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Into The Wild Rhetorical Analysis

Decent Essays

“McCandless didn’t conform particularly well to the bush casualty stereotype.” Jon Krakauer, in his book Into The Wild, argues that McCandless was a unique personality who yearned for adventure. He supports his claim by the usage of epigraphs, interviews with McCandless’s acquaintances, and various maps that are indicative of where the protagonist travelled. Krakauer's purpose is to use an argumentative structure in order to convince the audience that McCandless was more complex than previously known. He uses a nostalgic and commanding tone in order to emotionally appeal to an audience who may have originally had different opinions on McCandless. In Into The Wild, Krakauer employs techniques of ethos and speaker in order to thoroughly convey …show more content…

When one delves more deeply into the writing of Krakauer it is obvious that there are many literary aspects driving his work. The author uses ethical appeal, which is supported by colloquial language when referring to his protagonist. Not only does Krakauer strive to tell a both fascinating and intriguing story in Into The Wild, but he also looks to gain the credibility of the audience. Before the publishing of this book in 1996, the most intimate writing on McCandless was a 9,000 word essay by Krakauer titled Death of an Innocent. Though this gave way to significant circulation of information on McCandless, and his endured circumstance, the article published in Outside magazine was not nearly as elaborate as his published book. Krakauer used Into The Wild as a stepping point for himself, but also as a mechanism for him to connect to an audience. Throughout the book, Krakauer refers to McCandless as “Chris”, yielding people to feel more in touch with the storyline and it’s characters. Though pathos infused in Krakauer’s writing, he is continually attempting to win over the audience ethically in his book. The author uses McCandless’s first name to get his audience to religiously believe his story, but also his take on what had occurred leading up to 1992. Krakauer says, “Many aspects of Chris’s personality

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