Bros:
As we come closer to the concluding pages of the story about one man's journey into the wilderness to not only find, but create himself, I would like you to write an at least three paragraph reflection on what you believe is the most important lesson to learn from his story.
Please use chapters 16 and 17 as reference points, enlightening your classmates as to what you think are the major insights to be gained from the final chapters of this powerful story.
What are some themes, symbols, images, metaphors and other other literary techniques that people should be aware of in understanding the deeper meaning of the text.
Have at it, and be sure to quote from the text, using the proper format for quotations such as follows:
Krakauer writes, "..." (#).
For instance, "..." (Krakauer #).
According to Krakauer, "..." (#).
This reflection is DUE WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2009 by class-time on blog or typed, hard copy. It will be worth 10 points, so put the proper intellectual effort into this.
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p.s. don't forget to head your entries with the following:
Your Name
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April 22, 2009
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12 comments:
Matt Bradley
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April 22, 2009
Starting in Chapter 16, it talks about how McCandless gets a ride with a man by the name of Gaylord Stuckey for three days and starts his so called Alaskan Oddesy. When they finally arrive in Fairbanks, Stuckey warns McCandless that he thinks it is too early for such a type of expedition, that there is easily two feet of snow still on the ground. McCandless shows total disregard for what the kind stranger who offered him a ride is trying to warn him of, which ultimately leads to McCandless' downfall. To me it shows that nobody can change McCandless' mind about taking this Alaskan Oddesy, but I think he is just ignorant already going in unprepared, only with knowlege of the flora and fauna (although I doubt any berries will grow in the winter) and a rifle to hunt with. He is rude to ignore the advice that will eventually kill him.
In the second part of chapter 16, McCandless has been living off of nothing but berries, squirrels, and porcupines. He finally spots a moose, kills it, eats some,but fails to preserve it, and then he regrets it. Krakauer writes,"At that point he gave up on preserving the bulk of the meat and abandoned it to the wolves. Although he castigated himself severly for this waste of life he'd taken, and day later McCandless appeared to regain some perspective...."(167) I think that this is again another example of how unprepared McCandless was for this fluke of an adventure. If he were truely ready for this, he would not have bought a gun without knowing how to roast the animals he would kill if he cared so much about wasting life. Krakauer aso writes,"Alaskan hunters know that the easiest way to preserve meat in the bush is to slice it into thin strips.....But McCandless, in his naivete, relied on the advice of hunters he'd consulted in South Dakota..."(166)
Chapter 17 is about how Krakauer goes and visits the site of where McCandless died, and it further proves how foolish McCandless was to go into the unforgiving bush of Alaska with virtually nothing. Krakauer says,"Unlike McCandless however, I have in my backpack a 1:63,360 scale topographic map...Ulike McCandless too, I am here with three compaions: Alaskans Roman Dial and Dan Solie, and a friend of Romans from Califonia, Andrew Liske."(173) Now I know that McCandless wanted to go into this trip alone, but a simple map of the region in case any kind of emergency errupts wouldn't be a bad idea. I know how back in chapter 16 he talks about how he wanted to do this since he was a boy, but he should have waited until he was actually ready for the journey instead of rushing out there and dying. He promised a lot of people he would write back to them after this journey, but because of his foolishness, nobody will ever again recieve a letter with the name entitled Chris McCandless.
Robby Mazeski
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April 22, 2009
Chapter sixteen starts when Chris leaves Carthage and heads toward his altimate goal of getting to Alaska. On the way Chris takes pictures of himself along mile signs. Along th way he gaets picked up by a man named Gaylord Stuckey the man was not used to picing up hitch hikers says he will take alex half way to his destination. On the way Gaylord becomes so fond of Chris and decides to drive him the whole way to his destination. While in fairbanks Chris buys a gun and sends letters to Mr. Burres And Mr. WEsterberg. He begins his hike and ends up finding the "The Magic BUs". On may 5th he decided to leave the bus his plans did not work out and stayed in the bus the rest of the summer. During that summer his hunting skills increase and he eventualy kills a moose, but he did not care for the meat properly and it was ruined. There after decided to treat food as holy things.
