Into The Wild

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Into The Wild- Jon Krakauer

Dov Guggenheim

When a teenager picks up a book that is seemingly on his reading level, the suspected genre is usually either fiction, non-fiction, or science fiction. One would also suspect the book to be one storyline, a plot that involves a main character, a conflict, and how the conflict was resolved. “Into The Wild” is absolutely none of this. Into the wild does have a main character, Christopher McCandless, who decides to leave a life with many advantages, lots of money, and a college degree, to go into the wild. But that is the only similarity. From case studies, to the exciting twists and turns of a rebellious young adult’s life, and people he meets on his journey, the part biography, part non-fiction, part case study book “Into The Wild” is anything but a normal book.

“Into The Wild” is a book relating to the story of Christopher McCandless(who changes his name to Alex Supertramp), a well-to-do man who recently graduated from Emory University. His father, Walt, always pressures him to be perfect, and Christopher hates his father and everything about him, like his constant, imprudent chase of material happiness, and having two simultaneous relationships- one with his ex-wife, and one with Christopher’s mother, Billie. After some time, Christopher donates all of his money, leaves a family that loves him, and leaves behind almost all of his possessions to leave to an Alaskan wilderness with just a gun, some bullets, some rice, and some basic survival books. He meets many people along the way, including a woman named Jan, who becomes his mother figure( her son had also abandoned her- she encourages Christopher to go back home, or at least tell his parents what he’s up to and accept some items for well-being- take this passage as an example of her personality- “Have you let your people know what you’re up to? Does your mom know you’re going to Alaska? Does your dad know?… I’d keep at it until he’d change the subject, though- because of what happened between me and my own son. He’s out there somewhere, and I’d want someone looking after him like I looked after Alex), a man named Ronald, who takes him in as a son and gives him work, shelter, food, and other living qualities, and other certain charecters. Christopher is always moving, and he dies over one hundred days after he left. Many people judge this whole ordeal negatively, but Krakauer makes sure to mention in his author’s note “I will leave it to the reader to form his or her own opinion of Chris McCandless”- that you should have your opinion of this whole episode.

This book is a very unique book, so that being said, it’s memorable, and the content of this book can be perceived as instructive. The whole kid running away from home storyline and the multiple opinions and interviews definitely portray some instructive points regarding rebellious actions. That same storyline is also very controversial. This book is a real live story of a real kid running away from home and trying to survive in the wilderness with basically nothing, and this garnered a lot of opinions of Chris, mostly negative. So although maybe this whole situation is hard to imagine, it’s very possible we’ll know (or become) someone like this. But the book itself was written very well and portrayed in a fairly unbiased manner, leaving yourself to make an opinion of your own.

Another reason this book is so good is that even though there is very little suspense( anybody can figure out in the beginning of the book that in the end, Christopher dies) the book is so well written that the whole story line is very gripping. Krakauer attempts to go back in the past and see what made Chris perish.

There a few negatives to the book, though. First off, it’s confusing. The whole story constantly is in flux, changing characters, scene, and point of view. It’s hard to keep pace, but if you do, you’ll understand the book the way it’s meant to be. The problem is, if you don’t, you might get some wrong ideas, and those are never good. Also, while generally in the whole book Krakauer wrote very well, including all the details, I felt as if that he didn’t fully explain why Chris hated his parents so much that he abandoned his life. In fact, he almost made Chris seem as if he was a kid who wanted nothing to do with his parents for no good reason, and if Chris was as smart as he was, I’m sure there was a reason- this lack of detail can lead you to think Chris made a very dumb decision in leaving, which many people do, but Krakauer doesn’t. Had he further detailed Chris’s relationship with his parents, and why it was so bad, I’m sure it would be easier to see why Chris left.

This book, though a real, non-fiction, story, can teach a lesson- but which lesson is being taught by the book will vary from reader to reader. Chris obviously wanted to leave his family, and it’s mentioned that he left in response to his father’s imprudence. He leaves behind everything he knows, and meets people along his journey, but eventually dies. Different studies are brought in that are similar to this story. So what lesson is to be taught from this whole book( which is really a lot of different, relating stories, in one binding.)? That should you act rebelliously, bring more items and be better prepared and educated? That you should not act rebelliously at all? Krakauer insists Chris did nothing wrong, but others say it was foolish and arrogant of him to ditch everything and go into the wild. What’s your opinion? Was it Chris’s fault he died? Or did nature simply roll some bad dice on his turn? Different lessons and opinions can be formed from such a deep, controversial, real life topic.

In my personal opinion, this book was a great book and taught me a lot. Many people, including myself, have this nagging feeling once in awhile that they should just pick up and leave, start a new life somewhere else as a new person. This book talks about different cases in which, to a degree, this happened. It taught me that you can go into the wild on your own, but you need to be very well educated on where you’re going, camping, survival, etc., and also that not everyone can do it. But again, this book can be understood in several different manners. This is a book that should be read with an open mind, being that it is a confusing, but deep, book. That being said, unless you have completed your pursuit of happiness and that you are completely happy with how your life is and you want your life to stay exactly how it is, every single teenager with a good reading comprehension should read this book. It’ll change how you perceive a lot of things in life, including that little rebellious phase teenagers go through that adults like to call the adolescent phase.

EXCELENTE

Started this book in my English class and bought it on my own to read. It immediately grabs the attention of the reader. I was so intrigued by the second chapter that I went on here to get my own copy!