-Chris (15)and Vanessa(6)
-Manawaka
-"I detested the fact that I was so young"
-Chris creates his own fantasy world (ranch, racing horses etc.) He tries to sell magazines, vacuum cleaners even when he knows he won't make it to university. He can't face reality. Also, when there is conflict he ignores it and it seems like he doesn't even notice it. He holds a fantasy in his mind that seems real to him
-In Shallow Creek, when Vanessa sees the horses is when we are aware that Chris is living in a world of delusions.
-Chris' fantasy world is his only refuge from potential insanity because without it, he would have no hope for life
-Vanessa worries that she is incapable of saying the right thing when they go camping and Chris talks about God and the Stars. "pretending to be asleep" (pg.22)
-Chris doesn't respond when his grandfather talks about him, he sets a barrier between his own world and reality.
-His world consists of his horses, saddle, criss-cross, own ranch. He has control of everything in his world so it only applies to him
-The line slowly, slowly horses of the night means Chris disappears into insanity and that he can't see day and night. Means the night must move slow for Chris and "Whether he had discovered at last a way for himself to make the necessary dream perpetual" (pg.24)
-Chris views God as ridiculous and brutal. He doesn't believe in God. Vanessa doesn't respond, so maybe she does believe in God and doesn't want to tell Chris her views. The circumstances for their views might be the fact that Chris' family lives in poverty while Vanessa is better off a little bit. Vanessa is scared of talking/saying the wrong things
-It reveals that he had a mental breakdown and that he is lost in his fantasy world. He no longer lives in his own world (Chris' letter)
-Vanessa learns that the letter from Chris is the final thing that tells her he is lost and the letter confirmed why he did unrealistic things. She understands why he had a fantasy world.
-excess of imagination harmful
-he has control of his own fantasy world horses Duchess and Firefly. But in reality they are plough horses.
-barrier between person and the real world when a person dreams too much
-he communicates and plays with younger children because he has control and they make no judgements about him.
-sells vacuum cleaners, magazines and knitting machines to university but he doesn't have the marks to get in.
-without his fantasy world he would have no hope for life.
-Chris takes his life to escape the "absolute unbearability of battle"
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
Krakauer in the start of the book depicts Chris as insightful and mindful, “In May 1990, Chris graduated from Emory University in Atlanta, where he’d been a columnist, and editor of, the student newspaper, The Emory Wheel, and had distinguished himself as a history and anthropology major with a 3.72 grade- point average.”(Krakauer 20). With this incorporated into the book it passes on that Chris is exceptionally shrewd and can stand his ground. He additionally shows Chris' certainty when he includes, “No thanks anyway, I’ll be fine with what I’ve got.” (Krakauer 6). In the meantime he clarifies how he is woefully ill-equipped to live in the wild and how he is somewhat…
- 863 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Cormac McCarthy gives his story All the Pretty Horses an unique organization. The book only has four chapters within, yet each chapter is lengthy. There are also very few flashbacks in this story. This flashback was needed, however, to show how things did not change after John Grady Cole’s grandfather died. “On the wall opposite above the sideboard was an oilpainting of horses. . . . his grandfather looked up from his plate at the painting,” shows the painting being there while his grandfather was alive and is stirs up John Grady’s memory of it. There was also one dream sequence in the novel. “That night he dreamt of horses in a field on a high plain . . . they ran in that resonance which is the world itself and which cannot be spoken but only praised,” implies how the horses are wild and…
- 566 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
the shadows that they couldn’t believe what their friend was telling them. Chris was similar to…
- 799 Words
- 1 Page
Good Essays -
Chris McCandless is a man who chose to run away from society because he was tired of it’s corruption, turpitude and people’s dishonesty. He always had a dream to go into the wild and live off of the land. Chris was upset about the direction his life was going in. He knew he had everything any other person would want in life, he graduated college, didn’t have to deal with the struggle of paying for anything because his parents were wealthy. He didn’t want to be like his father, a man who had many affairs, got drunk, beat his wife and puts his reputation before his family.…
- 582 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Throughout some parts of the book, Chris handled things poorly. He was stubborn, ungrateful and stupid. An example of this is how he acted during the situation with his parents when Krakauer reveals Mr. McCandless’s secret love affair. Despite the fact that his…
