into the wild thesis examples

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Into the Wild by John Krakauer Thesis Statements and Essay Topics

Below you will find four outstanding thesis statements / paper topics for “Into the Wild” by John Krakauer that can be used as essay starters. All four incorporate at least one of the themes found in “Into the Wild” and are broad enough so that it will be easy to find textual support, yet narrow enough to provide a focused clear thesis statement. These thesis statements offer a short summary of “Into the Wild” in terms of different elements that could be important in an essay. You are, of course, free to add your own analysis and understanding of the plot or themes to them. Using the essay topics below in conjunction with the list of important quotes from “Into the Wild” on our quotes page, you should have no trouble connecting with the text and writing an excellent essay.

Thesis Statement #1: The Allure of the Wilderness

To many people the wilderness has a certain allure as a pristine place free of the evils of modern society, a place where one can be free and get in touch with his soul. However, the reality of living in the wilderness can be quite different from the romantic notions harbored by those who see it as an escape. How does Chris McCandless handle this conflict between appearance and reality as he journeys into the wilderness alone? Is he deluded by a romantic view of the wilderness, or does he actually find what he is looking for there? Write an essay with textual support in which you explore this conflict and how McCandless deals with it.

Thesis Statement #2: Isolation

Chris McCandless isolates himself from the other students at Emory, from his friends, and from his family, resulting in his decision to make a solitary trek into the wilderness, where his isolation will be complete. Yet, at one point in the story, he pleads, “Mom, mom, help me.” Does McCandless really wish to be isolated? If so, why? If not, why does he behave as he does, pushing away the people who care about him the most and going headlong into a potentially dangerous situation? Write an essay using solid textual evidence in which you explain McCandless’s behavior as you understand it, keeping in mind his journal entries and reflections.

Thesis Statement #3: Forgiveness

Chris McCandless is a study in contradictions. On the one hand, he is a compassionate person, who feels a responsibility for the many people who are poor and hungry. On the other hand, his actions toward his family and friends are selfish and hurtful. His inability to forgive what he perceives as his parents’ greed and materialism affects his entire life, contributing to his decision to isolate himself at Emory and to his disgust with society, which prompts him to go alone into the wilderness. If he had found a way to forgive his parents for their mistakes, would he have gone to such extremes in his search to find himself? Write an essay using evidence from the text in which you explain how McCandless’s attitude toward his family and society and his inability to forgive contribute to his ultimate demise.

Thesis Statement #4: The Search for Identity

Many books about young people focus on the main character’s quest for identity. Chris McCandless, at nineteen, is no exception, as evidenced by his rejection of everything his parents stand for. Desperate to separate himself from them in every way possible to explore his very soul, he isolates himself physically and emotionally, hoping to find freedom and peace within. He will go to any lengths to avoid being like his parents, even, out of a sense of moral certitude, rejecting the gift giving he and his friends once enjoyed, oblivious to the fact that he is hurting his friends as a result. How could someone so kind, compassionate, and intelligent heartlessly reject his parents and friends, with no thought to their feelings? Is his kindness merely a charade by which he fools himself into thinking he is different from the others? Does his cruel behavior reflect the person he really is? Who is the real Chris McCandless? How does his identity struggle affect the decisions he makes for the rest of his all-too-brief life? Write a persuasive essay with textual support in which you explain who Chris McCandless really is and how you have come to that conclusion.

Into the Wild

By jon krakauer, into the wild essay questions.

Is it possible for a biography to be truly impartial? Is Into the Wild ?

Biography can never be truly impartial, as, even if the author could include every moment of the subject’s life, rather than choosing which are most important, his method of presentation and his diction, inherently affect how the reader will feel about the subject. There is still a scale of more or less impartial, however, and Into the Wild falls on the less-impartial side, as Krakauer himself admits. For example, because he sees a lot of similarities between Chris and himself, he makes certain assumptions about Chris’s motivations and desires that he might not otherwise make. Yet because Krakauer makes this explicit, and doesn’t try to fool the reader, the reader still has the freedom to make their own interpretation.

Is McCandless truly compassionate, as he is often described?

McCandless’s compassion is the most enigmatic part of his story. It is clearly central to his personality for his whole life—he spends weekend nights in high school bringing burgers to homeless people—and yet he shows almost no compassion in dealing with his parents once he is in college. He willingly and intentionally leaves them in a state of utter unhappiness while he travels, and his disregard for his own safety threatens and ultimately destroys their wellbeing. This does not mean that he is not truly compassionate, but this compassion does have bounds.

In Krakauer’s depiction of McCandless, is he a flat or round character? Static or dynamic?

