Introduction to Into the Wild Literature Project

The book we will be reading in class for literature is called Into the Wild and it is a novel written by Jon Krakauer. The main character is Christopher McCandless and the book is all about the adventures of his life and struggle to survive. The novel is about the adventurous young boy named Christopher and how he gets along living by himself in the wilderness. Into the Wild is supposed to be an awesome book so I look forward to reading and discussing it. So join in and read the blogs that I will be putting in on this book over the next month! Enjoy!

Jon Krakauer Biography

Jon Krakauer was born on April 12, 1954 in Brookline, Massachusetts. Jon Krakauer is an american mostly known for his adventures with mountain climbing and outdoor explorations. Even though Jon was born in Mass. he was raised and grew up in Corvallis, Oregon because his family had moved there when he was just 2 years old. As soon as Jon learned to walk you could see the athleticism in him. At just 8 years old, Jon was introduced to mountaineering by his father. Jon graduated from Corvallis High School in 1972. After graduating, Krakauer attended Hampshire College in Massachusetts and majored in Environmental Science. He was invited by several groups at his college who mountain climbed to explore different mountains such as the Arrigetch Peaks. At these peaks he was told by the American Alpine Journal to write about his experience. Jon received his bachelor's in 1976. In 1977 he spent three weeks alone in the wilderness of the Stikine Icecap region in Alaska. Here is where Jon met the former climber Linda Mariam Moore, whom he became very close to and eventually married in 1980. Besides climbing and writing, Krakauer also worked as a commercial salmon fisherman and as a carpenter. In 1996, Krakauer joined in with other mountaineers he was friends with and they went on a guided climb of Mount Everest (this was probably his most famous climb). However, during their descent from the mountain they were hit by a tremendous ice storm; this left four of his teammates dead. Jon wrote about this experience and received a National Magazine Award for it. Today, Jon Krakauer is an editor-at-large for Outside magazine and he and his wife live in Seattle. Jon's two major works are Into the Wild and Under the Banner of Heaven.]

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Krakauer

A sojourn to Texas!

A place in the US that I would really like to visit someday is Texas. I have heard from many people that it is a very fun vacation spot. Also, since I play at a pretty high level of soccer I meet and play soccer with/against girls from all around the country. I have met some girls from Texas who were from Dallas. They had the accent and everything; they said they love living in Texas and that it has a lot of fun places with lots of things to do and see. I would obviously have to fly to Texas and bring sunscreen and lots of money to visit all of the great sites there. Texas is known for several things like: Size, space-as in space exploration like NASSA, Longhorn cattle, Dallas Cowboys, real cowboys, The Alamo, The Commanche, tornadoes, oil, cotton, Texas Rangers (The real ones not the baseball team.),and High school football. The weather in Texas is unpredictable, it can be 92 Fahrenheit one day, and 62 the next, so I would have to bring all types of clothing. With this experience of Texas I would expect to listen to a lot of Texan, country music; maybe go to a Dallas Cowboys football game; see the attractions that the country has to offer; visit some of the cool parks there; and to have tons of fun.

Chris McCandless: Indirect and Direct Characterization

INDIRECT CHARACTERIZATION - "the writer reveals information about a character and his personality through that character's thoughts, words, and actions, along with how other characters respond to that character, including what they think and say about him." Dictionary.com
DIRECT CHARACTERIZATION - "in literature and drama, the method of character development in which the author simply tells what the character is like." Dictionary.com

Direct Characterization Examples:
1) "he claimed to be 24 years old" (page 4)
2) "five feet seven or eight" (page 4)
3) "with a wiry build" (page 4)
4) "he said he was from South Dakota" (page 4)
5) "he was determined. Real gung ho." (page 6)
6) "he was the hardest worker I've ever seen" (page 18)
7) "and he never quit in the middle of something" (page 18)
8) "he was what you'd call extremely ethical" (page 18)
9) "he set pretty high standards for himself" (page 18)
10) "you could tell right away that Alex was intelligent" (page 18)

Indirect Characterization Examples
1)Indirect Characterization Examples-
Chris gave all his money to Charity, Showing that he cared about others. Pg. 1 of author's notes
2)Burned the money in his pocket, Shows that he didn't need money to survive. Pg. 1 of author's notes
3)Abandoned his car to live off the wild, Shows that he is not a "Rubber Tramp", but a leather Tramp. Pg. 1 of author's notes.
4)instead of driving across the desert, he decides to walk it, showing that he could do everything without electronics. Pg 26
5)Chris sent his mother a gift on mother's day, Shows he still cared for his parents. pg 20
6)For 36 days all Chris ate was Rice and Marine Life, Shows how he was able to eat small amounts but stay strong. Pg. 36
7)Chris carried his canoe for, 3 DAYS on foot, pg 34
8)After graduating college, he went missing to live his life long dream, Shows that he was determined to live his dream. Pg.1 of Author's notes
9) Gallien saw that Chris's gear wasn't the best, so he offered to buy him better gear, but Chris told him no, Shows he didn't need anyone else's help . Pg. 6.
10)Chris mailed his parents, a copy of his grades, and they were all A's, shows that he was very smart in his work. Pg. 22


So far I can tell many things about Chris's character. He is a determined,smart man who is looking for an adventure. He is independent and doesn't like to accept things from other people out of kindness. Chris is hard-nosed and doesn't give up easily at all. He never quits on something he starts doing, and always needs to know the absolute right answer before he can go on to the next thing.

