Positive
>Independent
>Committed
>Passionate
Negative
>Stubborn
>Impatient
>Proud
All of the positive things about Chris made him a succesful person who achieved almost anything he put his mind to. When he put his mind to something, he did it no matter the cost or how hard it would be. Also, being independent helped when he was on his own for long periods of time.
However, the negative side effects are just a strong as the positive aspects of his personality. He was horrible at listening to people or changing his mind when they knew and he knew that he needed to. He refused to change himself in any way. All he changed was his name and where he slept each night. This was probably a contributing factor in his death and in his journey.
His pride is most likely the trait that people see today and the one that overshadows all the others. It shows him in both a positive and negative light. To some, his pride was something to be admired. He knew who he was and what he was doing and no one could change his mind. This is also called being stubborn, but thats just semantics. Others believe that his pride was the cause of his death. He was too correct in his own mind to change it when things went wrong. He was so prideful that he did not try to find or get help until he was close to death, and then standing on death's own doorstep.
Similarities
-willful, self absorbed, intermittently reckless, moody pg. 134
-Could a person keep a lid on his terror long enough to reach the top and get back down? (same questions) pg. 135
-propelled by an imperative that was beyond my ability to control or comprehend pg. 136
-arrived in Alaska pg. 137
-I had a knack for living up to my old man's worst expectations pg. 147
Differences
-exposed my self-deceit and left me hollow and aching pg. 137
-anticipating this hazard pg. 138
-six cardboard cartons of supplies dropped from an airplane pg. 140
-chain-smoked for as long as my supply of cigarettes held pg. 146
-the idea of my own death- was still largely outside my conceptual grasp pg. 151
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
A Wild McDonald's?
Chris working at McDonald's was one of the most surprising things that he did. Chris was a young man who believed in living off the land and that big corporationsm were responsible for the decline of the country and the world; who went to work at one of the biggest corporations in the entire world. One of the only reasons that I can think of that he would do this is that he really wanted to see what corporate America was like and if he was doing the right thing. From his actions, it was quite obvious that he did not think this was so. His co-workers thought he was an old little fellow, but a nice enough guy. They thought he was a little stange because of his problems with socks. For whatever reason, he did not like enjoy or even be ok with wearing socks. This was probably one of the ways that he fought 'The Man". He would rip the socks off as soon as his shift was over as some sort of symbol. The only reason he wore any was because it was McDonald's policy. Obviously he needed the job and did not want to get fired.
The Burres' were the kind of people that would love a guy like Chris. Jan was an estranged mother and they were both drifters. Like Chris, they appreciated the earth and wanted to live an unencumbered life. They wanted to be free to travel and sell their wares. Chris was like these people in morals; not in reasons. They treated him like a son, but not so closely that he would be uncomfortable. It was actually mentioned later on in the book about his dislike of famliy and family like things. Fortunately, he did not become too uncomfortable with them until near the end of his relationship with them, just long enough for them to buy him things and take care of him. He cared about them' just not as much as they cared about him. At least he didn't show it.
Poor old Mr. Franz was one of the last people to meet Chris. Franz had lost his wife; Chris was alone with no one. Franz identified with him because of this loneliness. Franz wanted so badly to be a father to this boy or a friend at least. He actually wanted to adopt Chris as his grandson and asked him if he could before he left for Alaska. Sadly, this conflicted with Chris's no family foot loose life style. He told him he would give him an answer after his Alaskan Odyssey. Chris's death must have been a horrible blow to poor old Mr. Franz. A blow almost as terrible as the death of his own blood family. This might be why Franz used a pseudonym and not his real name. He did not want people's sympathy. Not again.
The Burres' were the kind of people that would love a guy like Chris. Jan was an estranged mother and they were both drifters. Like Chris, they appreciated the earth and wanted to live an unencumbered life. They wanted to be free to travel and sell their wares. Chris was like these people in morals; not in reasons. They treated him like a son, but not so closely that he would be uncomfortable. It was actually mentioned later on in the book about his dislike of famliy and family like things. Fortunately, he did not become too uncomfortable with them until near the end of his relationship with them, just long enough for them to buy him things and take care of him. He cared about them' just not as much as they cared about him. At least he didn't show it.
Poor old Mr. Franz was one of the last people to meet Chris. Franz had lost his wife; Chris was alone with no one. Franz identified with him because of this loneliness. Franz wanted so badly to be a father to this boy or a friend at least. He actually wanted to adopt Chris as his grandson and asked him if he could before he left for Alaska. Sadly, this conflicted with Chris's no family foot loose life style. He told him he would give him an answer after his Alaskan Odyssey. Chris's death must have been a horrible blow to poor old Mr. Franz. A blow almost as terrible as the death of his own blood family. This might be why Franz used a pseudonym and not his real name. He did not want people's sympathy. Not again.
Monday, October 1, 2012
Even Farther Into the Wild 3
1 -solitary
- social
-intelligent
-adventurous
-giving
-selfish
-hard working
-athletic
-contradictory
-vain
-philosopher
-out doorsy
-cruel
-ready to explode
-impatient
-preoccupied
-obsessed
-tired
-easily swayed
-oxymoron
2 I noticed that in his note he said, (Chris's closest friend at Emory) in his letter. Later on, he writes his story and journal in third person. I was thinking that this meant that he already changed into Alex and was just letting them know what was happening. He also told his family that he was going to disappear for awhile. This means that he planned on coming back at some point. He just wanted to get his intense desire to travel a go places out before he would come back an settle down.
3 One circumstance might be that he was tired if the old hum drum of D.C. and wanted to start a new life, a better life. He also seemed slightly delusional about the whole thing when he was basing it on The Call of the Wild and those experiences even though the author himself never did any of those things. This is also not an isolated incident. People run off an change their names all the time to start new lives for one reason or another. Abuse, debt, old flames, and past sins are all reasons for this change. For Chris, it was the writings of Tolstoy and Thoreau that influenced him to do these things.
