Within the first sentence of reading the prompt, I immediately thought of a song from Rock Band called "Maps" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Anyways, here is the prompt for this week's blog:
"At the beginning of chapter 17 of Into the Wild, author Jon Krakauer refers to the fact that McCandless did not have a topographic map a few times. In fact, McCandless did not have any map at all (174). This brings up the issue of how prepared Chris McCandless was for such an adventure. Krakauer often brings up letters from angry Alaskans or outdoorsmen who wrote letters complaining about this very issue, something that they saw as elementary knowledge and common sense. It is extremely difficult to argue that not having a map is not a sign of being unprepared when going out into the wilderness. However, it is important to note, as Krakauer does, that Chris had no intention of being 'prepared' in a conventional way with modern equipment (174). As we approach the end of the this documentation of McCandless's journey, has your overall view of Chris McCandless changed at all regarding this topic? Do you think that this is a sign of arrogance, ignorance, or just a human being challenging themselves? The chapter appears to be heavily defending Chris's mistakes in the wild, while still acknowledging them. Are Krakauer's methods effective for you in this case?"
Personally, my view of Chris McCandless has changed from the beginning of the book. Originally I believe McCandless to be extremely foolish, but reading the entire story has revealed new information. The whole acknowledgement of the maps towards the end provides an example that Chris did not bring what other people might not bring on a journey. He was not trying to bring a huge backpack with all the gear he needed in order to survive for years and years comfortably; he wanted to live off the land. Since the bus in Alaska was part of the land, he ended up calling it home becase that was basically his best option. Anyways, the map could be viewed as a human challenging themselves, because Chris very much challenged himself along every step of the journey. Additionally, the methods that Krakauer uses in the book are effective. At first I thought this information would have been more useful at the beginning and that it took too long to reveal. But going through each chapter how it was placed provides good context for the finally revealing of everything at the end. Krakauer has a well-written novel, and it was a pleasure reading it for the first time.
On a different note off topic, I like how in the closing chapters that Krakauer discusses McCandless's death and how reports were confirming all of his investigations, even though they were not right at the start. But Krakauer really did a ton of investigative work in order to figure out that those seeds in mixture with the mold would cause to die, instead of the original cause of death as starvation.
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From the start I believed Chris to be a brave man following his dreams. I'm glad that Krakauer could show that to you as well. I too enjoyed reading the book for the first time and I actually thought it was pretty inspirational. It shows that you can do anything you put your mind to. I also agree that Krakauer's style was effective in how he laid out the book. Each chapter left out small pieces of information about Chris' life but when pieced together it creates a whole story. This made the book more interesting to read because you want to know more about the story.
ReplyDeleteI also agree in how it was good that Krakauer added his own investigations at the end of the book. This establishes credibility and shows that Krakauer knows a lot about Chris' story and truly cared about it, and that he's not just trying to make a story out of somebody's life.
As you said in your comment to me, we agree with eachother from the beginning, but our views change a bit when thinking about overall opinion. We both thought he was foolish, and the point you acknowledge about him just wanting to live off the land is indeed true. If he would have brought a map, something I viewed as small and a very big impact, this would have maybe taken away from his overall journey. Concerning the bus, he was lucky he found the bus, if he hadn't who knows how long he would have been able to survive.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to Krakauer's effectiveness, you express that it works for you. I was again a bit differently opinionated but I also liked the way the chapters were laid out, it added a bit to the book. His investigations added much credibility to the book and the overall reason Krakauer had to create this book about Chris' life. Good Job man.