Figurative Language In Into The Wild

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Throughout time, people have been fascinated by nature and have explored almost every corner of the Earth. But very few people go out into the wild and desire to live off the land, become self-sufficient, and be completely alone. However, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer focuses on Chris McCandless, a young man who traveled into Alaska and never came back. Krakauer explores the allure of the wild and the high-risks that few people choose to face, developing this idea through quotes from transcendental and naturalist authors, other adventurers accounts of the wild, and vivid imagery and figurative language.
At the beginning of each chapter in the novel, there are epigraphs from various authors or notes from McCandless himself. These epigraphs mirror McCandless’s ideas of the …show more content…
Insight from others similar to McCandless help to further explain the mindset of these young men and the reasons many of them were attracted to the wild. Everett Ruess, a young man who also ventured into the wilderness wrote a letter to his brother saying that he “enjoys its [the wilderness’] beauty and the vagrant life I lead, more keenly all the time.” He later states that it is “enough that I am surrounded with beauty.” In some other letters from Ruess, he states that “the beauty is becoming part of me” and how he “wants to live more intensely and richly.” The transcendental ideal notes the importance of a connection to nature and the peace and enrichment it can bring. The beauty, purity, and intensity of the wild is enough for young men to go wandering out and encounter life or death experiences. They experience adventure and danger; an exhilarating experience that many wish to find. The idea of “living and not just surviving” can embody what these men went through and wanted to experience out in the wild. They wanted the danger and the beauty all in one big
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