The Epigraphs in Into the Wild Essay Example

The Epigraphs in Into the Wild can be used to explain the book in its entirety.  The epigraph in the beginning of chapter 17 shows the adventures that one can have if they go into nature.  Into the Wild explains the beauty that anyone can witness by sharing the story of Chris McCandless.  Some people went into nature because they wanted to always be having an adventure.  Almost everyone like spending some time in nature, but only a few are committed to spending all of the time they possibly can in the wilderness.  One person who wanted to spend all of his time in nature was Everett Ruess.  All people have the same opportunity that Everett Ruess had.  The text states “The peculiar thing about Everett Ruess was that he went out and did the thing he dreamed about, not simply for a two-weeks’ vacation, but for months and years in the very midst of wonder…” (Krakauer, 90).  

Nature is everywhere.  There are so many ways to experience what nature has to offer without spending your entire life in the wilderness.  Thoreau said “Think of our life in nature,- daily to be shown matter, to come in contact with it,- rocks, trees, wind on our cheeks...Who are we? Where are we?”(Krakauer, 172).  No one can ever know what to expect with nature.  They will experience something both breathtaking and adventurous.  Until one goes out in nature, they can never really understand the full experience that Chris McCandless and so many others had on a daily basis.  Chris McCandless was willing to take risks as long as he was surrounded by nature at all times.  Thoreau said “Nature was here something savage and awful, though beautiful” (Krakauer, 172).    Chris was at his best when in nature.  There was always something for him to be doing. 

Even if that meant just sitting and thinking about himself.  Living in nature has some hardships, but for some people that is exactly what they need in life.  The text states “He had a need to test himself in ways, as he was fond of saying, “that mattered”” (Krakauer, 182).  There was always something new to be doing while in nature.  It would never get boring because of the endless possibilities in nature.  The text states “The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun” (Krakauer, 37).  Chris McCandless loved nature, and he encouraged other to get out experience it for themselves.  The epigraph explains the book by showing the adventures that someone, such as Chris McCandless, could have in nature.