The Author’s Similarly Reckless Adventures in into the Wild

On Into the Wild The ordering of the information presented in Krakauer's Into the Wild made sense to me. The way the events were put together with the different accounts of the people Krakauer interviewed made McCandless' story more interesting than if it had been told in a sequential fashion. A large portion of the second half of the text narrates one of the author's similarly reckless adventures. Krakauer spends a lot of time comparing his experience climbing the Devil's Thumb with McCandless' attempt to live in the wild Alaskan bush. In many cases, the author seemed to have an even tougher time than Chris. However, Krakauer had gotten lucky and was rescued. 

In his written reflection, Krakauer seems to be searching for something by comparing his experience with Chris McCandless'. He mentions in the text that the scorn from McCandless' critics may stem from a sort of guilt and theorizes that the critics themselves had probably been just as naive and adventurous as Chris. Having grown up and lost their former spirit, however, they can no longer empathize with the musings of a boy. Krakauer may have been attempting not only to understand McCandless but also himself by writing about his climb up the Devil's Thumb. By analyzing McCandless' motives for putting his life in danger, he might be able to better understand the decisions he had made in the past. Even more so, Krakauer was probably searching for a common root among all people that causes them to make wild decisions. In the text, he mentions several men who have also attempted living among nature. All had failed. Most have died. 

To a certain degree, there seems to be an idea that is shared among many. If not the idea that humans should belong to nature, then that they are too isolated from it. Not everyone is going to go out into the wild to prove this point. But there is still a certain longing toward nature that exists from person to person in varying degrees. People like McCandless are on the extreme end of the spectrum, but there are others who express this desire in a less threatening way. For example, people who have money like to buy houses with good views, maybe along a coastal line or even a private beach. Those that can afford it will buy cabins out by the countryside where they can view the stars without interference of city lights. When people want to play outside, they prefer a park with greenery: grass, trees, bushes. True, not necessarily nature, but it still leans toward that idea. Perhaps Krakauer wanted to find an explanation for this common desire among people.

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