INTO THE WILD WITH CHRIS MCCANDLESS

Nature and My Experience with Nature

When I think of Nature I think about its beauty and importance. To me nature was God's best and first creation. Nature was the first thing created in this world, and basically makes this whole world. Nature is all around us. It is beautiful, peaceful, colorful, and can be magical.
When I think of nature I think of many words like beautiful, graceful, colorful, natural, and many other words. Nature is beautiful because the leaves can change into different beautiful colors. Nature is graceful because a flowing stream is very graceful. Nature is colorful because there are many changing colors in nature depending on the seasons. When it’s winter there are not many colors. When it is summer it is very colorful because the sun is out. It is important to us today because nature provides lots of resources for us. I learned before that a way people abuse nature is when they cut down trees to provide wood to build things out of. Even though we need wood a lot it is bad to cut down a lot of trees and destroy forests and animals habitats for our needs.

A bad time I had with nature was when My friend and I were in the woods. I was about 11 years old and my friend Preston was 8. We were at our brother's soccer games and decided to run around and take our dogs to the woods. While running Preston accidentally kicked a log we jumped over. The log had a bee hive in it and the bees were startled when he kicked the log. They stormed out of the log and all came at us. Us and the dogs were getting stung all over our bodies, and we ran through the woods scared, screaming, and crying. The dogs were running away and yelping. Finally when we got out of the woods and went to our parents crying and stung at least 10 times in multiple places. Our moms told us to go to the concession stand and Preston and I got ice cream and water bottles to put on our stings. Everything was better, and I will never forget that experience.

Opinion on the book and Chris

Paragraph on the book:
This book was very fun, and entertaining to read. It kept wanting me to read and wonder what Chris McCandless was going to do next. I thin kit is worth reading because it can teach people and help them reach out to their goals. Like when Chris said, "When you want something in life, you just gotta reach out and grab it," meaning if I really want something or to be someone you have to strive and work hard to achieve your goal. This book can also teach others that its okay to be adventurous, or different, maybe some people can relate to Chris because he hated his parents and felt alone. In your life you want to be someone. Chris just wanted to be someone too, he was tired of his old boring life and wanted to be someone new, so he went out into the wild and called him self Alexander Super Tramp. He changed his whole life around from a boring one to a live and adventurous one. It’s a good thing to be unique and go out and live. Chris just wanted to do that and live his life trying new things. This is an excellent book and I think people of any age would enjoy reading the book, and seeing the movie too to compare if they liked the book or the movie better.

Paragraph on Chris McCandless:
I think he is a daring person, and knows a lot about nature and survival skill. I do not think that he is very smart when it comes to common sense and realizing that its not worth dying like that. It was unfortunate that he could not go back home to his family because he died a tragic death. I somewhat agree with the critic's because he was stupid at times but its not worth going into the wild to die like that.

Direct and Indirect Characterization

Direct Characterization: -author tells us what Chris is like*
1. Outgoing -"The core of mans' spirit comes from new experiences"
2. rebel- "You can read about this stuff but you can't understand it until you live it…"
3. Intelligent- "I think maybe part of what got him into trouble was that he did too much thinking…"
-"You could tell right away that Alex was intelligent,' Westerberg reflects, draining his third drink. 'He read a lot. Used a lot of big words. I think maybe part of what got him into trouble was that he did too much thinking. Sometimes he tried too hard to make sense of the world, to figure out why people were bad to each other so often." Chapter 3, pg. 18
4. Determined- "When you want something in life, you just gotta reach out and grab it"
5. Friendly -"When you forgive, you love. And when you love, God's light shines upon you."

Indirect Characterization: -when we are shown what Chris is like, requires thought on the part of the reader*
1. Unusual-"Came into this world with unusual gifts.."
2. Adventurous -"Don’t settle down and sit in one place. Move around, be nomadic, make each day a new horizon.."
3. Brave -"you don’t need to worry about me. I have a college education. I'm not destitute. I'm living like this by choice.."
4. Crazy- "I'm Super tramp and you're super apple! You are the apple of my eye."
5. Alone and sad- "S.O.S. I need your help. I am injured, near death, and too weak to hike out of here. I am all alone, this is no joke. In the name of God, please remain to save me. I am out collecting berries and shall return this evening. Thank you, Chris McCandless. August ?" Chapter 2, pg. 12

Paragraph:
When reading the book, the author describes Chris as a really smart, outgoing, friendly, or determined type of guy. In my eyes he is most of those things but more crazy and adventurous, maybe even stupid at times. He can be smart like knowing what to do in the wild, but he can make stupid choices too. He is definitely brave, adventurous, and outgoing because to have the courage to go out and live in the wild all by yourself, you have to be all these things. He is a very friendly person and meets a lot of people along his journey. He ends up going crazy and hallucinates because he is all by himself most of the time. His Unique personality is likable and makes him more interesting to read about to make the book enjoyable and encourages you to keep reading about what he will do next.

Belt Carvings

If I were to carve objects into a belt like Chris McCandless did they would be very different. First I would carve a family, because to me my family is the most important thing in my life. Your family helps you through hard times and tough decisions. Unfortunately Chris's family was not there to help him, therefore he ran away into the wild. The second thing I would carve is a sun. We need the bright sun to live and the sun lights the world. Without it there would be no daytime and would be hard to see. If I were Chris and had to travel to Alaska, I would want the sun to warm me. The third thing I carved into my belt was water drops. We also need to drink lots of water to stay hydrated and healthy. Without it we would not survive, and neither would plants or animals. On hot days in the wild Chris probably wished it would rain to cool him off. the fourth thing I would carve would be a house. We need shelter to help protect us and keep our stuff in. In Into the Wild Chris's shelter was a bus, where he kept all of his stuff in and slept there. The fifth thing I carved was a weight. The weight symbolizes strength or courage. Chris was brave,mentally and physically strong, and had courage to go out and survive all by himself. the sixth thing would be a turkey to symbolize food. We all know that everything needs food to live and be healthy. Chris would hunt animals or steal to eat and to survive. The seventh thing I carved was a knife. A knife is a tool that I would take on my adventure and could be used for a lot of things. Chris used a knife to carve symbols into his belt. He also used it to kill animals for food. The last thing I would carve into my belt if I was Chris would be a cross. A cross to symbolize the trinity, and to know that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are with me on my journey. God will protect me and help me to make good choices. I would also pray to the cross if I was in need of help.

Into the Wild movie compared to the book

• What parts of the story have been changed (has the order changed?)
• What images (shots) have the most impact)
• What parts of the film made the story clearer to you?
• Music?

• Yes the order has changed because in the book it is all mixed up and even in chapter 2 we found out he dies. It starts out with Chris in the wild,and then it goes all the way back to his graduation at Emery, and shows his parents and sister.He gets mad at his parents for buying him a car, and gives his money to charity. In the book it goes from Chris to Krakauer a lot and switches them up a little, but in the movie it just talks about one person at a time. The movie also starts out in Alaska and he finds the bus early on in it, but in the book he doesn’t find the bus till later on.

•I like the music in this movie. I noticed that I actually have one of the songs from it on my ipod. It is called "Hard Sun". They play it during the movie when he is setting out fo rhis journey into the wild after leaving his parents. It shows the sun during the movie when they play it.