Into the Wild Essay

Kenzie Fisher

9/3/2007

B3

Into the Wild Essay

“Wilderness appealed to those bored or disgusted with man and his works. It not only offered an escape from society but also was an ideal stage for the Romantic individual to exercise the cult that he frequently made his own soul. The solitude and total freedom of the wilderness created a perfect setting for either melancholy or exultation.” From page 157.

Nature seems to connect with man when man finds a fault with mankind. Man can not only use nature as a way to escape society but to also enjoy its beauty. The final understanding of ones self concludes with triumphant or failure. Wilderness provides an escape from society and the disappointments of mankind and it provides one with an opportunity to triumph over adversity.

The epigraph is almost always correct. Where else can a man go if he is disgusted with mankind and society? The Wilderness gives man the chance to be challenged by nature and oneself without being judged by mankind and society. He is free to be self-sufficient. The triumphs will always be with you as well as the failures. And in the extreme case of challenging the wilderness the failure was fatal

Chris McCandless was disgusted with the truth about his father and the double life he led. He was very displeased about coming from wealth and didn’t like what his father had done in the past with his family. So he turned to the wilderness for the answers. He tried to escape from society and exercise his independence, self-sufficiency, and sense of adventure. The wilderness seemed to impress Chris and it drove him. He moved out west and had no contact with his family; he did things that put him and nature together. He paddled a canoe all the way to Mexico and he took on numerous jobs so he could make his biggest and greatest trip. A trip to Alaska, this trip took him to a greater extreme. To just be with himself and all that nature offered him. He was so sure of himself that he could make it through anything and believed not so much that it was luck but it was his own will and determination. Now after being in Alaska for a few months, Chris thought he finally had the answers or at least was ready to return to civilization, he was triumphant; he had survived for several months on his own in the wilderness. Then things took a turn, as he was making his way out of a secluded area he couldn’t cross the river to make the trip back. He was trapped he didn’t know of any other ways out of the brush, so he had no choice but to continue to rough it. He continued to live a while until a few bad choices proved to be fatal, and how quickly the triumph was gone. His great odyssey of a trip cost him his life.

The wilderness plays an important role to man. Man feels connected to nature and can see it as an escape. He can return to days of hunters and gatherers and really appreciate all it has to offer. It allows him to break away from the easy life he has and to live a hard but worth while life, all the while; building his confidence, independence and self-sufficiency. He not only sees it for its resources but its true beauty and that’s what drives him to it. He can finally find triumph over the adversity and that is why the wilderness is and will forever be a place of refuge for those who chose to seek it.

Your second essay involves evaluating an idea presented in Into the Wild and writing an essay that examines the validity of that idea. This essay should be a carefully planned and fully supported argument.

Consider the following epigraphs Krakauer included in Into the Wild. Choose one of the epigraphs below. Then, write a well-developed essay that defends, challenges, or qualifies the assertion made by the epigraph. Your final essay should be 1½ -2 typed pages in length (double-spaced with 12-point font).

Before you begin writing, think about the following:

o  What is (or are) the main idea(s) presented in the epigraph?

o  Do I agree with the opinion(s) stated in the epigraph? Always? Sometimes? Never?

o  On what principle(s) do I base my position?

o  What support can I offer in defense of my stance? (This support can be personal experience, historical precedent, literary allusion, moments from Into the Wild, etc.)

A. (page 47)

“No man ever followed his genius till it misled him. Though the result were bodily weakness, yet perhaps no one can say that the consequences were to be regretted, for these were a life in conformity to higher principles. If the day and the night are such that you greet them with joy, an life emits a fragrance like flowers and sweet-scented herbs, is more elastic, more starry, more immortal,--that is your success. All nature is your congratulation, and you have cause momentarily to bless yourself. The greatest gains and values are farthest from being appreciated. We easily come to doubt if they exist. We soon forget them. They are the highest reality….The true harvest of my daily life is somewhat as intangible and indescribable as the tints of morning or evening. It is a little star-dust caught, a segment of the rainbow which I have clutched.”

Henry David Thoreau, Walden, or Life in the Woods

B. (page 70)

“It may, after all, be the bad habit of creative talents to invest themselves in pathological extremes that yield remarkable insights but no durable way of life for those who cannot translate their psychic wounds into significant art or thought.”

Theodore Roszak, “In Search of the Miraculous”

C. (page 157)

“Wilderness appealed to those bored or disgusted with man and his works. It not only offered an escape from society but also was an ideal stage for the Romantic individual to exercise the cult that he frequently made of his own soul. The solitude and total feedom of the wilderness created a perfect setting for either melancholy or exultation.

Roderick Nash, Wilderness and the American Mind