Doug Swieteck is a 14 year old boy with a life that is anything but desirable, he lives in a small town he hates in upstate new york, has an abusive father, a brother who is scarred from the Vietnam war and another brother known for being a criminal. He tries to find happiness in the small things like his mothers smile and joy, drawing birds, his friend lil and his baseball jacket that used to be owned by a baseball legend. Once these things start disappearing his mother stops smiling his fathers job is in danger and his jacket is stolen. He overcomes this and against the odds makes his life better with the help of noble people like the librarian and his teacher. This book is very emotional and one of the most heartbreaking parts is when they…
Finally in Chapter 8, the reader is given insight into the types of letters Krakauer received, after having previously written an article about McCandless, with most of the incoming mail giving harsh criticism on the young traveler's story for being mentally ill, and unprepared. Yet McCandless isn’t the only one to go off on to a far fetched adventure out into the Alaskan wilderness, as one school teacher put it, with Krakauer offering three other examples of others with stories like McCandless. These other stories of Rosellini, Waterman, and McCunn, also prove Christopher McCandless’s uniqueness despite there being similarities between him and of the many others who shared the same philosophy as McCandless. Different in a sense that McCandless,…
In many teen novels there are two people who, through trial and trouble, fall in love and live happily ever after. In the novel, Looking for Alaska, John Green takes that plot line flips it upside down. Miles Halters, who they call “Pudge”, is leaving his home in Florida to attend Culver Creek Preparatory School in Alabama. While at Culver Creek, he meets his new roommate Chip, who they called “the Colonel” and his friends Takumi and Alaska. The instant Pudge sees Alaska Young he is intrigued.…
The book presents the development of a psychological portrait of Christopher McCandless who abandoned all of his possessions and hitchhiked to Alaska.…
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is about a young man named Chris McCandless who left his old life behind to hitchhike across America. He burned the money in his pockets and abandoned his car in the desert. Krakauer tells the story of Chris’s journey to Alaska where he was found dead in an abandoned bus, and much more. Chris McCandless’s story is one of courage and passion; however, it also gives the impression that he was irresponsible and ungrateful. He had many character traits that one would both admire and detest.…
The book “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer talks about an adventurous young man that travels into the Alaskan wilderness pursuing the right lifestyle for himself. Chris McCandless was a modern day nomad from the 20th century looking for a way to live a free life. Chris found out that his father never divorced his first wife causing an impact on his life that helps with his decision to live a nomadic life. Chris is very intelligent young man but at the same time an arrogant one too who has taken on a path to travel to the Alaska and live the free life that he desires.…
In Looking For Alaska, by John Green, there is a lot of symbolism and meaningful objects presented throughout the book. In my collage, I chose to include some of the book’s most important objects and pictures to help give a deeper understanding of the book.…
In Looking For Alaska, Miles “Pudge” Halter struggles with coming to terms with, or accepting, a lot of things that happen in the novel. In the ‘After’ part of the novel, Miles matures the most and comes of age by accepting and coping with Alaska’s death, realizing that his relationship with Alaska wasn’t as personal as he thought it was, and by learning how to survive in the labyrinth.…
Throughout the tragic novel Into the Wild, author Jon Krakauer provides an in depth analysis of the life and lonely death of Christopher McCandless. McCandless was a young man straight out of college, looking to find himself while hitchhiking alone in the bush of Alaska. Unfortunately for Chris his well anticipated venture turned fatal after a hundred some days alone in the wilderness. Jon Krakauer uses rhetorical methods for the duration of the book, which allows him to speak of Chris’s life with a sense of certainty. The reader thus trusts Krakauer’s narrative and somewhat understands why a man like Chris could head into unknown territory without a second thought. The author shows his qualification for writing about Chris by making comparisons with his own life and interviewing those close to Chris…
One day in July of 1990, Chris McCandless severed all contact with his family and set out West and started his two year long journey that would ultimately end with his untimely death in the frozen, unforgiving landscape of Alaska. Something drove McCandless to venture out of the secure lifestyle his future had become and do the unexpected thing and journey across the Western hemisphere. Many people speculate that McCandless left because of simple rebellion and a penchant for risk-taking. While rebellion and risk-taking might have played a small role, I believe that McCandless’s family issues and philosophical beliefs were the true reasons he left to explore the vast and wild north.…
“I wanted movement and not a calm course of existence, I wanted excitement and danger and the chance to sacrifice myself for my love, I felt myself in a superabundance of energy which found no outlet in our quiet life” –Leo Tolstoy. Leo Tolstoy’s views and ideas, along with other philosophers, would determine the internal drive and the overall decisions of an individual named Chris McCandless. The book Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer, is the story of a man named Chris McCandless that ventures into the great Alaskan wilderness to seek meaning in his true self. Chris is a twenty-four year old from Virginia who graduated from Emory University with a 3.72 GPA. He had a troubled relationship with his family and disagreed…
Looking for Alaska is a novel written by John Green set in Alabama specifically the campus at the Culver Creek boarding school with the exception of a few important locations such as the Smoking Hole. The story is narrated in the first person through the perspective of Miles “Pudge” Halter, which has its disadvantages as he turns into a mental wreck after the death of Alaska.…
In 1992, a young man lost his life to hard conditions and lack of experience during a journey everyone secretly daydreams of. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer spins the story of young, underprepared Chris McCandless taking a deadly adventure into the Alaskan wilderness. Krakauer authenticates Chris’ experiences in the novel by providing excerpts from his journals as well as interviews with friends and family. His documentary-style writing leads the reader through Chris’ extraordinary legacy and mindset, keeping him or her enthralled in his whimsical quest. Krakauer’s novelization of Chris’ adventures creates an unfortunate, yet compelling story with his sentence length and allusions to other adventurers to convey his belief that…
Looking for Alaska by John Green is the story of Miles Halter and his adventure of going to a boarding school. In this novel we see Miles finally make friends and fall in love. This novel deals with peer pressure and dealing with the death of a friend.…
Gary Paulsen’s novel is a story of a battle between a boy and the nature that’s against him. When Brian first arrives in the woods after the plane crash, the setbacks he experiences frustration in his journey of survival. He cries and despairs, and he gives in to self-pity and hopelessness. However, he soon learns what he considers the most important rule of survival. That is self-pity, rather than accomplishing anything only wastes time and energy that could be spent working and getting something done in the time you were thinking about the situation. A new attitude “new Brian”, combined with improved powers of observation, patience and a degree of luck, enable Brian to survive his time in the wilderness.…