Please respond to one of the following questions:
1. Chapter 7 opens with an epigraph excerpted from Solitude: A Return to the Self by Anthony Storr. What does this quote suggest about Chris? Why is this quote placed at the beginning of this chapter? How does it frame our reading of Chapter 7?
2. Chapter 8 focuses on other "Alaska Types" (71) such as Rosselli the Mayor of Hippie Cove and Waterman. What does it mean to be an "Alaska Type?" In what ways did Chris fit this mold? In what ways was Chris different than the other adventurers discussed in the chapter?
3. Chapter 6 is devoted to the friendship between Ronald Franz and Chris McCandless. Why do you think the connected like they did? Why do you think was able to develop such strong relationships with other tramps or other "outsiders" such as Jan Burres and Wayne Westerberg? What do you these friendships or bonds tell you about Chris? What does Chris’ relationship with Ronald Franz let us know about Chris? What was Chris (Alexander) seeking/needing from Ron and from Wayne?
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Question 3
ReplyDeleteI don’t think it was so much what Alex was taking from Ron and Wayne so much as what they were “seeking/needing” from Alex. Alex never sought to create long and deep relationships with others. On page 55, Krakauer observes that “McCandless was relieved that he had again evaded the impending threat of human intimacy, of friendship, and all the messy emotional baggage that comes with it.” It was Ron that randomly picked up Alex on the highway; Alex had not even been hitchhiking at the time. The older man had just become curious about him, and decided to inquire if he needed anything. Ron was a lonely man in his eighties that did not have any family and very few friends. It doesn’t surprise me at all that the two created the relationship that they did. At first, I think Ron approached Alex as a father/grandfather figure, imposing advice that Alex had heard too many times before. Alex quickly deterred him from his lecturing, and Ron realized that the kid was much brighter than he appeared. Because of this, Ron considered the kid as on the same level as he, and they turned into friends despite the massive age difference. Ron was not looking to be enlightened, however, Alex could not help but influence anybody he met. And since Ron insisted on spending so much time together, Alex rubbed off on him significantly more than the other people he met in his travels.
I think Alex may have recognized, at times, points when he could rely on Ron as a sort of father-figure, even though he would never reciprocate by acting as a son. Ron was dependable when Alex needed to be picked up in California, and could always count on eating and being sheltered when he saw his old friend. But Alex did not need this relationship; it was simply convenient for him, and in the end, he ceased all communication with both Ron and Wayne without looking back just as soon as he reached Alaska. So, as much as Alex may have appreciated these people in his life, he did not value them as much as they did him. Some people are just not meant to work and interact with others, and more times than others, Alex fit this mold.
Question 1:
ReplyDeleteI think this quote says that something was seriously missing in Chris's life. Although he grew up in a family of privledge the relationship between he and is family seemed very distant. So this quote explains kind of why Chris finds isolation a way to teach him how to develop into something more than the way he was raised. The quote says, "If we transfer this concept into adult life, we can see that an avoidant infant might very well develop into a person whose principle need was to find some kind of meaning and order in life..." This suggests that Chris wants something more out of his life, something that he wants to find for his own life. Going to Alaska as well as on these journey's by himself is allowing to see what is meaningful to him instead of being taught certain principles by people like his family. I think this quote is placed at the beginning of this chapter because it tells us what this chapter is going to be about. This chapter goes on to talking about Chris's isolation the negative relationship he has with his family in particular his father and how he wanted to prove the point to his family that he has found a better life with himself with nature and people like the Westerbergs. I think this quote is also at the beginning because when I read it, it tapped into a more emotional state, and I knew that this chapter would say something about his departure. Chris was very focused on when he was leaving for Alaska, and when Mr. Westerberg asked him to stay an extra 10 days and he declined it I could really tell that Chris wanted to find the fulfillment in his life that he has been missing for so long. I also really liked how Chris showed emotion when hugging Borah when saying goodbye. I got chills just thinking that he would not return and that is a side that we never saw in Chris's character yet, so I felt this connection that he shared with the Westerbergs and how meaningful it is to him.
