Essay On Into The Wild
The idea of a spontaneous adventure can spark the interest of anyone. Jon Krakauer's biography, Into the Wild, explores the life of Christopher McCandless, and his journey to the Alaskan Wilderness ultimately leading to his death. Into the Wild was written partially due to negative responses to an article written by Krakauer before the book about Chris was published. It was also written due to the connection he feels to Chris and his risk taking attitude because of the “unsettling parallels between events in [Chris’s] life and those in [Krakauers] own” (author's notes). Krakauer analyzes Chris’s mental and physical state before and during his time in the Alaskan wilderness, to disprove statements made towards Chris influencing readers that
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Chris was not “mentally disturbed” and didn't purposefully go into the wild ill-prepared (70).
The organization of a book is important to the readers in understanding the book as a whole. Into the Wild starts by informing the readers that Chris is dead, which takes away from the reader feeling intrigued to read on. Krakauer convinces the readers to read on by not including information about Chris’s death until the end. Interviews are included of those Chris met and what they had done for him at the beginning of the book. An interview with Jim Gallien, the man who drove Chris to the end of the Denali National Park where he would then leave him to start his journey is included. This interview gives more information on what type of person Chris was and an insight to his preparedness for the trip. Chris “had no ax, no bug dope, no snowshoes, [and] no compass” with him (Krakauer 5). Gallien wanted to make sure Chris was well prepared and even offered to buy him decent gear, but Chris declined and headed off into the Alaskan bush. He took with him Gallien’s work boots and a lunch which was packed by Gallien’s wife. While Chris was traveling across the country, he also met a man named, Wayne Westerberg in Carthage, South Dakota. Westerberg took Chris in, fed him, and gave him jobs here and there. As a result of taking Chris in, they kept in touch periodically with each other after he left for Alaska, and met up a few more times when Chris was in need. Wayne Westerberg and his mother were ones who got to know Chris on a deeper level than most others whom he came across. Chris was defended by Westerbergs mom explaining how he was “‘hungry to learn about things”’ (qtd. in Krakauer 67). The Westerbergs did not see anything wrong with what Chris wanted to do, they just wanted him to be prepared and well taken care of. This background of who was last with Chris helps make Krakauer's argument on how Chris can be perceived as unprepared to the readers. Even though this is how many look at it, Chris took what others thought he needed, and the opportunities that were offered, showing that he was not thoughtless, like the readers of Krakauer’s earlier article believed. By organizing the book starting with the readers finding Chris is dead, he has taken some of the suspense away from finding out what happens at the end and may cause confusion to the readers. Though the beginning is confusing, Krakauer is still able to make a point enforcing that Chris was not ill-prepared for his Alaskan adventure by beginning the book off with information to prove this.
The middle of the book includes background information about Chris’s childhood. One thing in particular that stays with Chris throughout the book is his knack for not wanting to follow the rules or be taught how exactly to do something. Walt McCandless, Chris’s father, explains that Chris had “‘[s]o much natural talent”’ but, would refuse to be taught anything (Krakauer 111). Starting in chapter 11, titled “Chesapeake Bay,” Krakauer gives an insight to Chris’s family around two months after his body was found. The readers learn how his parents were not taking his death very well, and that his father took it the worst. The readers also learn how caring Chris was, especially of his younger sister, Carine McCandless. Growing up Chris did not have a good relationship with his father and was always wanting to do his own thing and be the “master of his own destiny” (Krakauer 23). By organizing the book to include information about Chris's childhood after including interviews with who he met during his trip, helps to provide further evidence to Krakauers claim about Chris.
In the ending Krakauer includes hypotheses to what may have killed Chris.
In Krakauer's 1997 version of Into the Wild, it is said to have been mold on the potato seeds or a toxic amino acid in the potato seeds that weakened Chris. Krakauer supports this by inferring that “pot seeds” in Chris’s journal entry on July 30th meant potato seeds, and that because Chris had eaten so many, it left him extremely weak. It is not confirmed that Chris was healthy up until July 30th but it is concluded he was. Krakauer then goes on to include chapters explaining events that went on months after Chris’s death including his parents visiting Bus 142 where Chris died. Chris kept the seeds in a ziplock bag, since it was raining for most of this time, the seeds began to mold inside the bag. Chris may have noticed this, but since it was one of his only food sources he had no choice but to continue to eat the seeds. The toxic amino acid that was also suspected to be the cause of his death was not known to be toxic at the time, Chris’s book on plants didn’t have any information on it either. Krakauer’s overarching argument about Chris is proven through evidence, background, and the organization of the book. Throughout the book there are hints of how Chris was clueless and semi-thoughtless about what he was doing, but he wasn’t purposefully like that. Eating potato seeds was his only resort to have some type of food since game was getting
scarce.
