Bros:
As we come closer to the concluding pages of the story about one man's journey into the wilderness to not only find, but create himself, I would like you to write an at least three paragraph reflection on what you believe is the most important lesson to learn from his story.
Please use chapters 16 and 17 as reference points, enlightening your classmates as to what you think are the major insights to be gained from the final chapters of this powerful story.
What are some themes, symbols, images, metaphors and other other literary techniques that people should be aware of in understanding the deeper meaning of the text.
Have at it, and be sure to quote from the text, using the proper format for quotations such as follows:
Krakauer writes, "..." (#).
For instance, "..." (Krakauer #).
According to Krakauer, "..." (#).
This reflection is DUE WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2009 by class-time on blog or typed, hard copy. It will be worth 10 points, so put the proper intellectual effort into this.
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p.s. don't forget to head your entries with the following:
Your Name
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April 22, 2009
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30 comments:
Rob Scholle
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April 22, 2009
I think that the most important lesson that this book teaches is how a "battle" that goes on within us, and our respone to that battle, is what makes us who we are. This "climactic battle to kill the false being within"(163) as Chris calls it, is between God and devils, or demons, or whatever you want to call them.
Chris' consiousness of this "battle" made him more capible of improving himself. As he took control of the battle, and was able to control himself and understand his priorities. He was able to understand himself by looking at this battle and fighting to make himself a better person. This brings up the point, maybe life isn't really about knowing who you are but just as much knowing who you swhould be and how to make yourself into that person.
Once Chris understood this battle, he really changed his life. I am not talking about his radicle journey into the wild, but how he grew during his tramping journeys and his Alaskan adventure. I think that he grew from his graduation from college to the point he atmpted to leave the Alaskan wilderness. At he begining of his journey, he hates his family and shuns any kind of perminant relationship. By the end, he touches so many lives and is kind to so many people. This change was a result of his "internal battle" that was made alive in his physical journey. I think that we can truly say that by the end of his life, Chris had truly killed the"false being" within himself.
Deandre White
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April 22, 2009
i think the lesson of this story is that you have the power to do find something that you want. As long as you set your mind to it.“ His journal entry for the day is characteristically terse but unmistakably joyous : CLIMB MOUNTAIN”(164). Chris probably felt that it was fate for him to think of climbing the mountain to probably find something that he felt that he needed to know. Or to understanding when he finds out after or during this event.
Even thought he gave all his money away, didnt attend college,change his name, and left his family. He found a new life, made new friends, and lived the on the "extreme" he finally understood his purpose to find the true/different side of the real world while on his journey. So i think that he is a role model within most of us.
Dan Pickle
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April 22, 2009
I think the most important lesson and insights that can be gained from the story is how to live a spiritually complete and free, full life. There are two parts to living this life which the text makes us aware of. Recognition of ones self and fufilling ones being.
First, recognizing ones self is a continuous journey. Most people, I believe, never reach total enlightenment. It is a journey that one must undertake throughout life. Alexander Supertramp tried to escape who he was and make himself a new person and find himself, his true raw self, in nature. Also, throughout this spiritual journey he was shaped into the person he wanted to be, as Krakauer writes quoting Alex he achieves, "Ultimate freedom. An Exremist."(163).
The second important lesson to be learned from the story is to fufill ones self. Throughout the story it is realized Alex is living his life. He realizes he is unhappy and attemps to change that by changing the way he lives. This is one of the most important things, I believe, people can do in their lives. When people are unhappy too many of them continue to live the same way, even if their unhappiness is still there. What Alex did was realize his true being and take steps, extreme steps, to fufill who he wanted to be, or to go on a journey to find that true being inside him.
Alex lived a full life because he realized his true being and then attempted to fufill who he was and also went on a spiritual journey. This journey takes incredible amounts of stength due to the fact that you may have to make drastic changes in your life. however this is what Chris does and is rewarded because he completes his "spiritual revolution"(163).
