into the wild bolg #2

1.       Honestly, I don’t think Chris cared whether he had enough supplies or not.  He thought he’d get along somehow, make do with what he has.  Maybe later in the story he will realize that this could have been a mistake, but for right now he’s coasting through life.  I do not think that he went into the woods with a suicidal goal, but I do think he wanted to live life simply, without hassle.  He doesn’t want help from others he just wants to get away. 

2.       I hate surprises, but it does bother me to an extent that the author gives away the ending in the first paragraph in the very first chapter.  Although this does lead me to guess that the author will build up suspense in a different way and maybe towards a different topic altogether.  This does help me understand Chris better because I know what his outcome will be and it interests me more to find out exactly why he chose the path he did and how he ended up dead.  I think the author’s purpose is to draw readers in right from the beginning and never lose a grip on them by slowly unraveling the puzzle of his death.

3.       My reaction to Chris’s note was surprise.  I was sort of taken aback by how he actually tried to get help.  In my understanding of the character I thought maybe he would just accept starvation and die willingly.  Now I do understand that he tried and actually wanted to live.  I also think it backfires on him for not keeping a watch.  The letter says “August” followed by a question mark.  If he would have known the date then the people who conducted the autopsy might have gotten a closer range to the day he died.  Right when I read this letter I skimmed back in the book to find what month it was when the men entered the forest and crossed the river, when I did this it revealed that it definitely wasn’t August anymore, and hope was lost for Chris to still be alive or for someone to have helped him.

Into the Wild blog #1

     At this point in the book I feel that Chris McCandless is just trying to find himself.  He's going out into the middle of nowhere with nothing suitable to sustain him for a long stay or possibly even a few days, but all he wants to do is get away without anyone really causing a fuss about it.  I don't consider this "noble", but I do respect that this is the what he wants to do with his life. When McCandless goes into the wild I think he's looking for the next step in his life.  He's at a standstill point and doesn't know what to do with himself, so why not go into the unknown woods?  He needs an adventure.  McCandless wants to be secluded and cut off from the rest of the world; He doesn't want anything to do with anything else going on.  When Jim Gallien picks him up he tells him that his name is Alex, which shows he doesn't want anyone, not even a random person in Alaska to know who he is.  When Gallien drops him off on the trail and McCandless offers him his watch, McCandless says, "If you don't take it, I'm going to throw it away... I don't want to know what time it is.  I don't want to know what day it is or where I am.  None of that matters" (7).