Into the Wild: The Drivers of Adolescent Enthusiasm

Drivers of Adolescent Enthusiasm
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Drivers of Adolescent Enthusiasm
The adolescent period is considered one of the toughest stages in a person’s life primarily because of the massive body and personal transformations. Young individuals at that stage regard themselves as being mature enough to engage in their daily lives without the supervision and guidance of their parents or the controlling expectations of the society. Adolescence also entails a period of self-identification where the young people seek to establish their importance in the community through experimentations and spells of adventure that would involve moving from one region to the next. Many problems plague young adolescents including self-esteem issues, bullying, and depression and as a result, family support is crucial in their successful development. These adolescent characteristics are evident in Jon Krakauer's book Into the Wild which details a young man's exploration, by challenging the wilderness while fighting with deep family issues and discovering himself. The book explores and highlights various themes that center on the protagonist Chris including, the allure of the wilderness, forgiveness, ultimate freedom, valuing principles over people, the elusiveness of identity, and the father-son relationship. The essay, therefore, purports to examine the concepts of ultimate freedom, forgiveness, and self-identification as portrayed in the book Into the Wild and as witnessed in many adolescents worldwide.
One of the most important themes in the book Into the Wild is that of ultimate freedom which is strongly showcased through the protagonist Chris McCandles. Immediately after completing his studies, Chris left not only his hometown but also his family, friends and all his material possessions. Chris resorted to a journey of independence, free from other people’s rules and authority over him upon realizing that his father was a bigamist and that the rest of his family had kept that a secret from him. Jon Krakauer reiterates about Chris’s personality noting that “he was an extremely intense young man and possessed a streak of stubborn idealism that did not mesh readily with modern existence” (Krakauer, 1997). From the statement and the fact that Chris chose to leave his affluent family and a promising career behind to journey alone into the unknown emphasizes his determination to rid himself of the shackles of dependency, parental and societal control. The protagonist had throughout his life found other people’s rules and authority as being particularly oppressive and considered freedom as the ability to live completely alone, in a world where the only laws to be followed are those of nature. From the book, Krauker states in acknowledgment of ultimate freedom and independence “Don’t settle down and sit in one place. Move around, be nomadic, make each day a new horizon” (Krakauer, 1997).
Chris’s adventurous journey that eventually saw him venture into the Alaskan wilderness is typical to the sole-searching initiatives that many adolescents and young people of his age engage in search of ultimate freedom and independence. According to Wendy Willits “adolescence in the American society is often taken as a time of transition when the individual is simply not a child, either biologically or socially, yet he or she is not accorded full adult status” (Willits, 1986). The statement puts into perspective the reasons behind the continued parent-youth conflict and the persistent efforts of many adolescents to emancipate themselves. Adolescents desire to have the freedom to make their own choices and live by their own rules much to the dislike of their parents who still see them as children in need of their constant guidance and supervision. Wendy Willits’s article further shares that, “with the onset of adolescence, around ages 9 to 13, young people enter the age of consent where they understand that command is up to their parents, but they are free to choose whether to comply or not” (Willits, 1986).
The other theme that cuts across the adolescent stage and is a crucial aspect in the book Into the Wild is that of self-identification. Jon Krakauer in the book gives the implication that people tend to be pushed over the edge because of the materialistic society that enables them to live false and pretentious lives. Parents tend to “protect” their children by feeding them lies about the reality of the situations in their lives and that was the case when Chris eventually found out about his father’s other family. These lies usually push people to doubt not only themselves but their entire existence and the people around them. According to Lynn White article and research “adolescents who perceive that there was no parental favoritism and were kept in the open about sensitive family issues tended to have the higher physical appearance and identi...