Erich Harkema
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April 22, 2009
I think the most important lesson in this book is to be careful what you wish for. Chris's long-term goal was to go to Alaska because the "west is best". Chris could've just explored the rest of the United States and he would've been fine most likely. If you look closely in the story Chris is usually near civilization in the book and was assisted multiple times. This time in Alaska, there was nobody to help him. He constantly got jobs to get money for rice, even though he didn't like money. Ironic, isn't it?
You will also notice Chris's geographical error. If he had studied more about Alaska he might've been ok. The Teklanika river was frozen when he crossed it to the "magic bus". If he had studied more about Alaska he could predict when the rivers would melt and flood. When he finally decided to leave Alaska he was unable to because the rivers had flooded up and he was a bad swimmer. According to Krakauer, "When hee'd first crossed the river, sixty-seven days earlier in th freezing temperatures of April, it had been an icy but gentle knee-deep creek, and he'd simply strolled across it. On July 5, however, the Teklanika was at full flood, swollen with rain and snowmelt from glaciers high in the Alaska Range, running cold and fast"(Krakauer 170).
Chris Mccandless did something alot of teenagers do, reckless, stupid things that are considered too dangerous for kids. This somehow draws them to do it even though they know the possible consequences and danger of it. They might be pursuing enjoyment, rebelling, or searching for a deeper meaning. Krakauer writes, "It is hardly unusual for a young man to be drawn to a pursuit considered reckless by his elders; engaging in risky behavior is a rite of passage in our culture no less than in most others. Danger has always held a certain allure. That, in large part, is why some many teenagers driver too fast and drink too much and take too many drugs, why it has always been so easy for nations to recruit young men to go to war.It can be argued that youthful derringdo is in fact evolutionarily adaptive, a behavior encoded in our genes. McCandless, in his fashion, merely took risk-taking to its logical extreme" (Krakauer 182).
Wyatt Gasparik
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April 22,2009
I believe that the most important lesson in this story is that you only have one life and you need to make the most of it. There are many beautiful things in the world just sitting there waiting to be experienced by someone. There is no use in doing the same routine every single day. You need to experience something different that makes you happy no matter what it is.
In the book Chris McCandless throws away all of his possessions and gives all his money away to charity seeing as its all apart of mans greed. He wants to be alone. Experience new things, new places, new people, and even a new life. He travels on the road hoping to fulfill this empty space. Chris writes a letter to Ron Franz saying,"My point is that you do not need me or anyone else around to bring this new kind of light in your life. It is simply waiting out there for you to grasp it, and all you have to do is reach for it. The only person you are fighting is yourself and your stubbornness to engage in new circumstances."(Krakauer,58). This letter that Chris wrote to Ron is saying that there are many things to experience in life. You can not be afraid to jump into things with an open mind and free spirit. Chris feels that this is the way to truly live. He is not depending on anyone or anything, he is traveling embracing everything that comes at him and is not afraid to do anything.
Chris in this way displays this theme throughout the story. He is nomadic and does whatever he wants whenever he wants without fear of any circumstances.
Logan Dietz
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April 22, 2009
I believe the lesson to learn from Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is to find who you really, to find a meaning to your life, you need to really search from deep within yourself to find yourself. Krakauer writes, "McCandless wasn't some feckless slacker, adrift and confused, racked by existential despair. To the contrary: His life hummed with meaning and purpose" (184). McCandless was different than other individuals that attempted at the same kind of adventure. He was not just wandering around aimlessly, but he had a plan with meaning and purpose.
It also takes determination, perserverance, and hard-work to do something like Chris did. For instance, "But the meaning he wrested from existence lay beyond the comfortable path: McCandless distrusted the value of things that came easily. He demanded much of himself-more, in the end, than he could deliver" (184). Chris was a self-motivated person. When things around you start to get worse, most people can not take it and just give up. But this is not so in Chris's case. In Chris's case, he was able to handle the challenges. In fact, he probably thrived at the challenges he knew were ahead of him, until the last few weeks of his life.
