The Quest for Identity and Meaning of Liu and McCandless

His gear seemed exceedingly negligible for the harsh conditions of the interior?Alex's cheap leather hiking boots were neither seal off nor well insulated," (Krakauer, p. 5). Four months after his journey began, McCandless was discovered by a hunter in an aband unmatchabled bus, dead of starving and weighing only sixty-five pounds.

Krakauer attempts to trace the journey of McCandless non only to discover the answer to what happened on his journey moreover also to figure out what motivated the new(a) slice to attempt such a reckless and ill-prepared journey into the wild. using interviews, journal excerpts, photographs, and postcards McCandless sent to those who provided him food or shelter along his journey, Krakauer is unable to provide a clear answer as to what happened to McCandless. However, he does provide us with an account of how a young college graduate attempted to live off of only the globe and its resources of berries, other edibles, and small game. While some view McCandless' actions as selfish, reckless, nanve, and pretentious, others view him as a selectionist who immersed himself in nature in the vein of Thoreau and others. McCandless was personally aware of the risk he was taking, in spite of other's impressions of him. As he writes to one individual, "It might be a very long

At heart, McCandless' rehearsal reads like a quest for personal meaning and identity, as much as a harrowing tale of survival in the harsh wilds of Alaska. McCandless rejected the materialism of modern party and undertook his journey to find meaning and countersink identity in nature. Whether or not McCandless ever experienced such a raw transcendence in nature is unknown, but Krakauer has an perspicuous admiration for this young gentleman's gentleman who was reckless and nanve on one hand but noble and an idealist on the other. Krakauer likens McCandless' trek into the wild to his own adventurous youth, though he admits McCandless brought a significant amount of pain to the family he left behind. At various times, people tried to supply McCandless with better gear, or food, or shelter, which he turned down. As Krakauer (p.

7) writes, when one man offered Alex a watch, Alex replied, "I don't want to know what time it is. I don't want to know what day it is or where I am. none of that matters." Even so, the story demonstrates one man's attempt to define a lifestyle and find meaning in his life that came from something outdoor(a) materialistic and civilized contemporary society. However, many believe that McCandless had a death wish and some of his decisions were fool-hardy, even for someone voluntary to survive off the land without aid.

In The Accidental Asiatic, Eric Liu provides an autobiographical account of his own journey to find meaning and define identity apart from the category of race and ethnicity so ofttimes used to define or label individuals in contemporary society. He recounts his school days and his efforts to be something other than "Asian" to his classmates. Liu tried to become skilled at a cast of things, from wrestling and music to winning prizes for his skills at science and alter the school newspaper, in order for him to blend into the mainly bloodless student body. In so doing, he admits that he likely came off as just one more Asian "overachiever," labeled a
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