In Krakauer’s depiction, McCandless is certainly a round character. Although he is largely presented as good, his flaws are illuminated, and even his best qualities sometimes fail him. Krakauer also makes him a dynamic character, although the basis for this is largely conjecture. Krakauer believes that McCandless changed during his Alaska trip, that he may have mellowed and become ready to rejoin society and maybe even his family, although all of this is based on a few small lines Chris wrote, and passages he underlined in his reading.

Explain how McCandless’s quest for “ultimate freedom” is inherently selfish.

McCandless’s quest for ultimate freedom is not rooted in selfishness; it, in fact, comes out of largely noble desires. It is still inherently selfish, however, because it means acting for the individual over society, which is designed to protect everybody. Ultimate freedom means being accountable to no one but oneself, and thus, even if McCandless usually intended to act for the greater good, he has only his own limited perspective on what will truly lead to the greater good.

How does Krakauer’s authorial presence affect McCandless’s story?

Krakauer’s own upbringing and experiences as a young man come up throughout Into the Wild . Because there are such strong similarities to McCandless, the biggest difference being that Krakauer survived his odysseys, and so can tell his tale, Krakauer uses his own past to provide insights into McCandless’s actions and motivations. This also probably leads Krakauer to present McCandless in the most forgiving light that he can.

What does Into the Wild posit as the core of the problems between McCandless and his father?

Both Chris and Walt McCandless are strong-willed and independent, and Chris’s resistance to all authority means that he resents the authority his father has over him, even as he tries to please him. Chris specifically detests arbitrary authority, and so once he has proof that his father isn’t perfect, he then considers Walt’s authority over him to be completely arbitrary, and he resists it absolutely. Because of Chris’s intensity and tendency towards extremes, this becomes much more than just a typical adolescent rebellion.

What specific appeal does the wilderness have for all the adventure seekers described in Into the wild ?

The adventure seekers in Into the Wild all seem to be searching for a life with a kind of brute simplicity, which they believe they can find in the wilderness. High-risk living leaves little time for the complicated problems of modern society, and this seems to be much of the appeal for these men. They also seem to believe that there is some core of truth hidden beneath all the layers of modern life, and this can only be found in the wild. Finally, surviving the challenges posed by this way of life provide a feeling of deep accomplishment for these often ambitious or competitive men.

How is McCandless’s difficulty forgiving a driving force in his journeys?

McCandless, though largely driven by his principals and morals to live a rootless, anti-materialist existence, also seems at least partially driven forward by a desire to punish his parents. He resents their pressure for him to go to law school, their materialism, and what he sees as their attempts to control him, so he tells Carine that he is going to cut them out of his life completely because he cannot forgive them. In not contacting them at all while he is on the road, he turns his odyssey into a tool for punishment, at least on some level.

How can McCandless’s Datsun symbolize his interpersonal relationships?

McCandless is completely committed to his Datsun from the time he buys it until he graduates from college, when he is deeply offended by his parents’ offer to buy him a new car. He tells Carine that he would never trade in his Datsun, which he thinks is perfect. Once he has trouble with the car, though, he deserts it immediately and angrily. Chris loves the Datsun despite its surface flaws, just like he is able to love most of his friends regardless of their looks, money, or way of life, but when he perceives a deeper flaw, he is unforgiving, and cuts it out of his life completely, as he does with his parents.

McCandless’s story, despite its tragic end, has inspired many copycats since the original publication in Into the Wild . Why might this be?

Krakauer presents McCandless’s tale in a forgiving way, yet it is still a cautionary tale—although he believes Chris could have survived, and only died because of a small mistake, he shows just how devastating such behavior can be to McCandless, and to those who loved him. Yet McCandless’s passion for living by his principals, for simplicity and purity, is attractive and to Krakauer, admirable, and the book does show that it may indeed be the wilderness that is the best place to find this. Thus, those who feel unsatisfied by modern life and society may see McCandless’s flight from it as worthy of emulation.

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Into the Wild Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Into the Wild is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Remembering that the Latin prefix ir- means "not," use the context clues in the first paragraph of the passage to define the word irrelevant.

I do not know what specific passage you are referring to.

This chapter begins with a quote from Jack London. Who is he and what has he written?

Jack London is a famous author. He wrote The Call of the Wild, White Fang, To Build a Fire , and a variety of other books.

The purpose of ch 4 in into the wild

The purpose of chapter 4 is to show Chris's wish to shed his worldly possessions, even his identity, and make his way unencumbered by societal possessions. In October 1990, McCandless’s Datsun is found abandoned in the Mojave Desert by Bud Walsh,...

Study Guide for Into the Wild

Into the Wild study guide contains a biography of author Jon Krakauer, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

About Into the Wild
Into the Wild Summary
Into the Wild Video
Character List

Essays for Into the Wild

Into the Wild literature essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer.

