Thursday, March 4, 2010
Post-Krakauer: More or Less Credible?
After Krakauer tells his story relating to that of McCandless, I really appreciated McCandless' story more than before. However, if I were to look at Krakauer's recount critically, I would say that because of this, it reduced the credibility of his recount of McCandless. Don't get me wrong, I liked the fact that he added it and I thought it greatly increased the effect of pathos on the reader. However, because McCandless is dead and there is no way to prove that Krakauer's story is exactly like his, it makes the story seem like it's simply Krakauer's skewed idea that somehow McCandless' life is exactly like his own; it is plausible, but unlikely. Although in theory it reduced his credibility and Krakauer's story is undoubtedly biased, I believe it is a valid explanation and all the material adds up, at least through my reading of Into the Wild.
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I really liked your point of view because I never thought about it that way. I thought it made it more credible because Krakauer could back up these generalizations he had made, BUT it's like you said, it could be less credible for the same reason! Krakauer is merely backing up his own opinion, and could, therefore be seen as just more generalizations. I did not take the time to see just how biased the information being present was because I was looking at it as fact, the one thing Rachel told us not to do haha. I like that you suggested that Chris's who story may be being manipulated to fit Krakauer's life, kind of like what we are doing with this next essay, like Krakauer is only giving us the information that relates to him. I just never thought of it this way, so great job on making me think backwards!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree. It's hard to tell what is fact and fiction considering the only one we are basing our judgments off of is Krakauer. I love the element that his recount added to the story, and it really marked a bit of a turning point in my opinion. Not so much that I love what Chris did or the choices he made, but I feel like I better understand him. And now I see why Krakauer has become so involved in the story. Before, I was wondering why exactly he cared so much, but now it is clear. As an author, he gets to pick and choose exactly what he wants to say which makes it difficult to put complete faith in what he is saying, but I'm really enjoying it. It also helps with our next essay like Kayleigh said, now I just wish I was that good...haha
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