Question 3:
ReplyDeleteChris, from what we have learned so far, is a young boy escaping his past; searching for a satisfying life with out the material distractions and everything that comes with it. He is not one to conform to society and the requirements that society demands. So for chris, his search of a new life includes a new identity. I believe Chris attaches so fondly to these people such as Ron and Wayne so much is because they know nothing of his past, or who he was. All they can accept is the person Chris or "alex" is at the time, and these new found friends of his show nothing but welcomeness and comfort to his new path. Some of the people he has met on his journey have also acted in place as some what of a parent figure, which may also give chris a comfort in disguise, as he is so far away from his family.
When Chris forms these relationships, especially focused on his friendship with Ron, we learn a lot about the type of friend Chris can be. He is intellectually stimulating and interests Ron. Chris shows that he can relate to people and can prove to be very capable of having normal relationships with people, although one might not think so by his lonely life style, and his eagerness to seperate himself from a normal social life.
The quote from Solitude: A Return to Self, by Anthony Storr, is clearly added as an introduction to more of Chris’s emotions and true feelings. At this point in the book, the reader is very aware that Chris is different than most people, and one of the ways he is unique is his separation from almost everyone else. The first part of the quote explains that many creative people seem to be solitary. I believe this is what Krakauer thought of Chris McCandless. He obviously was interested in Chris, and even though he never got to meet him, I would guess he would have liked to be friends with Chris. This is just the way Krakauerand this is the way he chose to add in his ideas. The first section also states that solitary people, like Chris perhaps, are the way they are due to some early trauma. I think this is Krakauer’s way of making the audience believe this is why Chris acts the way he does, even though this isn’t exactly true, as is learned in the chapter.
ReplyDeleteThe second part of the quote explains that isolated people often grow up into adults whose major life goals or focus points are not based on other people. Most people spend an incredible amount of time worrying about other pleasing other people, but all of Chris’s goals have been personal. He goes out and does things because that is what he believes in.
I think that one part of Chris’s life that doesn’t fit with the quote is how other people affect isolated individuals. As seen in the chapter, Gail Borah, Westerberg’s girlfriend, says that she “just figured… he’d spent so much time by himself” (63), and that is why he wanted to stay that way. I don’t agree with this, because clearly Chris had many serious relationships with people all over. I think people may have gotten the wrong impression from Chris, and that is why they never bothered to even try to meet him.
Question 1
ReplyDeleteI think that by beginning this chapter with this quote, it is supposed to help the reader understand why Chris does the things he does. In other words, we know that he does not have a very good relationship with his family and in this quote it reads that "many creative people fail to make mature personal relationships, and some are extremely isolated." (61) Although Chris is able to form other relationships with some people in his life, I think that this quote pertains to his actions towards his family life. He just gets up and leaves to go to Alaska without even thinking about how it could affect his family nor does he care. But as I mentioned in class, I believe that everyone is put here to serve a purpose. The quote also reads that "an avoidant infant might very well develop into a person whose principal need was to find some kind of meaning in life which was not entirely, or chiefly, dependent upon interpersonal relationships". (61) By going out into Alaska, Chris is doing just that. Maybe the quest was to find "meaning in his life" and to just get away from his parents who he feels don't understand him. He states that he'll "be through with them once and for all, forever". (64) I feel like the quote was put in the beginning to shape our views of was Chris went through before we read about how he dismisses his parents. Without the quote, someone may just assume that Chris is being selfish and insensitive, but in reading the quote and in seeing how different people can act, it kind of makes the reader feel bad for Chris, instead of the other way around.
