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Chris Haferl
Ms. T
Cyber English
3/19/12
It’s the Journey Not the Destination
The theme of Into the Wild, written by Jon Krakauer, is that life is not about the
destination but the journey we take to get there. This book is about a man named Chris
McCandless, a 24 year old man, who took a journey of soul searching to finally end up in Alaska
where he died 3 months later in the woods. Throughout his travels he met dozens of people who
he made connections with before moving onto his next stop. Krakauer utilized three literary
techniques of setting; cities and nature, characters; Ronald Franz, and symbolism; journal, to
convey his theme of life being about the journey not the destination in Into the Wild.
Chris McCandless traveled through many types of environment to get to his destination
varying from bustling cities to empty wilderness meeting interesting people everywhere. As well
as experiencing many types of life. In Chapter 5 he lived in Boulder, Colorado for a few months.
While he was there he got a job at McDonalds and lived in “the slabs”.
“A place the locals call the Slabs, an old navy air base that had been abandoned and
razed, leaving a grid of empty concrete foundations scattered far and wide across the
desert.”
The slabs changed Chris as a person; he finally got to know how it feels to live without a home,
family, or money. The setting of the slabs made him part of that community and even though it
was just a top along the way he saw how many people live there life with no hope on ever getting
out of there. In his last few months while he was wandering the wilderness of Alaska is the most
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important part of his journey as it was where he completely transcended from his reality and
found who he was and that he wasn’t invincible. He began to realize he could be beaten and that
he did have limits as well as not being completely independent as he may of thought.
Chris met many people throughout his journey that helped him see who he was as well as
entertain him. In chapter 6 Chris moved to Salton City in California where he met a name named
Ronald Franz. Franz lost both his wife and son and became an alcoholic. However he was able to
turn his life around sobered up and became a devout Christian. Chris saw this Franz as a
transcendentalist and felt a strong connection to him. Franz helped Chris discover why he was
traveling to Alaska and travelling around alone. When Chris went to northern California he met a
woman named Jan Burres. She is a drifter herself and meets Chris on the side of the road. They
talk as she tries to discourage Chris of his journey as there are dangers in what he attempts to do.
This makes Chris realize that this journey is much bigger than he thought and rejuvenates his
desire to transcend.
Throughout Chris's journey he kept a journal to record his travels; this journal was
discovered along with his body at the bus where he died. This journal is important as it
symbolizes the transition of Chris himself. In the beginning of his journey Chris was anxious to
set out and meet new people but still wasn't sure completely confident of himself and had some
doubt. By the end of his journey when he was getting a ride from Jim Gallien thought
"The hitchhiker's scheme was foolhardy and tried repeatedly to dissuade him"
pg.5
However Chris still went out to the wilderness despite Jim's efforts to stop him for his own
safety. This shows how far Chris has come especially in terms of confidence. No matter what he
was going out into the wild even if it killed him. The bus in which he stayed in for about 3
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months while living in the wilderness is symbolic of his destination. The bus was eventually
where Chris died showing that his destination was meaningless compared to the journey it took
for him to reach it. He was lonely and dying when he was on that bus opposed to when he was
traveling and meeting new people and having a great time.
Krakauer utilized three literary techniques of city and wild settings, deep characters like
Ronald Franz, and symbolism of Chris's journal to convey his theme of life being about the
journey not the destination in his book Into the Wild. The settings showed this by letting Chris
experience life in various situations including deep city life and lonely wilderness. The character
showed that on the journey you meet people with a story unlike anyone else's. The symbolism of
his journal shows the transformation of Chris turning into a fully confident adventurer from a
lone wanderer.