Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
Many people wish to escape the city life and embrace the simple way of living. For this reason some decide to leave their life and turn to living in the wilderness. Surviving in the forests and feeding themselves with foods they can gather.
One book that talks about a similar instance is ‘’Into the Wild’’ by Jon Krakauer. This book is based on a true story of a young man, Chris McCandless, who gave up his old life in the search of the ragged transcendent (existence or experience beyond the normal or physical level) experience. He loved adventure and frequently took off to live in the wilderness. In his younger years he lived in the desert, hitchhiked through America all the way to Mexico and his final and fatal adventure was in Alaska.
The reason why McCandless ran away so often was his complicated relationship with his father. He feared intimacy and attachment with others. A quote from the book reads: ‘’Sometimes he tried too hard to make sense of the world, to figure out why people were bad to each other so often.'' Perhaps Chris felt that being alone with nature, the very place where the humankind began, could help him figure out the ways of life. In a letter Chris expresses: ‘’The freedom and simple beauty of it [life in the wilderness] is just too good to pass up.”
When Chris began his journey in Alaska he was overjoyed. He once wrote: ‘’No longer to be poisoned by civilization he flees, and walks alone upon the land to become lost in the wild.’’ From the literature Chris read we find that he valued conscious attention to the basics of life, and a constant attention to his immediate environment and its concerns. This once again shows his love of nature. It is quite ironic that in the end the harsh conditions of the wilderness were what caused his death. However, the last picture he took of himself right before his death shows him smiling. He was at peace and serene.
While in the wild, McCandless had to survive off of food that he could find in the forest. That included killing animals for their meat. Chris was not afraid of nature, the wild animals or the raging waters. He was rather fascinated with the harsh side of nature. Once he shot a moose but the meat ended up going bad very quickly, which left Chris extremely disappointed. He later wished he had never shot the moose in the first place and called it the greatest tragedy of his life. This incident shows that he had an appreciation for nature. He did not just go to live in the nature and destroy the environment by killing numerous animals. I think he wanted to truly live as one with nature and its animals.
Throughout the book the author sometimes describes the nature that Chris witnessed. Jon Krakauer actually visited the trail himself. At one point he says: ''The trail climbs a hill beyond the uppermost pond, then rejoins the twisting, rocky creek bed before ascending again into a jungle of scrubby vegetation. The going never gets exceedingly difficult, but the fifteen-foot-high tangle of alder pressing in from both sides is gloomy, claustrophobic, oppressive. Clouds of mosquitoes materialize out of the sticky heat.'' These descriptions help us understand what the main character saw and how difficult the adventure must have been for him. Jon says that the place felt Gothic, malevolent and extremely remote. We could assume that Chris chose this very lonely environment to distance himself from others as much as possible.
Overall this book was quite difficult to read ecocritically because it centered around the main character, his family and friends and their emotions. It could definitely be rewritten with a different approach that focuses more on the environmental aspects of the story.
Jana Vinkel
One book that talks about a similar instance is ‘’Into the Wild’’ by Jon Krakauer. This book is based on a true story of a young man, Chris McCandless, who gave up his old life in the search of the ragged transcendent (existence or experience beyond the normal or physical level) experience. He loved adventure and frequently took off to live in the wilderness. In his younger years he lived in the desert, hitchhiked through America all the way to Mexico and his final and fatal adventure was in Alaska.
The reason why McCandless ran away so often was his complicated relationship with his father. He feared intimacy and attachment with others. A quote from the book reads: ‘’Sometimes he tried too hard to make sense of the world, to figure out why people were bad to each other so often.'' Perhaps Chris felt that being alone with nature, the very place where the humankind began, could help him figure out the ways of life. In a letter Chris expresses: ‘’The freedom and simple beauty of it [life in the wilderness] is just too good to pass up.”
When Chris began his journey in Alaska he was overjoyed. He once wrote: ‘’No longer to be poisoned by civilization he flees, and walks alone upon the land to become lost in the wild.’’ From the literature Chris read we find that he valued conscious attention to the basics of life, and a constant attention to his immediate environment and its concerns. This once again shows his love of nature. It is quite ironic that in the end the harsh conditions of the wilderness were what caused his death. However, the last picture he took of himself right before his death shows him smiling. He was at peace and serene.
While in the wild, McCandless had to survive off of food that he could find in the forest. That included killing animals for their meat. Chris was not afraid of nature, the wild animals or the raging waters. He was rather fascinated with the harsh side of nature. Once he shot a moose but the meat ended up going bad very quickly, which left Chris extremely disappointed. He later wished he had never shot the moose in the first place and called it the greatest tragedy of his life. This incident shows that he had an appreciation for nature. He did not just go to live in the nature and destroy the environment by killing numerous animals. I think he wanted to truly live as one with nature and its animals.
Throughout the book the author sometimes describes the nature that Chris witnessed. Jon Krakauer actually visited the trail himself. At one point he says: ''The trail climbs a hill beyond the uppermost pond, then rejoins the twisting, rocky creek bed before ascending again into a jungle of scrubby vegetation. The going never gets exceedingly difficult, but the fifteen-foot-high tangle of alder pressing in from both sides is gloomy, claustrophobic, oppressive. Clouds of mosquitoes materialize out of the sticky heat.'' These descriptions help us understand what the main character saw and how difficult the adventure must have been for him. Jon says that the place felt Gothic, malevolent and extremely remote. We could assume that Chris chose this very lonely environment to distance himself from others as much as possible.
Overall this book was quite difficult to read ecocritically because it centered around the main character, his family and friends and their emotions. It could definitely be rewritten with a different approach that focuses more on the environmental aspects of the story.
Jana Vinkel
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