Perspective

I have to admit, I haven't been reading as much as I should. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is not really grabbing my attention. It had a somewhat dull beginning and middle but such an enrapturing transition in between them. Now I am on page 71, and two lines in the book have really stood out to me.

The first line being, "On the face of it, Bullhead City doesn't seem like the kind of place that would appeal to the adherent of Thoreau and Tolstoy an ideologue who expressed nothing but contempt for the bourgeois trappings of Mainstream America. McCandless, nevertheless, took a strong liking to Bullhead." This line uses strong vocabulary and gets its point across bluntly. I am pretty sure anyone who has been to the suburbs has seen the desert of fast food restaurants and carbon copy stores, like Abercrombie and Fitch. We cannot say what the appeal of Bullhead City is to McCandless because we don't know a whole lot about him. Maybe McCandless grew up in a similar setting. Perhaps it reminded him of home. It felt familiar and he wanted to spend some time there. But sometimes, I am drawn to the suburb culture because I never grew up in such a setting. So perhaps he was drawn there because it was different. He might have been drawn to either its feelings of familiarities or to its foreignness. I think the appeal of the character Alex McCandless is that he is a little unknown and mysterious. We don't know a whole lot about him. But we know he's a bright person and generally free of all emotional attachments.

The 2nd line I found interesting shows the character differences between McCandless and a friend he meets on the way named Franz. Franz was an old man who was the last line in his family and was dreadfully lonely. When McCandless and Franz's paths cross, Franz is changed by the whole experience. He creates a new friend who he cares for and wants McCandless to settle down. Franz becomes very attached to McCandless and says "Somebody needed to convince him to get an education and a job and make something of his life." This line triggered a lot of thought for me as a reader. It reminded me that perspective was a huge issue in this book. What Franz thinks "making something of his life" is different than what McCandless thinks. McCandless began his adventure on purpose, he believes this adventure is "making something of his life." The whole book is his perspective and how he follows his beliefs out, even if it means dying for it.

So I guess I could say that I love the different perspective this book gives me, but sometimes I find it a little dull.

lets escape :)

*Spoiler alert for The Giver*

During the last few years of my life, I've become fascinated by the idea of escaping. To escape the boring repetition and schedules of daily life was always an idea I kept in mind while starting this years ELA class. I've always wanted to write a story about a person who escapes their boring lives, just like in Coraline, The Giver, or Alice and Wonderland.

Christopher Johnson McCandless, the main character in the book Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer, was longing for an escape just like me. He went "into the wild" and roughed it for a very long time living of a sac of rice.

I admire this book's strong sense of character. The book is written with a narrator telling Chris' story, but somehow it allows the reader to peak into Chris' mind even more.

While you read this book, you would notice that it is written like a document. It is filled with facts about Chris. There are journal entries about an abandoned car((which turns out to be his)). The narrator presents the facts and all the facts seem to show how one person's actions can affect the people around him. If one person breaks free, than people around that person are affected. This reminds me a lot of The Giver, which was my last entry. When Jonas left his community, all of the villagers got the memories and were affected a lot! When Chris left home, all his family was scared and all the fellow hitchhikers were inspired by him.

Since we can't emerge ourselves in Chris' head, I often wonder if he misses home. Whenever, other characters see him, they always describe him as free, great and blissful. But is he really though? Is he that happy far away from home? Doesn't he miss the small moments and memories of home. Little moments filled with joy are what I think life is worth living for. Great adventures are wonderful, but coming home to small things are really what makes it for me.

To conclude, I love my small life and I don't think I would be able to or like to escape just yet...