Krakauer may have used research done by others, but he did his own and is able to make a convincing argument towards Chris and his carelessness. Krakauer had samples of plants around the bus Chris had stayed in, including a potato plant Chris wrote about in his journal and pictures he took. Krakauer sent seed samples of these plants to a lab, and found out that the seeds had an amino acid or alkaloid in it that was poisonous to humans. He found that it “wasn't the seeds that killed Chris, but rather a mold growing on the seeds, that produced a toxic alkaloid” this was his second hypothesis when the first one fell through after the lab testing (205). His first hypothesis was that the seeds themselves were poisonous. Krakauer used research papers as his evidence for his second hypothesis. He used a paper published by Treadwell and Clausen titled “Is Hedysarum mackenziei (Wild Sweet Pea) Actually toxic?” which concluded that “no chemical basis for toxicity could be found” in either of the seed samples (Krakauer 205-206). Krakauer also used a paper by Ronald Hamilton, “The Silent Fire: ODAP and the Death of Christopher Chris,” which included that, in fact, the wild potato plant was “highly toxic” and was an amino acid, not an alkaloid (206). Ronald Hamilton ended up being wrong that ODAP had killed Chris, but the seeds were, in fact, toxic. Krakauer had a lab perform tests on the seeds, that would determine how much of ODAP was in them and if it was even present at all. ODAP ended up not present in H. alpinum seeds and therefore Hamilton's hypothesis was disproven. B.A. Birdsong had written an article that reported that H. alpinum seeds contained a toxic amino acid called L-canavanine which has the same mass of ODAP causing the tests to turn out wrong because they were testing for a certain substance. The included helped support how Chris was not thoughtless and tried his best to be safe while he was out in the Alaskan wilderness for an extended amount of time. In this day and age it is somewhat easy to tell what caused a person to die, but even then, there is speculation that the reason might not the only contributor. By organizing the book to included all evidence of what killed Chris at the end leaves the readers wondering what did. This provides the readers with the ability to come up with their own hypotheses. The scientific evidence at the end can answer questions the readers may have accumulated throughout reading. The organization of the book helps to get Krakauers point about Chris across, and do it in a way that not many authors do, and many would say is backwards. Krakauer ends Into the Wild noting that the amino acid found in the potato seeds Chris ate were the cause of his death. Even though this is what he ends with, it is mentioned a few times through the ending of the book that Chris did not have a lot of food and that “[s]tarvation was posited as the most probable cause of death” (Krakauer 14).
Chris was not “mentally disturbed” and didn't purposefully go into the wild ill-prepared (70).
The organization of a book is important to the readers in understanding the book as a whole. Into the Wild starts by informing the readers that Chris is dead, which takes away from the reader feeling intrigued to read on. Krakauer convinces the readers to read on by not including information about Chris’s death until the end. Interviews are included of those Chris met and what they had done for him at the beginning of the book. An interview with Jim Gallien, the man who drove Chris to the end of the Denali National Park where he would then leave him to start his journey is included. This interview gives more information on what type of person Chris was and an insight to his preparedness for the trip. Chris “had no ax, no bug dope, no snowshoes, [and] no compass” with him (Krakauer 5). Gallien wanted to make sure Chris was well prepared and even offered to buy him decent gear, but Chris declined and headed off into the Alaskan bush. He took with him Gallien’s work boots and a lunch which was packed by Gallien’s wife. While Chris was traveling across the country, he also met a man named, Wayne Westerberg in Carthage, South Dakota. Westerberg took Chris in, fed him, and gave him jobs here and there. As a result of taking Chris in, they kept in touch periodically with each other after he left for Alaska, and met up a few more times when Chris was in need. Wayne Westerberg and his mother were ones who got to know Chris on a deeper level than most others whom he came across. Chris was defended by Westerbergs mom explaining how he was “‘hungry to learn about things”’ (qtd. in Krakauer 67). The Westerbergs did not see anything wrong with what Chris wanted to do, they just wanted him to be prepared and well taken care of. This background of who was last with Chris helps make Krakauer's argument on how Chris can be perceived as unprepared to the readers. Even though this is how many look at it, Chris took what others thought he needed, and the opportunities that were offered, showing that he was not thoughtless, like the readers of Krakauer’s earlier article believed. By organizing the book starting with the readers finding Chris is dead, he has taken some of the suspense away from finding out what happens at the end and may cause confusion to the readers. Though the beginning is confusing, Krakauer is still able to make a point enforcing that Chris was not ill-prepared for his Alaskan adventure by beginning the book off with information to prove this.
