Jon Krakauer’s Use of Rhetorical Devices in Into the Wild

Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, describes the adventure of Christopher McCandless, a young man that ventured into the wilderness of Alaska hoping to find himself and the meaning of life. He undergoes his dangerous journey because he was persuade by of writers like Henry D. Thoreau, who believe it is was best to get farther away from the mainstreams of life. McCandless’ wild adventure was supposed to lead him towards personal growth but instead resulted in his death caused by his unpreparedness towards the atrocity nature. Many people were puzzled on why the young man decided to go on such an expedition without being properly prepared. His death has led to a controversy between whether he should be idolized for having the courage to follow†¦show more content†¦At the end of the chapter, McCandless tells the man to try living his life as simple as possible in order to find happiness. Hinting that McCandless could have felt a need to live a plain life in order to be content. The last device that Krakauer uses is ethos. Ethos is an ethical or credible appeal of persuasion for the reader. Krakauer establishes that he is fit to interpret McCandless’ actions because he can relate it to McCandless himself, providing us with enough information to understand McCandless’ actions. By using ethos, the author demonstrates that he is fully aware and is qualifies to write about and make comparisons with Chris McCandless and himself. Meanwhile, he uses these strategies to show that McCandless was well qualified and, intelligent enough to make his own decisions regarding Alaska. The main reason why Krakauer wrote this book was because he felt a connection to McCandless. â€Å"As a youth, [Krakauer was] told, [he] was willful, self-absorbed, intermittently reckless, moody. [He] disappointed [his] father†¦. Like McCandless, figures of male authority aroused in [him]†¦confusing medley of corked fury and hunger to please. If something captured [his] undisciplined imagination, [he] pursued it with a zeal bordering on obsession, and from the age of seventeen until [his] late twenties that something was mountain climbing† (134). From this way, Krakauer knows McCandless’