The final lesson is we are not to think we are indestructible humans that can take on anything. This is how Chris was the most of his journey. Krakauer writes, "He signed the note 'Chris McCandless, August?' Recognizing the gravity of his predicament, he had abandoned the cocky moniker he'd been using for years, Alexander Supertramp, in favor of the name given to him at birth by his parents" (198). So eventually Chris did realize he could not survive through anything, even though it was too late. He was on a mission to search for meaning in his life, who he really was, and it ended up costing him his life.
The Vincenzo Merante
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April 22, 2009
-Christopher McCandless's story is very inspirtational and unqiue.it taught me many lessons but the most important one i saw was we are the true beholders of our destiny. Chris was sick of living in lies, deception, and a life that didnt satisfy him. so, fed up with it, he decided to mold himself into a new person. new life, new people, new surronding. Chris took his destiny into his own hands and became a man at the end of it. your destiny is what you make of it. Chris understood that and didnt underestimate that. Many people think McCandless ruined his destiny by leaving his family and many personal items behind but i think what he left behind would actually mask his true destiny. Chris didnt have anything going for him until he made something happen.
- Another lesson i read about was love. Sure Chris's parents loved him, but he didnt feel it. he felt ignored, lost in a way, so he decided to pull apart from his family. his tarvels taught him the concept of "true love". Chris met different people that he had actual feelings for. the love he felt for them took a lot out of Chris because he never felt it before. The wild taught Chris that being alone is fine, but true happiness is found through loving relationships. Love is another big reason why Chris decided to dettach himself from his society. he was sick of everyone being fake, a phoney, and it pissed him off. he saw his parents problems get bigger and bigger every day and he couldnt understand it. he went into the wild to search for love.
- Trust is a major lesson taught throughout Into The Wild. Chris McCandless always had a tough time with the concept of trust. he really analyzed the people he called friends, family, or acquitances. Chris needed to know that you were for real with him. that you were straight up and really there for him. He was liked by many people and i could see why. Chris's personality was contagious. it was loving, caring, and entergetic. he built many relationships on his search for the meaning of life. as his relationships grew, he finally realized that his friends were real. he began having trust in them and he now had people to rely on. Krakauer writes, " McCandless was something else-although precisely what is hard to say"(pg.85). Chris was a person that we find once in our liftime, and thats something special.
Joe Fennimore
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April 22, 2009
The story Into the Wild was very interesting to read because it talked about the life and journey that Chris McCandless took and what he decided was more important than other things in his life. He abandoned everything he owned and everyone he ever knew in order to try to accomplish a goal of his to single-handedly obtain his spiritual enlightenment. He felt that he needed to do it alone because other people wouldn't understand, or they would end up helping him too much, and it would not bear the same rewards. His perspective on life was one unlike any I'd ever heard and it was very, very perplexing to try to understand and explore this completely foreign attitude to life. Krakaur writes of Alex's poem in Alaska, "The climactic battle to kill the false being within and victoriously conclude the spiritual revolution" (163). His insight on the human spirit is fascinating, because he believes that it isn't something that people start with, but rather something that has to be obtained after a long journey.
I find, however, that part of his great qualities were also his greatest faults. He saw himself as alone in the world of true spiritual enlightenment. He stereotyped almost everyone into the group of hipocrites that follow their society blindly and live meaningless lives. He was unique, but he should not have tried to push everyone away from him so easily. Also in Alex's note, Krakaur writes, "No longer to be poisoned by civilization he flees, and walks alone upon the land to become Lost In The Wild" (163). Granted, he did make friends along his journey, and almost everyone that he met liked him, but there was always this constant sense that Alex felt like he didn't need those people. In fact, his views on life were that it was a collective kind of bond and that people should not hide themselves from adventure because they fear for their lives. He even tells Ron Franz, a man well beyond really suitable adventuring years, that he should abandon everything just like he did, when he would almost assuredly die from the harsh conditions. This side of Chris McCandless was farsighted, not open to opinion, and horribly unforgiving. It reminds us that all people have faults, and that this is not a fictional story. Everyone has a side like this to them, but not many people often embrace it. They feel that they have something that they believe and they don't want other people to challenge that belief because they feel it is the only thing worth holding on to.