- social
-intelligent
-adventurous
-giving
-selfish
-hard working
-athletic
-contradictory
-vain
-philosopher
-out doorsy
-cruel
-ready to explode
-impatient
-preoccupied
-obsessed
-tired
-easily swayed
-oxymoron
2 I noticed that in his note he said, (Chris's closest friend at Emory) in his letter. Later on, he writes his story and journal in third person. I was thinking that this meant that he already changed into Alex and was just letting them know what was happening. He also told his family that he was going to disappear for awhile. This means that he planned on coming back at some point. He just wanted to get his intense desire to travel a go places out before he would come back an settle down.
3 One circumstance might be that he was tired if the old hum drum of D.C. and wanted to start a new life, a better life. He also seemed slightly delusional about the whole thing when he was basing it on The Call of the Wild and those experiences even though the author himself never did any of those things. This is also not an isolated incident. People run off an change their names all the time to start new lives for one reason or another. Abuse, debt, old flames, and past sins are all reasons for this change. For Chris, it was the writings of Tolstoy and Thoreau that influenced him to do these things.
Friday, September 28, 2012
Father Into the Wild 2
1. I feel that Chris was unprepared on purpose because he wanted to see how he would do on his own with out almost any help. I do not think that he went in wanting to die, I believe that he went into it wanting to see how far away man had traveled from his need on nature. He wanted to reinvent himself so that he could be closer to all man's roots. Maybe he knew that he might not survive. In fact, he knew it might kill him.He said so in a letter that he wrote to Wayne Westerburg(pg. 3). He understood the most primal fear of all people, to die. He understood this and faced in no matter what anyone thought.
2. For myself, I found the fact that he started at the end mysterious and intriguing. He wanted you to start off knowing that he died, but not how. Later, when he describes the finding of the remains, he still doesn't tell you exactly how he died.This intrigues me, and makes me want to kn ow what happened and what lead him to that point. I personally like Krauker's writing style because it pulls the reader into the story that he is presenting. It also almost makes me sad for Chris, knowing from the get go that what he was trying to accomplish really did kill him, and that in some peoples opinion he failed. Maybe he didn't fail. Maybe he did what he wanted; we will never know. That is one thing that the author has yet to share, or does not even know.
3. I was shocked to read Chris' S.O.S note. I thought maybe he realized that maybe he made the wrong decisions somewhere along the way. I thought that if he knew what he was doing was right, he would never ask for help. My guess is that the primal human need to survive finally took over as he began his slow descent toward death.He was human after all just like the rest of us, even if he made choices that almost no other human has made. He was a scared young man, wanting to survive. Morally, I believe that he did not want to write that note, but instinctively, he knew he had to. What makes me sad, is that even when he went against what he wanted to do, he died anyway.
2. For myself, I found the fact that he started at the end mysterious and intriguing. He wanted you to start off knowing that he died, but not how. Later, when he describes the finding of the remains, he still doesn't tell you exactly how he died.This intrigues me, and makes me want to kn ow what happened and what lead him to that point. I personally like Krauker's writing style because it pulls the reader into the story that he is presenting. It also almost makes me sad for Chris, knowing from the get go that what he was trying to accomplish really did kill him, and that in some peoples opinion he failed. Maybe he didn't fail. Maybe he did what he wanted; we will never know. That is one thing that the author has yet to share, or does not even know.
3. I was shocked to read Chris' S.O.S note. I thought maybe he realized that maybe he made the wrong decisions somewhere along the way. I thought that if he knew what he was doing was right, he would never ask for help. My guess is that the primal human need to survive finally took over as he began his slow descent toward death.He was human after all just like the rest of us, even if he made choices that almost no other human has made. He was a scared young man, wanting to survive. Morally, I believe that he did not want to write that note, but instinctively, he knew he had to. What makes me sad, is that even when he went against what he wanted to do, he died anyway.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Starting Into the WIld 1
Chris McCandless was a young man who set off on a journey to reinvent himself. He may have believed that he was not good enough as he was and where he was so he decided to go back to man's most primal roots. He was heavily influenced by Tolstoy, so much so that he took everything he said at heart. At the start of chapter three there was a reprinting of a passage from Tolstoy that Chris had highlighted. "I wanted movement and not a calm course of existence. I wanted excitement and danger and the chance to sacrifice myself for my love. I felt in myself a superabundance of energy which found no outlet in our quiet life" (Leo Tolstoy, "Family Happiness", passage highlighted in one of the books found with Chris McCandless's remains, pg. 15). This quote begins the chapter about how Chris treated his family and what happened before he left. From what he wrote in a journal that he kept, they may be one reason he decided to leave and go off on this deadly adventure. "I'm going to have to be real careful not to accept any gifts from them in the future because they will think they have bought my respect"(pg. 21). He obviously kept his feelings bottled up, and that sometimes leads a person to do crazy or irrational things. I am not saying what he did was either of those things, but they could be perceived that way. He left his family without any idea of where he was going. No hint or anything. They did not know where he went until they recieved his remains. Another reason why he could have left is that he was described as an overthinker and that got him into somje trouble. I myself have this problem, so I can understand how overthinking can lead to bad decisions. I have never thought about ditching everything and running off to Alaska however. Also, this venture would have most likely been succesful and no one would have thought he was crazy, if he had not died. According to the author, there were a few seemingly small mistakes that ended his life. I believe that leaving Carthage earlier that he would have if his friend had not been arrested was one of those mistakes, but that has yet to be confirmed. He was a brave man who decided to do what he thought was right.
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