In the begining of chapter seventeen Krakuar goes back to the bus where MCcandillis had stayed he found the remains of the moose. He finds many of Mccandeles clothes some pots and pans that were laft behind. Krakuarer syas that Cris made he didnt learn what most learn before going into the wild.
Mitchell House
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April 21, 2009
From Into the Wild, we see many important lessons to be learned from this story. However, I think that the lesson that is most important to this story is the lesson of will. Throughout Into the Wild, we see many examples of McCandless's will and dedication to his journey. Chapters 16 and 17, the entire book even, show how McCandless stuck with his decision.
In Chaper 16, Krakauer writes, "He spent nearly four months in the bush all told, and during that period he didn't encounter another living soul." We see here that Chris did not falter on his journey, he did not half-ass it and pull out after the journey became difficult. McCandless stayed with it, he beat himself, his father-figure, and all those people that doubted him. It was undoubtedly a magnificent accomplishment.
With that out there, I think that we all can learn from this story's lesson. Although, this does not have to be taken literally and go into the wild and determinedly live off the land. However, we should use this example as a model for our own lives. When something becomes very difficult, we shouldn't back out becasue we feel we are too weak. We should stay with it. Also we should always keep a wary eye for symbols that could start our journies, such as McCandless's Datsun being flooded. We should use these signs to kick start our journey "Into the Wild" whatever our "wild" may be.
Dan Raimondi
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4/21/09
I think that the most important theme from this story you can learn is that people spend there whole lives trying to find themselves and trying to "live there life to the fullest". Christopher McCandless went out and did it, with no regard to his family, his former life, or even doing it the "smart way". He grabbed whatever he could carry on his back and for the first time in his life, just lived. He took no shortcuts, didn't back out, and ultimately payed the price.
Some people may think he was foolish, others think he was crazy, but i like to believe that there is a little bit of Alexander Supertramp inside everyone, a part of us just willing to break free and find ourselves. Chris McCandless made it a reality, and was actually free of the weight of society weighing him down and keeping him from actually living life to the fullest. As said by his highschool cross-country teamate, Andy Horowtz, Chris "was born into the wrong century. He was looking for more adventure and freedom than today's society gives people,"(Krakauer, page 174).
I think Chris should be an example to every one of us in our lives. I think that the main message of this story is to just live life. Live life for now and not worry about the outcome. If you know that its right then there is no reason to plan it out first. Live for the sake of living.
Paul Costello
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April 22,2009
There are many valuable lessons to be learned in Jon Krauker's Into The Wild, but I think that the single lesson most imbedded in to the story is the one of McCandless' ability to do what he wants to do, when he wants to do it. I suppose you could say that what I am talking about is McCandless' desire for freedom. What I mean by this is how McCandless was constantly given realistic, logical advice telling him to not carry out his expedition into the wild. He denounced such wisdom and went on his way. Also, he was able to break-up any relationships that were hindering his oppurtunity to live with freedom.
One of the individuals that McCandless got advise from was Gaylord Stuckey. Stuckey gave McCandless a ride and many of his possessions. He also insisted that Chris would give his parents a call to let him know where he is. Of course didn't, replying that maybe he would or maybe he wouldn't. McCandless told Stuckey about his desire to go out into the wild and live off the land. Stuckey told Krakauer, "He said it was something he'd wanted to do since he was little" (Krakauer 159).
When McCandless finally got to the point where he had gotten to where he wanted to be, he was flabbergasted with excitement. This is the esasence of the lesson that I chose to write about for this assignment. When Stuckey dropped Chris off from his truck, he was in a postition where he couild do anything he wanted to do, and I think that it was his belief in making choices with 100% freedom that got him there.