Also, despite the fact that this is a true story, there are interesting symbols that can be depicted from the story. For example, while Chris is in Alaska, and exploring its terrain, it's kind of like he is exploring his own mind. It is vast, beautiful, and at times it is very hard to manage, but his exploration allows him to better understand himself. The game that he hunts are like memories. They are always present, darting this way and that across the mind, but even though they are sometimes forgotten, they really only lie somewhere in the longterm memory. Then, the bus is similar to Chris's heart. It is the only thing reminiscent of the world that he has left behind, but he comes to depend upon it, even though it represents a part of life that he isn't searching for.
Krakaur writes, "After weighing his options, therefore, he settled on the most prudent course. He turned around and began walking to the west, back toward the bus, back into the fickle heart of the bush" (171). He goes back to the bus because he cannot cross the river without drowning. He knows that if he returns to the bus and waits a while, the water level will drop and it will be safe to cross. When any person is faced with troubles, conflicts, or times when they feel overwhelmed, the mind always seems to return to the heart. It relys on its most basic instincts and insights in order to overcome those challenges victoriously. Then, the fact that Alex died in Alaska represents that it may take a lifetime to fully be enlightened and to understand what it means to be alive. He did not die in vain, though, because he died doing exactly what he wanted to do with his life, and that is what everyone aspires to do.
I think an important lesson in this story is that life is not all about money, power, or material possesions. Also, I think another important lesson is you can do anything you put your mind to. I think this because set his mind to whatever he was doing such as climbing the moutain, working at the grain fields, or kayaking through the rapids. Also, he donated all of his money to charity, burned the money in his wallet, and left his family, so that he could start a new, more spiritual life. On his journey he found a new life, made new friends, and achieved "ultimate freedom.An exremist"(163). I think Chris was a role model because he put his mind to whatever he was doing and we can all learn something from him.
I think the most important lesson that the book teaches the readers is "man vs. wild" and "man vs. himself". Explaining that Chris had to battle nature to survive and battle himself in order to complete his goals.
If he didnt take the adventure into the wild. He would be like most people, and would have never find the completed enlightenment. Alex Supertramp was tring to escape his boring life, and create a life that is far more meaningful. His main goal, was to look for himself in the wild, so he can shape up his apparence, meantally and physically.
He didnt learn first about the wild before heading out, however he had the right survival skills to ordinaryly survive in the wild. In Chapter 17, krakuer compares alex supertramp to a "typical teenager", who takes risks to prove or herself to pther people. McCandless found meaining in his adventures and that he wasn't in fact a man lost in the wild like the critiscism that hes been getting.
Rick Fish
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April 22, 2009
To me I think the most important lesson to this story is that you have to believe in yourself to accomplish any goals that you might want to reach because just like Alex Supertramp you will have to go threw many difficulties but if you want it badly then youll have to work for it.
Alex doesn't do this because there is something wrong with him mentally but he does it to get away from the lies that his parents were living and thats why he says the "climatic battle to kill the false being within."(163)He wants to get away from all of the things in life that cause problems and make life difficult for other human beings. He goes out into the wilderness to find his inner part of himself and to be free. On his long journey he meets knoew people and learns knew things.
I think the way that Alex had left his family was wrong because I think he shoulda wrote a letter or something. I don't disagree with his decision because thats what he wanted and he felt thats what he was meant to do in his life. He didn;t have any boundaries and he did whatever he felt like doing without anyone holding him back.
Michael Klim
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22 April 2009
I believe that the most important aspect that can be taken from Into the Wild is the fact that you need to live a life that is at least some what free from oppresson from others. Chris lived a life free from the oppression by escaping from his parents and going on a great journey. We, as the readers of the book don't have to take such a dangerous course but should rather try to not be consumed by one thing and should devote time for ourselves.
