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Into the Wild Chapters 6-9

Christopher Lehmann-Haupt's New York Times review of discusses the fine line that Krakauer attempts to walk as he offers the complex reactions to McCandless and his journey. "If Mr. Krakauer too readily exposes his subject's shortcomings," Lehmann-Haupt writes, "he also does a masterly job of keeping the reader's condemnation at bay."
Krakauer tells us in the Author's note that he doesn't "claim to be an impartial biographer". Let's explore that.

1st--Describe if you think Krakauer is being too hard on or forgiving of McCandless.
2nd--Compare Krakauer's point of view concerning McCandless and his journey to your own reaction. Do you view him as an idealist with the courage to pursue his dream or as someone who is "'underprepared, overconfident . . . bumbling around out there and screwing up because [he] lacked the requisite humility'" as Nick Jans describes? (72).

Make sure to support your assertions with quotes and / or details that demonstrate close reading.

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First post and replies | Last post by klevesque26, 6 months ago

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I think Krakauer is more forgiving of McCandless in Into The Wild which he shows by trying to help readers understand him and why he did it. He shows McCandless that his journey came from a real desire for meaning, not just carelessness and trying to make a point. Krakauer also compares his story to things from his own youth, and this makes Chris seem more relatable and less deserving of blame for the whole situation. Personally I think he should have been more hard on him because of what had happened. I think that he was acting on impulse rather than actually thinking it through. I think he was very over confident because he only brought a small amount of resources and not nearly enough supplies to actually survive. I think Krakauer was playing it down a lot in the way he put him out there to be and almost made it seem like a beautiful thing. One thing that stuck out was how he described the bus wreck almost poetically by saying it was “Left like a relic,” which seemed really messed up saying it was a scene where someone had died. Also Krakauer lets Chris’s perspective dominate the story without giving equal weight to the harm caused by his silence and not patching things with his family.

By klevesque... 6 months ago

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