Topic > Arrogance, Innocence and Ignorance in Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer

Have you ever wanted to explore the wilderness alone? If so you may want to change your mind. Based on Jon Krakauer's novel, “Into the wild,” the author explores the life of a young man named Chris McCandless who hitchhikes across parts of the United States and then ventures into the wilds of Alaska unprepared and alone. Chris was a very intelligent man and graduated from Emery College with a 4.0 GPA. His relationship with his father, however, influences the decisions he makes throughout the novel, in which he wants to live a less materialistic lifestyle. At 24 he dies and ends up starving due to the many bad decisions he makes. The author develops many themes throughout the novel. Chris's evidence of arrogance, innocence, and ignorance leads to his untimely death and contributes to the author's theme of the importance of knowledge and experience. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay From the beginning of the novel, Krakauer portrayed Chris as an overconfident and arrogant character which greatly foreshadows his fate. Arrogance can be described as someone who exaggerates their ability and/or importance. Early in his journey, McCandless writes in his postcard to Wayne: "This is the last time you will hear from me... If this adventure proves fatal and you never hear from me again, I want you to know that you are a great man. Now I walk in the wilderness.' Krakauer uses this postcard as the title of the first chapter to show how confident Chris was in himself. As Chris considers the fact that he may never return alive, he writes with a sense of security and confidence in the nature over which he has no control. His ability to run into something dangerous shows how overconfident he is in his ability to survive. He has never experienced something like this and the other uses this information to foreshadow Chris Krakauer's fate explains how some people "immensely admired the boy for his courage and noble ideals. They thought he was brave and strong to go out into the wilderness alone." However, the author makes us question this when he refuses to keep the watch. Chris says, “I don't want to know what time it is. I don't want to know what day it is or where I am. None of that matters." Chris once again shows us stupidity and useless trust. Chris not only didn't bring his watch, but he also refuses to bring other things needed to survive. His self-confidence shows that he was innocent and innocent. Chris's arrogant tendencies contribute to his death that he could have avoided. Continuously throughout the novel, Krakauer highlights how Chris's ignorance contributes to his early death along with his lack of preparation. Innocence and ignorance by definition are a lack of knowledge, information or experience. Krakauer provides many examples of this at the beginning of the book. When Chris received a ride from Gallien, he explained that he didn't need his parents and that "I won't run into anything I can't deal with on my own." The fact that he can think he can survive shows that he has no experience in the wild. No one has told him the harsh conditions he will face and he doesn't even have the right equipment to successfully survive in the wild. The author notes that “his gear seemed extremely minimal…Alex's cheap leather hiking boots were neither waterproof nor well insulated. His rifle was only .22 caliber… He had no axe, no insecticides, no snowshoes, no compass.” Any.