James May
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April 22, 2009
This story is a very real translation of how we should live our lives, and what we should be searching for. It provides both guidance and direct interpretations of what life can be interpreted as; in this case how Chris McCandless interpreted life as and through. In fact, two of the most important aspects are mentioned as a final review in chapter 18.
Krakauer writes, ""NATURE/PURITY," he printed in bold characters at the top of the page" (189). This is referring to a note Chris had written in a margin of Doctor Zhivago, and it is one of the most stressed details Chris and Krakauer try to get across throughout the book. It basically says that nature, the wilderness, and in a sense the unknown, are the purist things in the world, because they have not been completely contaminated with civilization and society. This is a direct interpretation in the book of an escape from controlled life, saying that there is a certain freedom in the wild. This freedom is what Chris tries to and in a way does achieve.
The second, less clear message in the book comes in the form of ""HAPPINESS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED"" (Krakauer 189). This comment made by Chris is much more confusing than the previous one, because it seems that it goes against much of what was taught in this book. This comment is more a phrase that we need to really think about. It basically says that, you can be as free as you want in the wilderness, as unattached to everything as possible. But it is the nature of humans to need someone to share it with. For people like Chris, doing something like this alone may seem necessary. But it is extremely hard to try and have someone appreciate how truly happy or proud you are unless they too are undergoing the same ordeal. This is something that Chris may have realized to late. I would not be surprised if Chris' last days were spent wondering what would have happened if he had brought Wayne, or Ron, or his sister along, so he could have someone to look after him and to share his achievement with. You can be as happy as you want, but true happiness it seems is only achieved when someone completely understands your happiness. This is probably the most important message of this book.
Graham Sides
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April 22, 2009
One of the important insights in this novel is that once a person sets a goal on doing something, to follow through with that goal. In this novel, Alex set the goal of surviving in the wilderness for awhile to get away from civilization and followed through with his goal, even if it cost him his life. Any regular person who decided that they were going to go to Alaska to get away from society would probably have gone back after a couple days or weeks after they had experienced the lack of food, warmth, or electricity. However, Alex was able to enter the wilderness with the bare necessities and survive for almost nine months.
Another important insight is pretty much turning over a new leaf. Chris is able to almost completely leave behind his old life of society and begin his new life of solitude. He does this by burning his money, removing his license plate from his car and abandoning it, and give himself a new name. In a sense, I think it is closely related to being reborn into someone else, except that eventually Chris decides that he wants to return to society after his years of solitude. However he is not able to because of his misjudging of his geography, and eventually dies. This can almost be related to Jesus dying on the cross, with Chris dying in the bus.
These two major insights can give a reader a good idea of what to expect when they read this book, but there are many more insights in this book than just these two.
Michael Pompa
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April 22, 2009
i think are a lot of an important points in this story. but there can only be amount i can fit on this blog. like how he burned his money, that is saying just forget the fame and pressure just live your life. also there are some others like the finding of the father is a very good theme that went on.
also another way this makes it important is that if you want to do something then go out and do it dont let life get in your way. just do what you want live it. also it tells how stand up for your self. but also you shuredent do that to your family and just run away with out tell any one. it also tells you how to make friends and how easy your life is.
some of the symbols are money and how he burned it or trying to get it. another symbol is is the bus because with out the bus he will not survive that long. bt it is also to cold to life in that thing too.
Tyler Zymroz
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April 22, 2009
I think that the most important lesson in "Into the Wild" is that you only have one life and you should make the most of it. There are beautiful things in this world waiting to be seen and explored. Alex is thinking that their is no use in doing the same routine every single day. He wants to experience different stuff to make him happy, no matter what it is.
Alex throws away all of his possessions and gives his money away to charity. He does so because this is the beginning point to a mans greed.Alex experiences new things, new places, new people, and even a new life. He travels on a neverending road, hoping to fulfill his empty desire. He isn't afraid to jump into adventures and jobs, while doing it with an open mind and free spirit.