Symbolic Belt Design

If I were to be like Chris McCandless and create an object that had 8 symbols that related to me each in a different, special way i would design a belt as well. The eight symbols that I would carve into the belt would be: a soccer ball, an autism awareness pin, waves, the letters B.W., a cross, a dove, the sun, the letter G, and a music note. I would carve a soccer ball because soccer is basically my life and i have been playing for 8 years. An autism awareness pin because my brother Mikey has severe autism and I love him very much. Waves because I love the ocean and being in water. I would carve the letters B.W. into the belt for Bree Wojcik my sister because she is my best friend and sister who has always been there for me. A cross to represent God because I know he is always with me helping me through every rough time. A dove for the holy spirit which I know is also always with me and guiding me to follow Jesus and to make the right choices. I would carve the sun because I love when the sun is out, it always makes me happier and brightens the world. The letter G for grandpa, because I want to remember my grandpa who has passed away. Finally, I would carve a music note because I love music a lot and the world wouldn't be the same without music.

Chris McCandless and his Lasting Impression

My last impression of Chris is that I'm on his side in that he was being brave and deserved to be in the wild. I am inspired by him and I think that other people should learn from him and let nothing get in the way of their dreams. I think that it is wrong to have such cruel and negative comments about Chris, he was just trying to be free and live how he wanted. I think these people who are praising Chris for his accomplishments are right and nice to look up to Chris and honor him for what he did. I think it is cool how people can leave notes inside his journals on the bus for him as well. I agree with critics who are saying that Chris should be presented as a Christ-like figure because he did something no one else has ever attempted to do. He was brave and followed his dreams and for this he should be rewarded especially because he died trying to live his dream and to live life to the fullest. Finally, Chris was a very good man and I respect him for taking up the courage to do what he truly found interesting and worthwhile in his life.

Wrapping up the Book, Editorial Essay

McCandless’s Sojourn Encourages Hearts Everywhere
By: Nicole Wojcik

Have you ever thought you just needed your own space and wanted to be alone? Well so did Chris McCandless, but his idea was way more to the extreme than something you or I would think of. Chris McCandless, main character of the book Into the Wild, had a dream of being by himself and living off the land. He needed separation, peace of mind, and quiet. His life dream took him on a journey into the wilderness of Alaska! Many call Chris bizarre, dumb, or crazy, but a lot of other people like myself, think he should be honored for what he did.
Chris McCandless took the courage to not just be the ordinary man but to make something of himself. He wanted to be different and live life to the fullest by doing what he wanted to do with his own life. In the book written about Chris’s life by John Krakauer called Into the Wild, there a few things Chris did before he went onto this journey he took: “His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself…”(quote is on the books’ cover page) I believe that to be on his own and live off of God’s creation was truly Chris’s calling from God. I honor him and give great respect to him for following what God wanted him to do and doing what he felt was right with his own life. On the way he gave over $20,000 to charity because they needed the money more than he did! That is quite a sacrifice and work of service he did. Not only was Chris a dreamer but he followed his dreams and made them reality.
Chris never needed the big and expensive things in life to make him happy. He always accepted the consequences to every action he took and learned from his mistakes. Not everyone can do this. "Henceforth I will accept my errors, however great they be.” (Chris, page 167) This shows that Chris is very mature and he accepts all of the things he did wrong in life before he went into the wilderness and fulfilled his life goal. He takes up for leaving his family behind, burning his money, and cutting up all of his important cards and credit cards. He knew what he was doing when he went on his journey and he accepted all of those mistakes. So, Chris is a brave individual for doing so and therefore he should be rewarded and remembered as someone who did learn from his mistakes and made his life better by them.
Right up until the end of his death, Chris knew he was doing what he was supposed to in life. He truly found peace of mind in what he did. Even though Chris died of starvation in Alaska, there was one last image he took of himself. It is described in the book as him,” standing near the bus under the high Alaska sky. One hand holding his final note toward the camera lens, the other raised in a brave beatific farewell. His face was horribly emaciated, almost skeletal.” (page 199) The most outrageous and beautiful thing about the picture though, is that McCandless is smiling in it. There is no doubt by the look in his eyes that Chris was indeed serene and at peace when he died, his soul belonged to God, and he was off to heaven. He knew that God and he were at right relationship when he died because he has listened to his calling and followed it. No one should be putting Chris’ name in a negative way because he never did anything to harm anyone, he just wanted to be different and make something of himself. I find it hard to believe that there are actually critics out there brave enough to be saying the negative things about McCandless that they are. People shouldn’t judge him without really reading and studying through his life story and comprehend the meaning behind everything that Chris did.
In closing, I restate my point in that I am on Chris’s side. I believe that he did what he did for a reason. He wasn’t crazy or stupid, he just knew what he needed to do in life and acted on that. I think that people should learn from him. They should learn that we only get one life and so we need to live it to the fullest by doing what makes us happy and feel good. People who are stuck living a life they could change need to see that Chris changed his and they should learn and do the same. Chris was a great man and I honor and respect him for what he has done, and the impact he was made on many lives.

Works Cited:
Krakauer, John. Into The Wild. 1996.