Tom Foley
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April 22,2009
I think a symbol that stands out in this section is when he is on his journey to the "Alaskan Oddesy". He is in a Mack truck filled with sunflower seeds. He is leaving South Dakota headed towards Canada. The sunflower seeds represent his continuing search for himself as he continues north toward Alaskan highway.
Krakauer writes, "On May 22 a crown fell off one of his molers, but didnt seem to dampen his spirits."(164) This resembles how his body deteriorates as his journey continues. It says that it doesnt dampen his spirits resebling his determination to continue on his "Alaskan Oddesy".
According to Krakauer Mcandless etched the statement; "All Hail The Phantom Bear, The Beast Within Us All."(179) McCandless is saying that people are ruled by an inner voice that, in his case, was a bear. He tried to find his inner self which was this bear, which lives in all of us.
James Pozycki
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April 22, 2009
After reading Jon Krakauer's novel, "Into the Wild" I found that this book was a lot different then any other book i have ever read. This book is different because I have never read or heard of somebody going into the Alaskian Territory with barely any supplies. Chris McCandless does this without thinking twice about what hes doing. On his journey just to get to Alaska, he meets some people who you could call his parents he never had because his relationship with his own parents was not very strong. When he meets these people they think he will stay with themm but he leaves unannounced just like when he leaves his family without telling them. I think that Chris was a self centered individual becasue he did not like having other people around him and he was strange around others.
Claude Scott
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April 22, 2009
In chaperter 16, Chris McCandless departed Carthage, South Dakoto, in a cab of a Mack tuck hauling a load of sunflower seeds. Krakauer writes his "great Alaskan oddyssey" was under way. And on April 21 he had arrived at Liard River Hotsprings.He was looking for another ride, that was heading north. But his luck had ran ut for two days, until a guy by the name of Garylord Stuckey said that he would be happy to give McCandless a lift to Whitehorse. Which was a thousand mile north. He couldnt take McCandless to Alaska because it was to far out of his way. But he was enjoying Chris's company so he had decided to drive him the entire distance.
When they arrive in Fairbanks on April 25 Stuckey buys him a ten pound beg of rice. And then takes Alex to the university so that he can study up on what kind of plants and berries he can eat. But it is the winter, there's two, three feet of snow on the ground. There', nothing growing yet say's Stuckey. But Chris didn't care he was ready foe his hiking trip. On April 28 Chris was surpised bhat the first car that came along, had pulled over and had driven McCandless as far asd he could on the Stampede Trail. On May 2nd he shot at a duck but miss. And on May 4th he finally hit and ate a spruce grouse.
For instanceI stand on the ooposite bank-the eastern side,the highway side-and gave into the churning water.I,too,hope to cross the river. I chose this because i believe everyone expierences something of this sort a one point in your life. It sends the message that sometimes things will be hard, dangerous, or time comsuming but you have to face your fears and get across the river. You may have to put your personal well being on the line but you need to push yourself to get that sense of worth. If you believe you are worthless then you are worthless if you believe you are useful you are strong and courageous.
The book is filled with challenges like this one listed above. The story is about Mcandless going to the unknown fighting for his life. It is away for him to test his worth like I said in the first period. He knows he could die but it doesnt matter to him he is gonna push himself so he can get that self worth for himself. He knows that what he thinks of himself is the most important thing in the world.
I disagree with Alexanders method of doing this but it is to prove that he is worthy. I mainly disagree with his method because your parents love you and you just get up and leave them it will be like a knife going through thier hearts. The thing that drives me crazy about Chris is that he struggles in the matter of love. He said he loved his sister but he just packs up and leaves if that is love I would want nothing to do with it
Steven Passarello
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April 22, 2009
After reading "Into the Wild", I found many things insightful, but also many things that still confuse me in the text. Krakauer's writing is very interesting and i believe taught me a lot about the deeper meaning of the text and about McCandless' life. Here are some of the ideas I found prevelant in this book and what I think they mean and how we could possibly apply them to our lives, as well as how I feel about some of McCandless' decisisons.
