English 101 Discussion Guide #1—Into the Wild ______
(pages—“Author’s Note” to p. 46) Name
If you are responding to this discussion guide as part of a small group, write the names of the other group members here.
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- In the “Author’s Note” at the beginning of the book, the author, Jon Krakauer, mentions some of the themes that he will consider. One of them is “the allure high-risk activities hold for young men of a certain mind ….” Perhaps you know such young men; perhaps you are one yourself. What do you suppose motivates some men to engage in high-risk activities? What do they seem to gain from it? Are there young women who also feel driven to engage in such activities? Are their reasons the same? Why are younger people more inclined to do such things than older people, if that is in fact the case?
- Krakauer writes about Alaska that it “has long been a magnet for dreamers and misfits, people who think the unsullied enormity of the Last Frontier will patch all the holes in their lives. The bush is an unforgiving place, however, that cares nothing for hope or longing” (4). Do you feel any attraction to the wilderness? What aspect of human nature leads people to want to lose themselves in the wilds? The author implies that people forget the bush “cares nothing for hope or longing.” Why might (some) people have trouble keeping something so obvious in mind? (See also the epigraphs on page 15.)
- A motorist picks up “Alex” (who is Chris, traveling under a false name. Why?) as he hitchhikes to the point from which he intends to depart into the bush, and there live off the land for several months. The motorist tries to warn Chris that this is a very risky proposition, but Chris says that he is “absolutely positive … I won’t run into anything I can’t deal with on my own” (6). What is the source of Chris’s confidence? To what extent is having such confidence usually a good thing, and to what extent is it not?
- Chris works for a combine crew based in South Dakota. The manager of the crew notes that most drifters don’t make good workers, but that Chris was “the hardest worker I’ve ever seen.” He goes on to say that “It was almost like a moral thing for him. He was what you’d call extremely ethical” (18). How does this influence your developing opinion of Chris? Does he gain stature in your view? What does this suggest about your own work ethic? Is it “almost like a moral thing” for you? If not, do you admire it nonetheless, and if that’s the case, doesn’t this suggest an inconsistency on your part? Explain.
- In a letter to his sister, Carine, Chris is referring to his parents when he writes, “I’m going to have to be real careful not to accept any gifts from them in the future because they will think they have bought my respect” (21). What exactly is he worried about? Do you suppose his parents really would think they have bought his respect? What underlying psychological motives might be driving Chris’s need to prove his independence from his parents?
- In referring both to the car Chris abandons and to Henry David Thoreau, the author observes that Chris considered it “his moral responsibility to flout the laws of the state” (28). In what way could that be a moral responsibility? In what way is it to Chris? What does “the state” represent to him?
- Right after abandoning his car, Chris burns what little money he has. (He had already given away thousands when he left college.) Does this make any sense at all? Does it prove that Chris is simply irrational, or can you find some justification for this act?
- The author tells us that Chris was infatuated with the writer, Jack London. “He was so enthralled by these tales, however, that he seemed to forget they were works of fiction …” (44). How is it possible that one could confuse a work of fiction with real life? Do you think that people in our society often confuse real life with what they see in movies or on television, or even read in books? Can you give examples? Do you ever do that? When?
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