The stories told about Walt is crucial to the story because that gives reason behind Chris leaving to go on his adventure, which is the point of Into the Wild. Chris' background shows readers why he left and what pushed him to want to be on his own. The part about Walt and how much it outraged Chris further shows how Chris just needed to get away. Without this piece readers would question Chris' intentions even more than they already do. Walt's story provides some insight into Chris' head.
Krakauer's story isn't necessarily crucial, but is very important. The addition of his personal experience further provides some explanation to Chris' thoughts. By having a similar background and a similar story, Krakauer's feelings can be paralleled with Chris', helping to fill in some of the blanks that people didn't know.
From the start I thought Chris was a courageous person just for the fact he pursued his dreams at all costs. These stories didn't change my opinion of him, but further justified him leaving. The feelings Krakauer had show what Chris could have been thinking which helps prove that Chris didn't just make a spontaneous stupid mistake. Walt's story futher pushed my positive opinion of Chris in that he was able to take what happened and the anger and use it to pursue his own life and be happy. Instead of wallowing in self pitty or taking out his anger on his family he chose to use it to find himself and become independent. Overall, both pieces helped justify Chris leaving and further prove Krakauer's view of Chris.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I like the way how you say that the story aboiut Chris' father is cruciual and that the storyline behind Krakauer isn't crucial, but it helps. I totally agree but Krakauer's story does bring a really good insight to Chris' story. Emotions can stir between family members and produce big conflicts. The blanks will still be there for people to fill in for themselves.
ReplyDeleteChris' thoughts weren't necessarily set in stone, but providing insight provides good clues and gives a general overview of what he was thinking.
It's nice to see that you thought Chris was great from the get go. The additional information brought more evidence, basically which is what others hve been saying in their blogs. Good stuff!
One of my biggest problems with this book when I first started reading was Krakauer left us with so many WHY'S? I didn't know why such a smart guy would give everything up, why he would have "wanted" to lose contact with his family, and why his sister was so important to him. With this background of Chris it really backed up those feelings I think a lot of us were looking for.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you stated, wish I would have done the same, that Krakauer's story wasn't exactly needed. You went on to say it was essential to those that needed that extra back up to parallel Chris and Krakauer, which is indeed very true. Then, with Walt, it helped provide Chris's motives and his reasoning for independently choosing to go in to the wild.
Any insight gained about Walt helps the reader understand Chris even more. Relationships become a big deal during Chris' journey and the one he shares with Walt may have been the one that drove hime away, like you said. So the stories told about Walt are crucial. The stories about Krakauer only amplify those told about Walt. By reading Krakauers experiences you definitely see parrallels that help you understand the story.
ReplyDeleteIt's good that these stories didn't change your opinion about Chris. I guess that means Krakauer did a good job.