"Mother Nature's Wild Sons" My Interpretation of - Jon Krakauer's "Into the Wild" with abundant reference to - Jack London's - "Call of the Wild"

First Last NameEnglish 101Professor XNovember 30, 2009Mother Nature's Wild SonsThe Alaskan wild is a merciless region with dangers lurching just about everywhere; for one to venture into them, they must be well prepared to encounter harsh weather and limited resources (Carter). People everywhere have marveled as to why someone like Christopher Johnson McCandless would undertake the unforgiving Alaskan wilderness, and why he chose to carry out his journey in the way he did: with no possessions and with no word home. Jon Krakauer, author of Into the Wild, offers up a whole variety of interesting theories as to why anyone would willingly abandon civilized society. He considers such reasons as, "[McCandless] was trying to find answers" and "he was trying to cure his soul" (Krakauer 72), but these are all just instances of saying man a does not go into the wild; the wild gets inside that man and pulls him back to his origins.

Grave of Jack and Charmian London

English: Jack London

Christopher McCandless

In the Fall, all the leaves have gone from the trees in a thick set of woods, and a passer by cannot help but stare into them with wonder, the wild is inside everybody; individuals are born with a primal instinct that persuades them to live as their forebears did. Outbursts of the primal instinct are subtle for individuals accustomed to all aspects of modern living, but their primal instinct can grab hold of them and cause them to question their complicated lifestyle. When gathered around a fire, surrounded by darkness, the overwhelming urge to stare deep into the flames is the primal instinct. Jack London captures compelling incidents like this in some of his novels.

Christopher had a great deal of respect for Jack London's work. "McCandless had been infatuated with London since childhood. London's fervent condemnation of capitalist society, his glorification...