I think that the relationship between Chris and Ron is a really interesting one. I think that the obvious answer, as to why they connected so quickly, was because Chris has always wanted a father who he could talk to and someone who was not as high strung as himself. While Ron had never gotten over his wife and child’s death and wanted someone to attach himself to and to love again. But there is something more to it. They seem to have the same sort of mentality even though Ron is very religious and Chris…is not. They each have a large influence over each other (Ron helping Chris to learn leather, taking him to San Diego, letting him help him in general) and Ron actually taking Chris’s advice and becoming nomadic. There is a truly special bond that is not easy to analyze nor does it exist TO be analyzed.
ReplyDeleteChrist was able to form strong bonds with other “tramps” because he was going on a quest to try and find himself and along the way was finding himself in these people, therefore being able to identify with these people. Yet there seems to be something almost false about them. There are friendly people but he seems to almost prostitute himself, or maybe I’m being a bit harsh. His relationship with Ron seems different than with other people.
The opening epigraph Solitude: A Return to the Self by Anthony Storr is extremly revelant to the story of Chris and this road through life. The quote sugggests that experiences that happen when you are younger stay with you until the later years in your life. Anthony Storr stated, "trauma, in the shape of early separation or bereavement".(61) Chris had a childhood that was a bit detached than others. His parents started their own buniness and spend most of their time working and fighting due to their disfuctional relationship. His parents coninually fought, which that lack of attention to their children effected chris and his sister. When chris went on a road trip to CA during the summer between Jr year and Sr year in high school he foudn some of this relatives that he had never meet before. He found out that he and his sister were actually iligament children. Chris and his sister were produced when their parents were havin an affair. When chris found this out it only made him dispise this parents even more. This quote sets the mood for the rest of the chapter and tells when adults have a hard time when they are older accepting their family and making friends. I believe that the quote frames out the rest of the chapter to foreshadow and explain why Chris runs from his family and where he is from.
ReplyDeleteQuestion 2
ReplyDeleteIt seems like Alaska attracts those people that society deems as crazy, not all there, or abnormal. All of the people described by Krakauer are people who at one point had, or were on their way to, the American dream, but found that it wasn’t satisfactory. I think the big draw that Alaska has upon these types of people is that it can be considered one of the last uninhabited, undiscovered areas in the US. It’s like the Wild West. Alaska is full of treacherous wildness waiting to be discovered. It provides the ideal place for a person who is caught up within the American system to go, leave society and reconnect with nature, causing them to reconnect, or at least feel like they’re connecting, to themselves. Chris fits this mold with every action he takes. He states that flying in a plane would be cheating. It’s this adventure to self discovery that he’s looking for. The one key aspect that puts Chris apart from these others that went into the wild is that he wanted to live. He made plans for when he’d be returning with Ron. Chris had no intention of dying out there, and only by his inexperience he did. The others died due to their own hand. Obviously, it would be easy to argue that Chris died at his own hand too with his lack of knowledge of his terrain, but overall, his drive to live, and his inexperience set his apart from other Alaskan wanderers.
I think that Ron and Chris formed such a deep connection because they provided each other with a sense of place that both were lacking. Ron was left deeply depressed after his wife and son died in a car accident, and when Chris arrived, Krakauer notes that Ron’s “long-dormant paternal impulses were kindled anew” (50). Ron frequently treated Chris to dinner and taught him the ins and outs of his craft, leatherworking; activities that a father might share with his son. In a similar sense, I think that Chris enjoyed the paternal influence from Ron. He was estranged from his father who did not understand Chris or what he stood for. Ron, on the other hand, lead a simpler existence and was willing to listen to Chris lecture him “about the shortcomings of his sedentary existence” (51). I think that Chris was taken aback when Ron asked if he could adopt him. He probably realized that he had let himself become too close with another human being.
ReplyDeleteThat is exactly why Chris was able to develop strong relationships with other tramps. He knew that he would never truly have to develop a friendship with these people and could “[evade] the impending threat of human intimacy…and all the messy emotional baggage that comes with it” (55). Chris left the margins of his family for a reason, he felt trapped and claustrophobic. In forming bonds with fellow nomads, Chris was able to receive vital socialization. However, seeing as these people were tramps and always on the move, he was probably well aware that he could end the relationship whenever he saw fit. The chances of ever running into Jan Burres and Wayne Westerberg were slim, unless Chris initiated the meeting.