First, it is evident that Krakauer is perfect to write about McCandless. they seem to both have similar views on life and had similar struggles with their fathers. they both go on a "Father-Quest" to Alaska. The only difference between the two is that Krakauer arranges to have someone meet him at the end of his journey. To me it doesn't seem like McCandless ever really wanted to go home and he definitely didn't plan it and if he did it wasn't a recorded plan.
Next, Chris' life teaches us to clearly examine our lives to see what we really need and how we hold our values. McCandless abandoned what most people would hold to be a good life. he gave up 25,000$ to charity, burned his money, gave up his college degree, and left his sister to which the book says they had an "uncommonly close"(Krauaer,129). I feel that Chris could've proven his point in a different way though. McCandless had a college education and planned on Harvard Law School, if Chris say that much social injustice I believe he had the intelligence to do so without ending his life. I say this because Chris' example won't be everlasting because he died in Alaska. i think that if he would've worked to change thwe world that his example could have lasted a lot longer and left a much bigger impression on the world. These are my final thoughts on the book "Into the Wild".
Patrick Vento
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Staring the chapter (16), Chris gets a ride from a man named Gaylord Stuckley for three days so he can start his Alaskian adventure. He finally arrives in Fairbanks, Stuckley thinks it is to early for him to start. But Chris doesn't really care he wants to do it anyways. Chris is a stubborn guy and he really can't be changed. I think no matter who he meets or who he talks to I think Chris is just out to do something great and doesn't want other people telling him how to live his life.
In chapter 16 part 2, Chris starts to live off the land, such as wild edibles and the occasional animal. Until he comes across a moose kills it and eats a little but forgets to preserve it, so it goes to the wolves. Chris is mad with himself because he lost the pride aspect and just feels disgusted because he got nothing out of such a large animal.
Some things you can learn from Into the Wild, when you may say fail at something learn from that and get back out and try it again to see if u succeed. You can also learn that sometimes when people try to tell you something wrong but you don't care, just go with your feeling don't always go on to what other people think. You need to go with your gut feeling and trust you gut instinct
Damion Jones-Moore
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April 22, 2009
in the first part of chapter 16 it begins with chris getting a ride from Gaylord Stuckey for on the way to his journey to alaska.when they reach fairbanksGaylord tells chris how he thinks he's to young to be going on this journey he thinks he should live his young life while he can.but McCandless' ambition ignores his wise advice and that is where it all really starts to go wrong.that right there is the reason nobody could change his mind his ambition is so strong he is determined that he was going to jus be but that also shows his ignorence.
in the secnond part of chapter 16 it goes into how chris is living off of very very little all he has to eat is berries and small animals like squirls and porcupines.Until he comes across a moose he kills it and only gets to eat some because he can not preserve the rest of the mosse and is left with all that wasted time and failure.Krakauer writes,"At that point he gave up on preserving the bulk of the meat and abandoned it to the wolves. Although he castigated himself severly for this waste of life he'd taken, and day later McCandless appeared to regain some perspective...."(167)this shows his ignorence again to a greater level he just didn't have what it takes.
Chapter 17 is Krakuar visiting the scene of Chris's deah and he does't nessacerily make fun of Chris but he shows why Chris was wrong and what he did that Chris should have.Krakauer says,"Unlike McCandless however, I have in my backpack a 1:63,360 scale topographic map...Ulike McCandless too, I am here with three compaions: Alaskans Roman Dial and Dan Solie, and a friend of Romans from Califonia, Andrew Liske."(173) does this make chris dumb or brave? It is understood that he wanted to be alone but he did not have the right equipment for the journey he wanted to complete.Chris was bright and foolish, right and wrong so does this mean he is balanced out and perhaps he did complete his journey and he is a hero in alot of peoples eyes and hearts.
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