Thomas O'Connor
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April 22, 2009
One can learn many powerful lessons from the adventures of Chris McCandless. One of these lessons which I find to be most important is following your own beleifs. Another lesson that is important is to seek happiness.
In order to enjoy life, it is critical that you acknoledge these points that McCandless brings to us through his journey.
A fundemental part of one's identity are the values that he/she beleive in. Chris shows the readers what it means to really follow beleifs. McCandless found society undesirable, so he left society. He went so much farther than any person ordinarily would just to adhere to his values. Chris's display of bold adventuring shows the need to follow one's own philosophies.
Chris also teaches the readers to seek happiness and enjoy their lives. By adventuring out of society, Chris fulfills what he feels to be his purpose and his ideas. He is going to great measures to obtain happiness and fulfill his thoughts and philosophies on life. Though McCandless's adventure was somewhat reckless, and he eventually lost his life, he was enjoying himself and his life fully. Chris shows that one can reach true happiness only by carrying out your philosophies, ideas, and beliefs, whatever the cost.
Louis Taglianetti
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REl 011.04
April 22, 2009
An important lesson is about the value of life. Using it to your ability or trying to find yourself. McCandless decides there is so much to be seen and explored, also things to get away from regular life and its routine.
He shows its not about money or social power or popularity. Simply its about yourself and being happy, and finding who you are.
Jake Rostek
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April 22, 2009
I think that the most important lesson that Into the Wild teaches is that although you may be trying to "find" yourself or find your beliefs, you can't do this without including the forces and the interruptions of the outside world.
Krakauer states "McCandless went into the wilderness not primarily to ponder nature or the world at large, but rather, to explore the inner country of his own soul" (183). He then writes "an extended stay in the wilderness inevitably directs one's attention outward as much as inward" (183). This to me means that although he wanted to get away to explore his own soul, his trip to the wilderness which was meant to allow McCandless to "find" himself, ended up requiring his attention to be directed to the outside world in order to survive, instead of concentrating only on himself.
I think this story teaches us that it can never be all about us, that the outside world is always going to interfere. There has got to be more to finding ourselves than by just getting away from it all. Finding ways to deal with the outside world goes a long way in finding ways to deal with our own questions and beliefs about ourselves.
Robbie McKinstry
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April 22, 2009
I cannot think of one solely important lesson from the story. However, prominent lessons that appear in my perception would include obsessing over the truth, to stop and watch, and society is corrupt.
Chris was clearly motivated to traveling because of his oppression by his parents. They lied to him about his birth, and consequently brought about his journey, and therefore his search for truth. That is, in essence, the purpose of his journey. He did it to get away from everything, and not have to worry about social problems like determining if you are being lied to, because everything in the wild is truth.
The second lesson is something that it apparent in the book. Everything around us in nature is beautiful, and we only need to stop and recognize its beauty. I believe it is Matthew Chapter 6 that speaks about the beauty of the lilies, and any how we are more valuable than they.
The third lesson is taught by Alex's restlessness on the road, and how very incompatible with society that he becomes. Alex, with a strict moral code, cannot live in a corrupt society in which each man cares for only his own glory. This demonstrates that sad truth, that the person with the strictest moral standards in a community will NEVER be happy in that society unless drastic changes are made. This is so because every single person in that community will not be working up to the status quo according to the moral radical. The solution to this problem, I do not know. Chris, however did. He chose isolation.
He chose the wild over his plush bed, because it is always true, always beautiful, and always innocent.
Eric Gemmell
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April 22, 2009
In this story I believe that the most important lesson to be learned is that you need to make the most of your life because you only have one. There are many beautiful things in the world, you just need to go out and grab the bull by the horns and take advantage of them. There is no point in doing the same old thing every single day. You need to do something wild and out of control that makes you happy.