Jim Casy and Chris McCandless: Transcendentalism Gone Wrong
The Many Mistakes of Chris McCandless
Fatherly Influence in Into the Wild
Feeding by Starvation
An Unconventional Genre: Evaluating John Krakauer as a Biographer

Lesson Plan for Into the Wild

About the Author
Study Objectives
Common Core Standards
Introduction to Into the Wild
Relationship to Other Books
Bringing in Technology
Notes to the Teacher
Related Links
Into the Wild Bibliography

Wikipedia Entries for Into the Wild

Introduction

Into the Wild Themes

Themes in into the wild, related posts:, post navigation.

The Movie “Into the Wild” Essay

To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
As a template for you assignment

The book “Into The Wild” written by a famous American writer and journalist Jon Krakauer and first published in 1996 has addressed the theme of the real sense of life including the meaning of success, the value of money, and the concept of happiness based on an itinerant traveler’s, Christopher McCandless, real life example.

The movie “Into The Wild” inspired by Krakauer’s book and directed by the brilliant Sean Penn has also focused on McCandless’ experience but its approach is different. The following paper aims to compare and contrast the book “Into The Wild” with the movie “Into The Wild” pointing out key details that are different to one another. Overall, the evaluation of the two works of art suggests a conclusion that the book is more focused on demonstrating the main character’s inner world along with the implications of his world vision that led him to the death, while the movie is more of a celebration of the main character.

First, juxtaposing the book “Into The Wild” with the movie of the same name¸ the book by Krakauer is a detailed examination of the main hero’s life and death, while the movie directed by Penn is more focused on McCandless’ celebration. Such difference can be explained by the fact that Krakauer shares his own experience and world vision. To the great extent, his hero represents the author’s own life story. As a result, the readers may see the sincerity of his style and engage in the live dialogue fully imbued with the author’s personal ideas, thoughts, and feelings.

Reasoning about his main character living experience, Krakauer associates himself with McCandless because he believes that they share the common vision of the world including the disillusionment of material values and passion for the real values including unity with nature and spiritual growth. In the case of the movie, this unique charm is lost because it is almost impossible to demonstrate other person’s inner world and world vision in such a way that it should be well understood and accepted by the wide public. In this case, the audience may notice Chinese whispers effect.

Next, the book is full of the author’s personal reflections, speculations, and comments about the main character and life in general the audience will not find in the movie. For instance, the book has a large portion where Krakauer provides the explanation regarding his hero that he had no intentions to commit suicide. In this section, the author speaks about his main character’s pursuit to find the meaning of life, the essence of self-actualization, self-fulfillment, and harmony with his inner and outer world.

Some readers might object by stating that McCandless’ comment regarding his planned trip was the following, “If this adventure proves fatal and you don’t ever hear from me again…” (Krakauer 55), and the use of the word “fatal” suggests that he intended to die in the trip. However, these readers might fail to notice the word “if” meaning that the character was simply aware of the fact that the trip could be dangerous for him and might lead to the fatal consequences.

Therefore, a conclusion can be made that the author of the book consistently demonstrates that his main character is a lover of life rather than a suicidal and extravagant person as some of the viewers have believed about him after watching the film. Moreover, Krakauer comments that had the circumstances been more positive for his character, he could be able to return home after his adventurous trip where he aimed to find the real essence of life.

Further, the book and the movie have different perspectives of storytelling. While the book is the documentation of its author’s voice, the film is shown from the perspective of the main character, Christopher McCandless ( Into The Wild) . Surprisingly to some of the representatives of the audience, Christopher McCandless was a real figure. His true life story served the plot scenario for Krakauer’s work.

Jon Krakauer, as a prominent author interested in the ruminations on the themes of the essence of life, pursuit of happiness, alternative way of living, and alternative world vision to the commonly spread materialistic way of thinking, found Christopher McCandless to be a highly intriguing object for his studies and interpretation because this young man had a sort of mentality that is infrequent for the modern-day western society with its love for money and comfort, and still the man was a real American with the extreme passion for journey to the west and learning some incredible secrets of living in harmony with nature.

Finally, the book “Into The Wild” has addressed the wider scope of chronology than the film. Whereas the film is mainly focused on the adult period in McCandless’s life, Krakauer decided to have a wider focus in an effort to tell his readers every single detail about the character’s outstanding personality, extremely rich inner world, numerous talents along with the dangerous signs of protest against all authorities and desire to shun all the values of the materialistic world.

So, Krakauer’s work makes an overview of different events in McCandless’s life, beginning from his early childhood, to demonstrate how the character’s world vision was shaped and what factors influenced him. In contrast, the film “Into The Wild” focuses on McCandless’s most notorious period in life that is his travelling around the United States and his final journey to Alaska that became fatal for him.

