere and this is why McCandless seems to escape from responsibilities and bonds of relationships. 4 there are times I wish I could put aside the daily activities and put all my effort in something I really desire to acquire. |
| 11 “We little know until tried how much of the uncontrollable there is in us an urge to cross glaciers and torrents and up dangerous heights, let the judgement forbid as it may” (Kraukauer 2012) page 145.
12 “Two years he walks on earth, no phone, no pet, no pool no cigarettes. Ultimate freedom. An extremist, an aesthetic voyager whose home is the road. Escaped from Atlanta. ‘Thou shalt not return “cause” the “west is the best”, and now after two rambling years comes the final and greatest adventure, the climactic battle to kill the false within and victoriously conclude the spiritual revolution.”(Krakauer 2012) page 163.
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1 Krakauer explains to the reader how one gets the urge to do the uncontrollable.
2 it means we must subject oneself self- control to avoid extremity. 3 by walking into the wild, Christopher McCandless wanted to have quiet time alone to search his soul and answer questions he felt disturbing. 4 there are times in my life I feel I would like to take that spiritual journey to understand deep convictions and examine some beliefs
1 McCandless tells the reader how proud he is that so far, he has accomplished a lot in his quest. 2 Thou shall not return means that he is not walking into the wilderness to die but he is not willing to go back to the East. 3 Now that he is alone he can enjoy the ultimate freedom he has so much desired. 4 the passage reminds me of how sometimes I wish to be alone to do things my way and experience total freedom.
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| 13 “McCandless went into the wilderness not primarily to ponder nature or the world at large but rather to explore the inner country of his own soul” (Kraukauer 2012) page 183 | 1 this is Krakauer telling the reader why Chris walked into the wild alone.
2 it was not adventure that drove McCandless to the wilderness but a desire for spiritual revolution . |
| 3 without self- control, we can easily be driven and motivated to dangerous pursuits and take hard risks where the possibility of death does not even strike one.
4 There are times my imagination also gets out of control and I find myself thinking of impossible pursuits, at such times only the power of self-control saves me from attempting anything shocking. |
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| 14 “He demanded so much of himself – more in the end than he could deliver”(Kraukaeur 2012) page 184 | 1 Krakaeur tells the reader that McCandless had a big and unrealistic ambition which in the end turns out to destroy him.
2 To take a journey into the wild ended north was not at all realistic, he would have got to north even without going through the wilderness but then his was more of a spiritual journey. 3 every time we live beyond moral pursuits we tend to demand a lot from ourselves and this may lead us to apply abstract principles. 4 in setting of goals, I have tried to follow the rules, I mean to set achievable goals but some of my ambitions have also demanded too much from me. |
| 15 “Roman Andrew and I stay up well past midnight trying to make sense of McCandless’s life and death, yet his essence remains slippery, vague elusive.” (Krakauer 2012) page 186 | 1 Kraukauer tells the reader how he and McCandless’s friend Roman tried to understand the circumstances of his life and death.
2 it is not possible to understand what drives another person. 3 although we would like to understand, and Kraukauer tries to help us, in the end we cannot fully comprehend or make sense of McCandless’s life and death. 4 there are times I cannot make sense of everything that happens in my life. |
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