Most of the second "Stampede Trail" chapter's focus analyzes what actually killed Christopher McCandless. How did reading these different interpretations affect your opinion of the book and Christopher McCandless? We know that Krakauer completed extensive research, trying to understand what the actual culprit was. Besides this focus, however, Krakauer also asserts that McCandless was ready to come home, emphasizing this fact because he has repeated this particular idea throughout the text, not just in chapter 18. He even conjectures how things might have been different had McCandless had a topographical map, all those what ifs. Consider this sentence: "McCandless's apparent salvation, in other words, seemed to be only a three-hour walk upriver" (196). It's almost as if Krakauer is trying to change McCandless's final outcome.
For another example, read the following paragraph, then think about how Krakauer came to his conclusions:
"It is tempting to regard this latter notation as further evidence that McCandless's long, lonely sabbatical had changed him in some significant way. It can be interpreted to mean that he was ready, perhaps, to shed a little of the armor he wore around his heart, that upon returning to civilization, he intended to abandon the life of a solitary vagabond, stop running so hard from intimacy, and become a member of the human community. But we will never know, because Dr. Zhivago was the last book Chris McCandless would ever read" (189).
First, considering what Krakauer has told us in the beginning in the "Author's Note" should be remembered here where he says that he "won't claim to be an impartial biographer." This appears most evident here in this chapter and the one which precedes it. In fact it can be said that there is much pathos besides logos in this chapter. He includes what others have had to say about the cabins that were ransacked, something many wanted to blame on McCandless, as well as mused about other methods McCandless could have used to make his way out of the wild. Again, this can leave us feeling that maybe there were viable options for McCandless to escape to civilization, that if we believed it hard enough, McCandless would be alive today. But his idea about starting a forest fire really isn't keeping with the kind of thing McCandless would be willing to do. Carine has discounted this saying, "'Chris would never, ever, intentionally burn down a forest, not even to save his life. Anybody who would suggest otherwise doesn't understand the first thing about my brother" (198).
Then there is that description of what it is like to starve. Reflect on what Krakauer tells us in the following paragraph:
Does the tone of the above passage remain the same or shift? Explain. Also note the verbs in the above passage."Starvation is not a pleasant way to expire. In advanced stages of famine, as the body begins to consume itself, the victim suffers muscle pain, heart disturbances, loss of hair, dizziness, shortness of breath, extreme sensitivity to cold, physical and mental exhaustion. The skin becomes discolored. In the absence of key nutrients, a severe chemical imbalance develops in the brain, including convulsions and hallucinations. Some people who have been brought back from the far edge of starvation, though, report that near the end the hunger vanishes, the terrible pain dissolves, and the suffering is replaced by a sublime euphoria, a sense of calm accompanied by transcendent mental clarity. It would be nice to think McCandless experienced a similar rapture" (198).
How do the splices of journal entries found in this chapter further Krakauer's picture of Chris McCandless? How do they affect your opinion of him? Below are those included:
- "HAPPINESS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED" (189).
- "EXTREMELY WEAK, FAULT OF POT. SEED. MUCH TROUBLE JUST TO STAND UP. STARVING. GREAT JEOPARDY" (189).
- "TERRIBLE WIND" (195).
- "DAY 100! MADE IT!" (195).
- "BUT IN WEAKEST CONDITION OF LIFE. DEATH LOOMS AS SERIOUS THREAT. TOO WEAK TO WALK OUT, HAVE LITERALLY BECOME TRAPPED IN THE WILD--NO GAME" (195)
- And what Krakauer calls his "last adios": "I HAVE HAD A HAPPY LIFE AND THANK THE LORD. GOODBYE AND MAY GOD BLESS ALL" (188).
What do you think about the inclusion of the Robinson Jeffers poem, "Wise Men in Their Bad Hours" Why does Krakauer include this here? What connections can you make?
Try this: Add another paragraph to the end of chapter 18, which may portray how you see Christopher McCandless now that you've learned of his travels and interactions with others. Yes, this means you write your own. Try imitating Krakauer's style.
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