Into the Wild – Response Log

“McCandless was smallish with the hard, stringy physique of an itinerant laborer.  There was something arresting about the youngsters eyes.  Dark and emotive, they suggested a trace of exotic blood in his heritage-Greek, maybe, or Chippewa-and conveyed a vulnerability that made Westerberg want to take the kid under his wing.” (Krakauer 16)	This vague description of Chris McCandless’s exterior appearance does much more than briefly comment on physique; it allows Krakauer to open a doorway into Alexander Supertamp’s mind, through his eyes.  “Dark and emotive,” Chris’s eyes act as a portal into the troubled existence inside him.  This description is expertly used to not only draw the reader in, but also foreshadows and begins to convey Krakauer, and McCandless’s, message of self-discovery.
“McCandless was thrilled to be on his way north, and he was relieved as well-relieved that he had again evaded the impending threat of human intimacy, of friendship, and all the messy emotional baggage that comes with it.  He had fled the claustrophobic confines of his family. He’d successfully kept Jan Burres and Wayne Westerberg at arm’s length, flitting out of their lives before anything was expected of him.” (Krakauer 55)	This passage is very critical of McCandless and his ideals and phrases like “messy emotional baggage” “kept at arms length” and “fled the confines of his family.”  The tone of this passage is ironic, in my opinion, due to the way Krakauer has initially described Chris as “thrilled” and “relieved.”  Throughout much of the book Krakauer supports Chris’s devotion to learning about himself through inner and outer exploration, and to suddenly become so reproachful of him surprised me.  If Krakauer truly believes in following dreams and learning about oneself, as he has said numerous times, he would have spoken in a more understanding manner, happy because Chris was happy.
“So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future.” (Krakauer 57)	This passage is an excerpt  from a letter Chris had sent to Ron Franz.  The tone here is extremely critical, but unlike the above, it is rightfully so.  The blacks and whites, the rights and wrongs and the truths and untruths of society, have all made themselves clear to Chris McCandless.  As a man who has sorted through life, searching for only truth and beauty, it is Chris’s duty to share what he believes to be life’s fullest and most fulfilling experience with those around him.  Chris, unlike so many others, has actually found a way to exist in pure happiness, and is attempting to share the lifestyle that worked so well for him with his past companions.  I applaud Chris for his bravery, for his revolutionary way of thinking, and for his thoughtfulness and compassion that compels him to share his discovery.
“In 1992, however, there were no more blank spots on the map-not in Alaska, not anywhere. But Chris, with his idiosyncratic logic, came up with an elegant solution to this dilemma: He simply got rid of the map. In his own mind, if nowhere else, the terra would thereby remain incognita.” (Krakauer 174)	Chris “got rid of the map” in the name of discovery.  Krakauer professionally uses the discovery of land to metaphorically connect with Chris’s inner discovery throughout the entire book.  Chris traversed the uncharted regions of his inner soul by exploring the Alaskan bush.  Both are hostile environments, littered with challenges and new ideas.  Both are solitary, and thanks to the termination of the physical map they both became officially unvisited planes of existence.  Chris used the exploration of this strange “new” land to learn about the strange “new” land inside of him.
“A few inches away sits a skull the size of a watermelon, thick ivory fangs jutting from its bleached maxillae.  It is a bear skull, the remains of a grizzly shot by someone who visited the bus years before McCandless’s tenure.  A message scratched in Chris’s tidy hand brackets a cranial bullet hole: All hail the phantom bear, the beast within us all.”  (Krakauer 179)	The imagery of the bear skull is a very powerful symbol.  McCandless was already kind enough to provide us with his interpretation.  He believed that the skull represented “the beast within us all,” the adventurous spirit within every man and woman, yearning to explore the earth and discover their true selves.  Expanding on the already accurate analysis, I believe the “thick ivory fangs” represent the hunger for this freedom, and the “bleached maxillae” portrays the wear and tear containing this “beast” may have on one’s soul.  The word “phantom” I also believe is crucial.  A phantom lurks in the back of ones mind, only appearing occasionally.  This represents that this spirit is with us at all times.
“One of his last acts was to take a picture of himself, standing near the bus under the Alaska sky, one hand holding his final note toward the camera lens, the other raised in a brave, beatific farewell. His face horribly emaciated, almost skeletal. But if he pitied himself in those last difficult hours-because he was so young, because he was alone, because his body had betrayed him and his will had let him down-it’s not apparent from the photograph.  He is smiling in the picture, and there is no mistaking the look in his eyes: Chris McCandless was at peace, serene as a monk gone to God.” (Krakauer 199)	This final passage in Into the Wild is extremely moving.  The irony here exists in each of McCandless’s hands.  In one he holds “his final note” and the other is “raised in a brave, beatific farewell.”  To many of us this seems strange for one to be on the brink of death, but to remain so happy, let alone “beatific.” Krakauer lists the multitude of reasons McCandless has to be miserable, sad, and disappointed, yet in the photo he smiles.  The comparison of “a monk gone to God” is extremely fitting.  Chris McCandless died after having lived the way he wanted to.  Both Alexander Supertramp and Christopher McCandless should be an inspiration. Bent only on finding truth in themselves and in life, they walked into the wilderness.  Everyone should live their life like this, not in the wild, but in pursuit of truth, personal happiness, and none other.