Outside Reading: Into the Wild

        I was rather perturbed reading Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild, especially when it dawned on me how the book focuses on true events and the emotions and struggles of a real person trying to reconcile his role in the world.  While not religious in nature, the book brings to raw emotions and struggle which the pilgrim encounters on their journey for understanding and truth.  In the case of McCandless, his tragic death sheds light on how this sacred journey compromises the individual's necessary participation in society.  I think it also seeks to criticize McCandless's transcendentalist outlook as his major foil.

        While I think this book does capture the pitfalls in thinking when embarking on sacred journey, I do not believe it maligns the intentions and good of pilgrimage or sacred journey.  Rather, it warns interested participants to reflect on the mission of their journey and to ensure full understanding of what may follow.

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