Chris' relationship with Franz seems to be the kind that Chris would have liked to have with his own father. Chris and Franz's connection was more than friendship, it was a complex bond that allowed Chris to learn and explore new trades by a man who was more than willing to teach him, to take care of him as his own. Loneliness is a very powerful tool, and because the two men had gone so long without that type of father/son bond (in Chris' case, he may have never experienced it at all), they turned to each other ever so briefly to fill that void.
ReplyDeleteChris also represented to Franz the kind of man Franz longed to be: adventurous, energetic, full of moxie. It is these qualities, along with Chris' patience and willingness to learn, that were so endearing, and that ultimately reflected Franz's own "hidden" character.
It is never easy to come up with why or how people form the bonds they do. This one in particular is somewhat easier to make speculations about because the book provides us with Franz's account of the story, but still, the question must be asked: why do any of us form the relationships we do with others? It's just all so mysterious, I guess.
The “Alaskan Type” seems to me like the type of people who crave the wild. There are interesting unique people to meet there, yet there is plenty of space to roam around alone and do some serious soul searching. The people described in the book are all looking to prove something or answer questions they have about life. Possibly they seek attention that they didn’t get growing up or maybe they want to be free from the hustle of a busy life. Although Chris passed away at a very young age, I believe he led a fuller life than a lot of people. He traveled many places and exchanged stories with anyone willing to listen. I think he differed a bit from the typical Alaskan adventurer because he really got rid of everything he owned also, he was a very hard worker and wouldn’t take money from anyone if he felt he didn’t deserve it.
ReplyDeletethe quote speaks a lot about how Chris might have been so isolated with his thoughts and moral code. He was searching for fulfillment in life and could not with his family. Wayne thinks that Alex just got stuck on one thing they or his father might have done and could not let it go. I slowly drove a stake into their relationship slowly growing them apart. Chris, i think need to find someone to understand him and also understand himself. He was searching to where he fit intot he world. The quote points out that chris "need was to find some kind of meaning and order in life which was not dependent on interpersonal relatioships". Chris need to understanf himself and that connect in a spiritual way to the earth around him as well as his thoughts and ideals floating in his mind.
ReplyDeleteThe quote at the beginning of chapter 7 relates to Chris' life previous to him taking the journey to Alaska. This refers to a time when Chris lived a privileged life, in the eyes of most people, with economic prosperity and not too many worry's in the world. Chris was obviously missing something though, as is evident from his journey to Alaska to find some sort of peace or meaning to life.To quote the book, "if we transfer this concept to adult life, we can see that an avoidant infant might very well develop into a person whose principle need was to find some kind of meaning and order in life." Chris needed something, whether it be fulfillment, happiness, or simply solitude in Alasks's Tiaga, hopefully through his strougle in Alaska he found it.Nonetheless, this quote struck an emotional note for me, making me feel a part of Chris' thought process just for a moment to possibly see what he may have been feeling at that time. He was definitely ready for something different from the life he previously knew.
ReplyDelete3. Chris is one of a kind; I don’t believe there are many that would do what he has done. The relationship that Chris has with the likes of Wayne and Ron was simply for his convenience. He needed a job to earn some money in order to survive his journey into the wild, and that’s when he found Wayne. Ron saw Chris hitchhiking on the road, and he offered him a ride. Both Wayne and Ron where fascinated by Chris because they never seen someone like him, a young man who left his family to live in and exploring the beauty of the natural world. Any person would be enthralled to meet a person like Chris and listen about his experience in the wild. I don’t believe Chris wanted anything from these people but because he is a unique person all people he encountered wanted to take care of him by offering him food, shelter, transportation, money, etc. However, the only thing that was in Chris’s mind was reaching Alaska and the past would somewhat be irrelevant.
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