Chris Mccandless's Epigraph Essay

In Jon Krakauer’s work of nonfiction, Into the Wild, the author begins each chapter with an epigraph. Moreover, the epigraphs often contain quotes from books that Chris McCandless highlighted himself or Krakauer chose, presumably because he felt they relate to Chris’s ideology and situation. Krakauer also included quotes from figures whom Chris revered, such as Jack London and Henry David Thoreau. His main purpose in incorporating these epigraphs was to draw inferences about the person that Christopher McCandless was.
Jack London, and Henry David Thoreau both share one commonality: Christopher McCandless respected their ideologies. One epigraph used in the book that was graffitied by Chris refers directly to a Jack London book. It reads, “All Hail the Primordial Beast! And Captain Ahab Too!” The
The greatest gains and values are farthest from being appreciated. We easily come to doubt if they exist. We soon forgot them.” (p. 47) Thoreau believed that nature was one of life’s beautiful occurrences that many neglect to appreciate. So did Christopher McCandless. Chris went on his ‘pilgrimage’ that included California, South Dakota, and Alaska among other places, to experience the natural world for himself. He realized that others did not take advantage of the world around them, so he even convinced Ronald Franz to alter his lifestyle to “start seeing some of the great work that God has done here in the American West.” (p. 58)
Thus, Jon Krakauer’s intended purpose of using epigraphs is to reveal Christopher McCandless’s motivation. Many of Chris’s attributes, such as determination and appreciation for nature, can be found in the people he read about, Henry David Thoreau and Jack London. The epigraphs allude to this fact, while illuminating readers on the ideologies that led to Chris’s