The middle of the book includes background information about Chris’s childhood. One thing in particular that stays with Chris throughout the book is his knack for not wanting to follow the rules or be taught how exactly to do something. Walt McCandless, Chris’s father, explains that Chris had “‘[s]o much natural talent”’ but, would refuse to be taught anything (Krakauer 111). Starting in chapter 11, titled “Chesapeake Bay,” Krakauer gives an insight to Chris’s family around two months after his body was found. The readers learn how his parents were not taking his death very well, and that his father took it the worst. The readers also learn how caring Chris was, especially of his younger sister, Carine McCandless. Growing up Chris did not have a good relationship with his father and was always wanting to do his own thing and be the “master of his own destiny” (Krakauer 23). By organizing the book to include information about Chris's childhood after including interviews with who he met during his trip, helps to provide further evidence to Krakauers claim about Chris.
In the ending Krakauer includes hypotheses to what may have killed Chris.
In Krakauer's 1997 version of Into the Wild, it is said to have been mold on the potato seeds or a toxic amino acid in the potato seeds that weakened Chris. Krakauer supports this by inferring that “pot seeds” in Chris’s journal entry on July 30th meant potato seeds, and that because Chris had eaten so many, it left him extremely weak. It is not confirmed that Chris was healthy up until July 30th but it is concluded he was. Krakauer then goes on to include chapters explaining events that went on months after Chris’s death including his parents visiting Bus 142 where Chris died. Chris kept the seeds in a ziplock bag, since it was raining for most of this time, the seeds began to mold inside the bag. Chris may have noticed this, but since it was one of his only food sources he had no choice but to continue to eat the seeds. The toxic amino acid that was also suspected to be the cause of his death was not known to be toxic at the time, Chris’s book on plants didn’t have any information on it either. Krakauer’s overarching argument about Chris is proven through evidence, background, and the organization of the book. Throughout the book there are hints of how Chris was clueless and semi-thoughtless about what he was doing, but he wasn’t purposefully like that. Eating potato seeds was his only resort to have some type of food since game was getting
scarce.
Krakauer may have used research done by others, but he did his own and is able to make a convincing argument towards Chris and his carelessness. Krakauer had samples of plants around the bus Chris had stayed in, including a potato plant Chris wrote about in his journal and pictures he took. Krakauer sent seed samples of these plants to a lab, and found out that the seeds had an amino acid or alkaloid in it that was poisonous to humans. He found that it “wasn't the seeds that killed Chris, but rather a mold growing on the seeds, that produced a toxic alkaloid” this was his second hypothesis when the first one fell through after the lab testing (205). His first hypothesis was that the seeds themselves were poisonous. Krakauer used research papers as his evidence for his second hypothesis. He used a paper published by Treadwell and Clausen titled “Is Hedysarum mackenziei (Wild Sweet Pea) Actually toxic?” which concluded that “no chemical basis for toxicity could be found” in either of the seed samples (Krakauer 205-206). Krakauer also used a paper by Ronald Hamilton, “The Silent Fire: ODAP and the Death of Christopher Chris,” which included that, in fact, the wild potato plant was “highly toxic” and was an amino acid, not an alkaloid (206). Ronald Hamilton ended up being wrong that ODAP had killed Chris, but the seeds were, in fact, toxic. Krakauer had a lab perform tests on the seeds, that would determine how much of ODAP was in them and if it was even present at all. ODAP ended up not present in H. alpinum seeds and therefore Hamilton's hypothesis was disproven. B.A. Birdsong had written an article that reported that H. alpinum seeds contained a toxic amino acid called L-canavanine which has the same mass of ODAP causing the tests to turn out wrong because they were testing for a certain substance. The included helped support how Chris was not thoughtless and tried his best to be safe while he was out in the Alaskan wilderness for an extended amount of time. In this day and age it is somewhat easy to tell what caused a person to die, but even then, there is speculation that the reason might not the only contributor. By organizing the book to included all evidence of what killed Chris at the end leaves the readers wondering what did. This provides the readers with the ability to come up with their own hypotheses. The scientific evidence at the end can answer questions the readers may have accumulated throughout reading. The organization of the book helps to get Krakauers point about Chris across, and do it in a way that not many authors do, and many would say is backwards. Krakauer ends Into the Wild noting that the amino acid found in the potato seeds Chris ate were the cause of his death. Even though this is what he ends with, it is mentioned a few times through the ending of the book that Chris did not have a lot of food and that “[s]tarvation was posited as the most probable cause of death” (Krakauer 14).