In the book Chris McCandless throws away all of his possessions and gives all his money away to charity seeing as its all apart of mans greed. He wants to be one with the wild and be alone and away from civilization to experience it. Experience new things, new places, new people, and even a new life. He travels on the road hoping to fulfill this empty space. He sends a letter to Ron Franz saying,"My point is that you do not need me or anyone else around to bring this new kind of light in your life. It is simply waiting out there for you to grasp it, and all you have to do is reach for it. The only person you are fighting is yourself and your stubbornness to engage in new circumstances."(Krakauer,58). The letter that he wrote is telling him to go out and experience all that this world has to offer. He needs to get out and live his life to the fullest to be truly happy. McCandless thinks that this is the way that everyone should try to live their life. He is not depending on anyone or anything, he is traveling embracing everything that comes at him and is not afraid to do anything.
Chris in this way displays this theme throughout the story. Be nomadic and take advantage of the gifts that have been given to you and the rest of the world.
Dan Smith
Dan Smith
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Religion 011
April 22 2009
I believe the most important lesson we can learn from the story is the power of the human spirit. As we can see from Chris's journey he set out to find what he was made of and to measure himself. He sought a challenge and was eventually overcome by it.
The power of the spirit is great. With sheer determination and will, like Mccandless', you can climb mountains and do things not usually done. He battles his will and his doubts. He enters the wild so as to find the battle and his will.
Chris's determination is what allows him to survive in the wild so long. He would never have survived if he were not as determinated as he was. He does a stupid thing traveling away from he great family and life to venture out by himself. His stupidity although is saved by his will to survive.
The Vincent Zottola
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April 22, 2009
The main theme of the book would be to find yourself. Before one comes an adult one must find out who you are and what you want to do. One of the symblos would be the car. When the car gets cought in the flash flood it shows how he is getting babtised and how he is getting reborn. One more symbol would be the bus that was found in alska. The car symbolizes how now matter how harsh the time or how harsh the enviroment people will still be able to live and to function.
Osas Malkin
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Rell 011.04
April 22, 2009
I think the most important lesson in this book is that, never give up, focus on what you are doing and if you believe in yourself, you can make the best out of every situation. Christ was in the wild for many days, no friend, no family, no phone, no money, no computers, he was all by himself. However, he made the best out of that short time that he was in the wild. Christ could have sat in his tent, saddened, crying his eyes out, but instead he did so many fun things just so he could make the best out that time he was there. Though, my first impression towards Christ was that of an idiot, waste of life, careless, ignorant, and unappreciative. But I came to understand that he was a guy who was determined to do whatever was in his mind, and no matter what someone told him, he was going to do what he felt was right.
Secondly, I think another important lesson that this book teaches is "FREEDOM"! Because when Christ was at home with his family, he felt that he was under his parents, didn't get to do whatever he wanted. But when he went to the forest, he was free he went to wherever he wanted, explore different new places, and met different people. Even though his journey ended tragically, I think Christ would be happy because he got to do all the things that he couldn't do when he was at home.
The things that changed about them was that they were more calm and not as cruel as they were to each other when chris and his sister were little. They also knew that they had a great son and that one day change there lifes for ever
Guthrie Renwick
Bro. Rob Peach, FSC
Rel 011.04
May 12, 2009
The most important lesson from Into The Wild is to set your mind on something and then work for it. Chris “Alexander Supertramp” McCandless always wanted to go to Alaska and he made it possible through hard work. His parents had gave him $25,000 to go to college and he could have used it to finance his trip but instead he gave it all away to charity and decided to earn money along the way.
Chris worked for Wayne Westerberg for money to finance his trip. Wayne said he always chose the hardest jobs and I think this is because he wanted to know he deserved the money he was getting. He was never too worried about money and he never needed to be he always could get someone to give him a meal or a ride.
His last goal was to get back across the river that separated him from the real world. He couldn’t complete that goal, so he tried to survive longer in the wild by eating plants which ultimately killed him. In the movie I think one symbol of technology was the hat he put on the other side of the river. He never reached technology but technology eventually reached him, sadly too late.
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