“In April 1992, a young man from a well-to-do East Coast family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. Four months later his decomposed body was found by a party of moose hunters”

(Author’s Note).

INTO THE WILD

BY JON KRAKAUER

“It should not be denied…that being

footloose has always exhilarated us. It is

associated in our minds with escape from history and

oppression and law and irksome

obligations, with absolute freedom, and the road has always led west.” (Wallace Stegner, From: The American West as Living Space) "Colorado River." Online Photograph. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.

2 June 2008 <http://www.britannica.com/eb/art-2636>.

“I NOW

WALK

INTO

THE

WILD.”

(ALEX,

1992)

Commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Mt_McKinley,_Denali_National_Park,jpg.

High Achiever: Academics, Athletics, Music

Entrepreneurial

Generous & Caring

Cold & Unforgiving

Impatient with others

Self-absorbed

Harsh judge of parents

Tolerant of artists& close friends

Passionate

Self-righteous

Intensely private

Gregarious

Socially conscious

www.datsunhistory.com/DATPICS/b210.jpg

“I am reborn. This is my dawn. Real Life has begun,” (Alex, June 1992).

“S.O.S. I need your help. I am injured, near death and too weak to hike out of here….This

is no joke…” (Chris McCandless, August?)

THE SLABS

Carthage, South Dakota

EXPLOITS

Detrital

Wash Colorado River --

canoe trip

Bullhead City McDonald’s

Salton City

Las Vegas

California/Mexico Border

ALASKA

Mt. McKinley…”Climb

Mountain!”

“ I finally got here.” (April 22, 1992)

“I’ve decided to head for Alaska

no later than May 1st…:

A babbling brook in spring, a rushing torrent in summer.

DENALI NATIONAL PARK & STAMPEDE

TRAIL

The Journey of Chris McCandless

Visionary or Fool?

Honest or Selfish?

Death Wish?

Desire to confront and overcome fear of death?

CHRIS WAS INSPIRED BY:

LEO TOLSTOY THOREAU JACK LONDON

•“I wanted movement and not a calm course of existence,” -Tolstoy

•“It was the masterful and incommunicable wisdom of eternity

laughing at the futility of life and the effort of life,” -London

•“Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth,” -Thoreau

CHRIS’S RELATIONSHIPS

Family Grandfather: Lauren Johnson Father: Walt Mother: Billie Sister: Carine

Alaska Jim Gallien

-Happiness is only real when shared -There is refuge in nature -Wealth is shameful, corrupting, and evil -Absolutes: Life, Truth, Beauty -Love of one’s Neighbor -Free personality -Life as Sacrifice

CHRIS’S PHILOSOPHIES: “I BELIEVE THAT…”

WHAT POISONED CHRIS?

SWEET PEA VS. WILD POTATO

“

I have had a happy life and thank the Lord..

Goodbye and may God bless all.” (August 1992)

Jim Gallien: Takes Chris to Denali National Park

Butch Killian: EMT who arrives soon after Chris’s body is discovered

Wayne: Closest version of family to Chris-works on a grain elevator for Wayne’s

company in South Dakota

Peter Kalitka: Private Detective hired to find Chris

Gene Rosellini, John Waterman, Carl McCunn and Everett Reuss: Similar men

who ventured into the wild

Ron Franz: Takes in Chris when he moves to Anza-Borrego

Ask Questions on any others…

PEOPLE CHRIS MET:

Krakauer’s use of methodology in Into the Wild is an important focus of his biography. It is inevitably what makes him a “partial” biographer.

Methodology: the methods of organizing principles underlying a particular art, science or other area of study.

*Manuscripts

*Maps

*Interviews

*Epigraphs

METHODOLOGY

Krakauer starts the novel with the ending completely in mind.

We know of Chris’ death by chapter two.

The epigraph is detailing his trip into the Yukon Territory.

Westerberg’s letter is introduced before he is.

How is this effective story telling?

Why are we given the letter before a literary quote?

STRUCTURE:

The maps are used to personalize the odyssey.

Visual rendering of where he’s been. We see Chris’s plight and the trek he has made.

Also see the absurdity of his journey: jumping from one place to the next.

MAPS:

Personal connection to Chris.

He seems very candid and real in the letters.

Detection of his spite, anger and arrogance in the letters.

Puts on a different face in front of strangers: benevolent, spirited,

kind.

The letters serve as his connection to the outside, evidence of his

journey, and his bitter farewell to society.

LETTERS AND MANUSCRIPTS

Story becomes real when we meet people Chris has befriended.

Provide personal account of his behavior.

Allow us to question his motives.

Aware of his inability to connect to humans.

Krakauer’s main attempt at being impartial.

INTERVIEWS

Symbolize Chris’s God

Religious connection for him.

Their imagination becomes his reality.

Inability to understand London, Tolstoy, Thoreau or Emerson, because he takes their

ideas literally: or is this what he’s supposed to do?

LITERARY ALLUSIONS

Transcendentalism New ideas in literature, religion culture and philosophy that emerged in New England in the early to middle 19th century. It is

sometimes called American transcendentalism to distinguish it from other uses of the word.

Transcendentalism began as a protest against the general state of culture and society and in particular, the state of intellectualism at Harvard and the

doctrine of the Unitarian church. Among transcendentalists' core beliefs was an ideal spiritual state that 'transcends' the physical and empirical and is only realized through the individual's intuition, rather than through the doctrines

of established religions.

TRANSCENDENTALISM

Unless otherwise cited, the pictures are all from http://images.google.com/images

All quotes are from: Krakauer, Jon. Into the Wild. New York: Anchor Books, 1997.

Constance D. Casserly, June 2, 2008

ATTRIBUTION