Into the Wild Blog #4

To be honest I didn't have a reaction towards Chris getting a job at McDonald's. I just figured he needed money and that was the only thing he could find. I don't think he would have worked there if he had choices. I think that he was trying to settle down because he seemed to take a liking to Bullhead City but it just wasn't right for him. Chris's co-workers didn't know him well and thought he was strange but Chris didn't seem to take a liking to them either. If I worked with Chris I think that I would try to understand him and even attempt to be social. I wouldn't treat him as an outcast and I would definitely want to know his story. I think that Chris got along well with Bob and Jan because they are very similar. They seem to share many common interests and Jan has always wanted what was best for him but ultimately helped him as well as she could. I think that Franz was very attached to him because he had taken people in before and he saw the opportunity to get another kid back in his life. He was so close to Chris and he understood him. When Chris wrote him the letter telling him about life on the road I think that Ron was inspired and Chris was his motivation for a new life. He loved Chris like his own and that is why it affected him.

Into the Wild Blog #3

1. He took a lot of stuff with him but dumped it all.
2. he changed his name
3. he wasn't close to his family
4. Works hard
5. Giving
6. Charitable
7. Optimistic
8. Odd
9. Spontaneous
10. Brave
11. Smart
12. Mysterious
13. Determined
14. Kind
15. Truthful
16. Hidden
17. Solitary
18. Trusting
19. Trustworthy
20. Selfless
I dont think that chris had a very good relationship with his family because he was not too prevalent on the fact that he was donating his money and things then running away. He didn't even let them know he was gone and he didn't want them to know that he was leaving or anything about it. In a way I think that he was trying to hurt his parents because if you leave for a very long time and not come back without talking to your family you should know that you are hurting them.
I think that he removed all of his previous life because he felt ashamed of the life he had lived and wanted to experience more in life. He wanted to remove every trace of his life and start anew. I feel that in a hypothetical sense his family and friends could have thought that the reason he left was because he was running from someone or something, but that is hypothetical.

Into the Wild Blog #2

I feel that Chris was very aware of the fact that he was unprepared. When he had gotten into the truck with Gallien he was questioned about his materials and Gallien even offered to take him to the city and buy him good equipment but 'Alex' refused. I think that he truly thought that he had all he needed to survive for a while. Chris' story makes him sound pretty depressed and would make the average person lean into thinking that he just wanted to kill himself; however, I take the approach that he just wanted to live on his own and try to exist differently than the average person.

I think that giving away the ending at the beginning was a good choice for this book. I would usually ditch a book if I was told the ending through the narrator or a person it wouldn't matter because I get the feeling that all my anticipation is for nothing. However, in this particular story knowing that Chris was found dead in the back of a bus seems to make me want to know why. Why did he die? Why was he in the bus? Why was he even in Alaska? Krakauer made a good decision by putting that Chris McCandless had died on his journey in the author's note. I think that because it is nonfiction it could persuade many not to read it and even I didn't want to know anything about it, yet when I found out that he had died it put a small amount of interest in me to help me read through the book.

S.O.S I NEED YOUR HELP. I AM INJURED, NEAR DEATH, AND TOO WEAK TO HIKE OUT OF HERE. I AM ALL ALONE, THIS IS NO JOKE. IN THE NAME OF GOD, PLEASE REMAIN TO SAVE ME. I AM OUT COLLECTING BERRIES CLOSE BY AND SHALL RETURN THIS EVENING. THANK YOU, CHRIS MCCANDLESS, AUGUST? (page 12).

This note found on the bus confused me because I knew that the people who found the body were the same who read the note. What i wanted to know was, why would the note be on the door when he had returned? If I wrote a note and left it on my door as I was leaving I would take it off when I returned because I wouldn't need it, but maybe he was just trying to catch someone's attention while he was asleep. I don't think it is possible to understand his logic.

Into the Wild Blog#1

I think that what McCandless did was both admirable and idiotic. He had made a decision to live off the land and see if he could live how people used to and I admire the courage he had to make such a stupid decision. Living off of the land is something I used to think would be easy considering that before we had houses and electronics lives were spent outdoors and those very people knew how to survive harsh weather among other circumstances. Then I discovered how difficult it was for them and that we haven't been raised for that type of living. It was rather normal to live like that for a short while but it was neurotic to choose such a cold area because there are other areas with much more to eat and better chances of surviving. I think that McCandless was doing some soul searching to see if he had led his life on the right path because he was clearly having some doubts about his life choices. I have family and friends whom have hiked journeys because they want to prove that they can. I feel that in some ways it is just a way to show that you are 'manly'. However, when you choose such an area that you would have trouble finding food and possibly your way out I feel that it may just be a stupid idea. It does not appear that he had used his brain very much when he made the decision to live off the land in a cold, less traveled, seemingly foodless area. I really think that it is hard to make a full opinion on McCandless and his ways because no one truly knows why he did it.