Into the Wild is a non-fiction account of the life, travels, and eventual death of Chris McCandless. In the early 1990s, 22-year-old McCandless left his family and his upper-middle class life and set out across the US "in search of raw, transcendent experience" (i). Through his writings and anecdotes from his family, friends and those he met along the way, we learn about Chris's experiences, his goals for his journey, and his opinions about things like money and education. Throughout the text, Krakauer pushes us to consider, analyze, and perhaps even judge Chris's ultimately unsuccessful decisions.
Discussion
Questions
How would you
describe Chris, both as presented by Krakauer and by those he interacts with throughout his travels? Is he likeable? Irritating? Intelligent? A loner? Etc. Krakauer explains in his Author's Note that he aims to "leave it to the reader to form his or her own opinion" of Chris and his actions (iii). How did you react? Are you sympathetic to Chris, and if so, when? Do you think Krakauer supports and/or understands Chris's choices?
We learn immediately that Chris dies during his journey, and the anecdotes and interviews are told in retrospective. Krakauer also presents the information about Chris in a non-chronological order. What is the effect of this narrative choice? What impact does this have on our reading process (versus a story told from beginning to end)?
Why do you think Chris changed his name to Alex? What is he hoping for with this new identity?
Think about Chris's relationship with his family. What do we learn about his childhood, home life, etc? Does the inclusion of this back story make us more or less sympathetic to him? Are we supposed to sympathize or understand the position of his parents or sister?
Krakauer admits to not being "an impartial biographer" (ii). What do you think about his presence in the text (random comments and opinions, work as a reporter learning about Chris's story, etc.)? In particular, think about the lengthy interlude about Krakauer's own journey "int the wild" (pp. 134-156). How does this add to or take away from Chris's story?
Why do you think Krakauer includes the section about other adventurers who had experiences or desires similar to Chris (pp. 73-06)? How do these stories shape our opinions about Chris's actions?
Each chapter opens with 1-2 epigraphs (quotes/excerpts from other sources, interviews, or Chris's writings). What do these epigraphs do to focus our reading? Select one or two in particular and consider their significance in relation to the chapter that follows and in connection to the text as a whole.
Think about the circumstances of Chris's death in Alaska. How do we learn about it, and what did you as a reader feel at this point? Why does Krakauer decide to go to the location of Chris's death, and why do you think "some people seem to despise {Chris" so intensely" for dying there (180)?
What is the effect of the "extra" materials included with the story (a photo of Chris inside the front cover, various maps of his journey)? Do these shape our reading in a certain way?
What do you think Krakauer's goals were in writing the text? Is this an informational piece? A tragedy we should feel bad about? A cautionary tale? Etc.
11. What do you think Krakauer's goals were in writing the text? Is this an informational piece?
12. The back of the most recent edition of Into the Wild classifies the book as an "Adventure" story. How would you categorize teh text? Waht genre is it a part of, adn who is the target audience? What kind of class do you think this book should be read in?
13. Into the Wild was made into an acclaimed and popular film in 2007. If you've seen the film, what simliarities and/or differences do you see, both in terms of the presentation of the story and our reaction to Chris? What is one medium (film vs. non-fiction text) able to do that the other isn't?
14. Chris's story remains popular with readers and filmgoers almost 20 years after it happened. What do you think endures with this story? Why is it memorable? Does it remind you of other texts or films? Can you think of any other "into the wild" type stories you have heard about or seen on the news?
