Death into the Wild Essay Example for Free

Death into the Wild EssayInto the Wild was Jon Krakauers best selling non-fiction novel about the adventures of Christopher McCandless. In essence it was an expansion of his earlier work entitled Death of an Innocent which appeared in the January 1993 issue of Outside. The novel chronicles the experiences of Chris McCandless, the 24-year-old nature enthusiast who left his suburban Washington, D. C. , house in 1992 for a wilderness trek by Alaskas backcountry.Equipped with a 10-pound bag of rice, a small-caliber rifle, and not much else, McCandless fashioned himself into a modern-day American Adam determined to explore the nations Last Frontier. The excursion, however, came to an abrupt end four months later with McCandless emaciated corpse discovered in an abandoned school pot not far from the boundaries of Denali National Park. Into the Wild presents Krakauers account as to what drove McCandless to such a fate.Between the time of its appearance in 1993 to its publication as a book in 1996, Krakauers story elicited numerous responses, including many from Alaska residents who derided the author for glorifying what they saw as nothing more than a young mans folly. For these readers, McCandless stand for just another ill-advised undivided who ventured unprepared into dangerous country in the hope of discovering answers to his life, which was merely met by mosquitoes and a lonely death (72).As I reckon such a perspective fails to account for the significance of Krakauers novel within the genre of narrative non-fiction. In lieu of this, what follows is an explication of the authority of Krakauers methodology in the process of explicating the story of McCandless into the wild. Narrative non-fiction takes the form of a documentary as far as it opts to elucidate the objective conditions cardinal the formation of a particular situation. A literary work within the genre of narrative non-fiction may thereby be understood as a creative treatment of actuality ( Carroll 154).The aforementioned notion whole caboodle on the assumption that literature may be able to shape reality creatively through the introduction of an artistic dimension within a literary piece. Such a dimension however, which necessitates the introduction of an aesthetic aspect within the text contradicts the foundations of whole kit and caboodle of non-fiction which involves the maintenance of objectivity within the text. Objectivity in this sense is assessed through the authors general appraisal of the events presented within the text.In that sense, objectivity takes the epistemological form of objectivity wherein it understood as objectivity in judgment. Such a form of objectivity is maintained within works of non-fiction since such works are understood as the authors account of an event. To understand a work as an account enables the application of fluidity upon the work since it is presented as open to interpretation as well knowledge and truth coercion. Such a proc ess of truth coercion may be seen in Krakauers narrative of McCandless journey into the wild.Into the Wild begins with a narrative exposition wherein the reader is introduced to the major characters of the story along with the necessary background information needed to contextualize the discovery of McCandless corpse. The beginning of Krakauers Into the Wild thereby is highly similar to the expository beginning of a novel. Such a beginning enables the skillful orchestration of a preconceived conception of McCandless story. It enables the conception of McCandless as an individual who ventured for the discovery of his self through the discovery of a presumed unknown territory.Krakauers work thereby functions as a vehicle for the readers discovery of McCandless journey towards himself. Such a journey was enabled by the collage of various materials that enabled the factual retelling of McCandless life up to the point of his demise. The process of contextualization mentioned above was ma de possible by using materials from interviews as well as McCandless journal along with photographs, letters, and other secondary research materials that enabled the explication of the conditions as to McCandless adventures.The use of these varied materials enabled the book to be a moving literary piece formulated through the combination of journalistic, historical, nature and travel writing, as well as memoir writing. It should be noted that these materials as well as the formation of the collage of the aforementioned materials were constructed by the author. Into the Wild thereby presents us with Krakauers account of the events. As I reckon, it is the construction of the narrative as well as Krakauers presentation of the account, which serves as his take into the events that governed McCandless existence.Other individuals perceived McCandless act as an act of folly however, Kraukaeur presented it in such a manner that it focused on the adventure and drama, which he perceives as i ntrinsic to the act of finding or discovering ones self. Within the book, he represented McCandless as an extraordinary individual whose existence was governed by courageousness and skill evident in his demonstration of McCandless desire to survive within an unchartered territory.Kraukauers analysis of the risks examined as well as the narrative organise of text presented Krakauers judgments as to the life that McCandless led.Works CitedCarroll, Noel. Fiction, Non-Fiction, and the Film of Presumptive Assertion A Conceptual Analysis. Philosophy of Film and Motion Picture An Anthology. Eds. Noel Carroll and Jinhee Choi. Oxford Blackwell Publishing, 2006. Krakauer, Jon. Into the Wild. refreshed York Villard, 1996.