In conclusion, the book “Into The Wild” and the movie “Into The Wild” have both addressed the events of life and death of one of the most controversial itinerant travelers and hikers Christopher McCandless. The main difference between these two works of art is the perspective of the story telling. While the book approaches the subject theme from the point of view of a famous journalist, essayist, and novelist interested in the theme of a pursuit of happiness and essence of life searches, Jon Krakauer, the film directed by the famous director Sean Penn shows the events from the perspective of the main character himself.

The outcome of such two positions is that the representatives of the wide public have accepted the book in a more favorable way because it provides more assistance in pondering into McCandless’ inner world and the hazardous way of thinking that has laid him to the tragedy at the end of his life. In contrast, the movie does not interpret the inner values and thoughts of the main character and does not provide extra understating and suggestions to think over. What it does is just a depiction of what happened without reason on the causes of McCandless’ fatality.

Works Cited

Krakauer, Jon. Into the Wild , New York: Anchor Books, 1997. Print.

Into The Wild . Director Sean Penn. Hollywood, CA: Paramount Vintage. 2007. DVD.

"The Silence of the Palaces" a Film by Moufida Tlatli
"Tortilla Soup" a Comedy by Maria Ripoll
"Into the Wild" by Krakauer
Into the Wild by John Krakauer
Into the Wild: Characters, Themes, Personal Opinion
"The Secret Law of Attraction" a Film by Rhonda Byrne
Techniques in "The Graduate" Film by Mike Nichols
The "Lincoln" Movie by Steven Spielberg
Hays Code in "The Public Enemy" Film
American Classic Play-Based Melodramas of the 50-60s
Chicago (A-D)
Chicago (N-B)

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Bibliography

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Into the Wild Essay Examples

Theme of into the wild.

Into the wild is a book that centers around the story of Chris McCandless otherwise known as Alexander Supertramp, who leaves home for his dream adventure of going to Alaska and living on his own. A theme in the book is the theme of self-independence....

Into the Wild': Chris Mccandless’s Journey

Jon Krakauer’s novel, ‘Into The Wild’, depicts the story of Chris McCandless’s journey across the nation which ultimately led to his death. There are many motifs that are present in this book however. In ‘Into the Wild’ essay these hidden motifs are described. Man vs....

A Selfish Hero in into the Wild by John Krakuear

“Into the Wild” by John Krakuear is about a young man named Chris McCandless who finished high school in Virginia with outstanding grades, later Chris attend Emory University for about 4 years. In Chris’s senior year, he moved into a small apartment accumulated basic necessities...

Foolish Choices of Chris Mccandless in into the Wild by Jon Krakeur

“A fool thinks himself to be wise,but a wise man knows himself to be a fool” (william shakespeare). Into the Wild is a nonfiction book by Jon Krakeur on the life events of Chris Mccandless from when he was growing up and when he adopted...

The Character of Christopher Mccandless in John Krakauer’s into the Wild

Venturing off into nature can help find a sense of true meaning of who someone is and belonging in life. However, it is the environment nature that unfortunately takes his life. Towards the end of his life, McCandless Discovers what he never realized before. He...

A Rhetorical Analysis of into the Wild

The story of Chris McCandless has captivated the American audience for years. Though it is unknown what exactly occurred during his trip to Alaska, there is much speculation. In the search for evidence to determine the events that occurred during his journey, Jon Krakauer developed...

Into the Wild: Mccandless' Inspiring Journey

Imagine waking up one morning and wanting to throw away everything,wanting to get away from the world to actually see the world. Imagine actually living your life instead of just existing. That’s exactly what Chris McCandless— also known as Alexander Supertramp— did. Chris McCandless was...

The Central Idea of into the Wild

Throughout time, many people all over the world develop different principles and ideologies that bring joy and happiness through their lives. These principles can come from a variety of subjects and are unique to the individual. Specifically, in the book Into The Wild by Jon...

The Different Views of Christopher Mccandless's Journey

Into the Wild is a novel based on the true tales of Christopher McCandless, a wealthy young man and his journey from the east coast to the Alaskan wilderness. Many ideas have been thrown around about Chris and what made him leave everything behind. Whether...

The Similarities Between Chris Mccandndless’ and Ralph Waldo Emmerson’s Philosophies

Chris McCandndles/Alex and the Emmerson’s Self-Reliance are similar because one they both see life almost the same. Alex followed a transcendentalist philosophy. Alex got rid of his money, his social obligation, even his identity and took it among himself to remodel his life “Into the...

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About Into the Wild

January 13, 1996

Jon Krakauer

Sublime nature, music and musical instruments, ascetics, artists, and holy figures

The American Wilderness, Risk and Self-Reinvention, Arrogance, Innocence, and Ignorance, Luck, Chance, and Circumstance, Materialism and Idealism, Isolation. The question to be accepted into society and how finding oneself sometimes conflicts with being an active member of society.

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