- 660 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Quite literally, a brick house. The location of which a lot of the story happens. Owned by Vanessa’s grandfather. “Looked huge and cool from the outside… inside it wasn’t cool at all.” Could possibly represent Grandfather Conner’s cold, ignorant, arrogant attitude and demeanor.…
- 1896 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
In the book of Into the Wild by John Krakuer , it is clear that Chris was searching for an escape from society so that he can discover Happiness.. For Instance on page 183 Chris highlights a book from Tolstoy that quotes” I have found what is needed for happiness. A quiet secluded life in the country. “ This quote shows that we can infer that Chris was looking to move away from society in order for his search of happiness. In doing so he did. In fact…
- 578 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Chris McCandless ventured on a grand journey that would change everything and transform his life. He grew up in a hostile environment where his choices were not his own. His parent's violence toward each other began to affect his world views at a very young age. This lead to Chris having high standards for himself and to embark on a journey to find peace and serenity in the wilderness. Radical adventurer seeking enlightenment through traveling motivated by the authors he admired and government corruption.…
- 1001 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
Looking over a couple theories that related to Chris and his family, it seemed like attachment theory fit best. I believe that attachment theory is best for Chris because he had that secure attachment with his mom that allowed him branch out and do something completely unexpected of him. He knew that if anything went wrong he had someone there who had his back, which was his mom and sister. That knowledge of security allowed him to go on this journey and experience the unknown. Attachment theory, established by John Bowlby, is a set a concepts that are used to explain the emergence of the emotional bond that forms between an infant and their primary caregiver. It then goes on to explore that way in which the bond affects the child’s emotional…
- 142 Words
- 1 Page
Good Essays -
Chris gives up all of his luxuries in life such as his home, car, family life, college education, and money to accomplish a sense of what he firmly believes will bring him happiness. He goes through extreme measures, all to fulfill his dream, only to realize that “Happiness only real when shared,”(Krakauer 189). Chris realizes towards the end of his life that he has no one to share his eye-opening experiences with.…
- 576 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Chris McCandless is a driven young adult that is unlike any other. By the end of his Alaskan odyssey, he becomes a new man nearly entirely. The most noticeable difference between the Chris that left home in his yellow Datsun and the Chris that took his last photo in the Alaskan bush, was that the last version of Chris was happy.…
- 455 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Biblical and Medieval references imply and create a Romantic atmosphere that sets the stage for the novel Significance of horses John Grady feels as though these horses connect him to the conquistadors of the past, as well as the cowboys of the present.…
- 396 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
It’s easy to believe Chris suffers from a mental illness such as high functioning borderline personality disorder. This misconception comes from the fact that Chris creates a new version of himself, Alexander Supertramp, fails to maintain relationships he creates throughout his journey, and is meticulous with how the trail to his past life is left. These traits seem to be enough to diagnose Chris with such a disorder, that is if you take it out of context. Chris creates a new version of himself to symbolize the new life he is soon to pursue. He wants to limit the connections to his old life in all ways possible. A life that he regards with disdain, because it failed to meet his moral code. A code highly represented by a passage Chris highlighted in one of his books, “Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth” (Thoreau qtd. in Krakauer 117). Chris’ family failed to understand, and respect these ideals, resulting in Chris’ cutting them out of his life. His parents insisted on trying to increase his quality life with material values while also keeping their previous affair a secret from Chris. He fails to maintain his relationships with people not because he’s antisocial, but because he resents society, and doesn’t…
- 519 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Vanessa continues his stint as an entertainer, and continues to have sex with different men until finally he was nabbed and almost got killed by a group of men he had sex with.…
- 284 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Chris has interactions with people from different backgrounds, different geographies, different ages and different genders and it is all of these relationships that ultimately provides Chris the understanding he was seeking. For example, Chris’ time spent with the middle-aged couple, Rainey and Jan provides him with the insight of how his quest could be affecting those that love him, as Jan states to Chris at one point: “You look like a loved kid”. This quote proves that although Jan…
- 1218 Words
- 5 Pages
Better Essays