Into the Wild -- Blog 12

I am detecting a bit of theme here. Though certainly a different brand of it, Into the Wild is still a coming-of-age novel, at least I think so. While the other novels we have talked about do not necessarily end or begin with the death of the main character, Into the Wild is a story about the young man growing up, up until he dies that is. Christopher McCandless, also known as Alexander Supertramp or Alex McCandless, fled his home in an old Datsun to escape the troubles of his family. One of the main differences between Into the Wild and the other coming-of-age novels that we have discussed in this class is the ending. Normally, a coming-of-age novel ends with the main character learning some sort of lesson and matured because of it. However, in Into the Wild, the main character dies before the beginning of the story, and the lesson is learned by the narrator. The other major difference between this story and the other coming-of-age stories—the other stories in general—is the use of the narrator as a character and his interaction with Christopher/Alex’s story. This unique interaction between the reader, the narrator, and the story provides an opportunity for teachers and students to discuss the different ways in which a story can be told: first-, second-, third-person, and to discuss how those ways affect the story itself.

I am not certain that I would use this as a whole class text in my classroom, except in that for some school districts it is a required text, simply because I am not sure where I would take the lesson, or what I would with the text, aside from the above notation. That being said, I would absolutely recommend this text to any of my students looking for something to read for an individual book report or to a reading circle. 

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