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The main question that pops into mind is, “how could such a smart kid make such a dumb mistake? ” This intrigue keeps the reader immersed in the book, and therefore continues to hold their attention. Ex. 2: Later on in the novel, around the middle of chapter eleven, Krause describes Mishandles in more depth. He talks about his social life, what he was like as a young boy, and what he was like when he grew. There is another good example of Krause using Uncleanness’s intelligence to appeal to logos, and that is when he quotes one of Chrism’s high school running teammates, Eric Hathaway.
Hathaway remembers, “Chris brought home good grades. He didn’t get into trouble, he was a high achiever, he did what he was supposed to do” (Krause 114). Again, Krause sets up a good image of how smart Chris was. Readers also learn that he was diligent and hardworking, and they can understand how it would tie into Chrism’s persistence in the Alaskan wild. *Strategy 2: talks about when Mishandles did illogical things, to interest readers. Ex. 1: In the beginning of the novel, when Krause talks about Uncleanness’s journey into the Mojave Desert, he mentions that Chris did something really ridiculous.
Krause recounts his actions in this way: “in a gesture that would have done both Tolstoy and Thoreau proud, he arranged all his paper currency… And put a match to it. One hundred twenty-three dollars in legal tender was promptly reduced to ash and smoke” (Krause 29). Krause describes Chrism’s donation of his college fund to charity a couple of pages later in the book. Yet, when one reaches that page, they have to wonder why Chris didn’t just keep his money with him, so he could donate it later, or at least buy some supplies.
This leads to more curiosity about Uncleanness’s common sense, which in turn entices he readers further onward. Ex. 2: Near the end of the book, when Krause returns to the subject of Uncleanness’s journey into the Alaskan wild, he talks about the meager amount of food Mishandles carried, and alludes to Chrism’s ignorance. He says about Mishandles, “he’d subsisted for more than a month beside the Gulf of California on five pounds of rice and a bounty of fish caught with a cheap rod and reel,… Made him confident he could harvest enough food for an extended stay in the Alaskan wilderness too” (Krause 162).
Any person who reads this automatically questions Chrism’s common sense, because they ender how he could possibly think California is anything like Alaska. Not only that, but the fact that Chris purposely neglected to pack good supplies makes people find him arrogant, and, in young people’s slang, “a douche-bag. ” Appeals to Ethos *Strategy 1: Describing the moral values of Chris Mishandles Ex. 1: In the middle of the book, in chapter eleven, Krause includes responses from people who knew Chris in college and high school.
One of his female running teammates, Kuris Maxim Giggler, recounts how determined Mishandles always was about righting social injustices. Proof of this is found in his senior ear of high school. Krause confirms, “Mishandles took life’s inequities to heart. During his senior year at Woods, he became obsessed with racial oppression in South Africa” (Krause 1 13). Krause may have included only this event and a few others like it throughout the novel, but it leaves no doubt in the reader’s mind that Mishandles hated injustice. This “wows” the reader, making them see just how high Chrism’s morals were.
One could call it a subtle attempt by Krause to eke out sympathy for Mishandles from the readers. Ex. 2: In the fourth chapter of the novel, “Detrimental Wash,” Krause describes Chris n his two month journey in the Western part of the great United States. He also mentions how Uncleanness’s parents, worried sick, hired a private detective. The investigator began an extensive search, and finally found information in December, ‘When he learned from an inspection of tax records that Chris had given away his college fund to SOFAS” (Krause 31). The fact that Chris donated his college fund to charity also casts him in a good, moral light.
However, the ironic thing is that SOFAS is an organization dedicated to feeding starving people, and that Chris Mishandles died of starvation. Either way, this appeal to those also makes people view Chris in a better light, perhaps to make them feel like he was a great person. *Strategy 2: Describing the moral flaws of Chris Mishandles Ex. 1: Krause says in the author’s note at the beginning of the novel that he will leave it to the readers to form their own opinions about Mishandles, so it only seems natural that he would include negative points about the boy’s morals as well.
Although he had a rigorous moral code, he made the strangest exceptions. Krause says, “he was also able to forgive, or overlook, the shortcomings of his literary heroes: Jack London was a notorious drunk; Tolstoy… .NET on to father at least thirteen children, some of whom were conceived at the same time the censorious count was thundering in print against the evils of sex” (Krause 122). When readers see this little note, they see how strange Chrism’s moral code was. He wouldn’t excuse his father for living a lie, and yet, he praised and adored hypocritical men who did even worse things than his father.
This appeals to people’s ethics because it makes them think about their own morals, not just Chrism’s. Ex. 2: Krause discusses Uncleanness’s relationship with his family several times during the book. According to the family and the people who knew Mishandles, he was mainly only ever close with his younger sister, Caring. Caring remembers this about her brother, “He was always really nice to me, and extremely protective. He’d hold my hand when we walked down the street. When he was in junior high and I was still in grade school… He’d hang out at his friend Brian Pastorate’s house so we could walk home together” (Krause 110).
This may be just a simple phrase, but it drastically appeals to a reader’s ethic views as well. One cannot help but wonder why Chris, who apparently loved his younger sister and protected her, could possibly leave without saying a word to her. He got angry about his father’s lies, but he somehow doesn’t think what he’s doing is the same. It is as if he trusts other people more than his family and the sister he loves. Appeals to Pathos *Strategy 1: Arousing admiration of Mishandles Ex. 1: If one reads the novel Into the Wild by Jon Krause, it is almost impossible to miss the biased way Krause writes about the exploits of Chris Mishandles.
He makes Chris sound like this really great guy with a thirst for adventure, which draws readers in. N example of this is Squeaker’s comparison between himself and Mishandles in the chapter titled, “The Sistine Ice Cap. ” Krause writes, “l couldn’t resist stealing up to the edge of doom and peering over the brink. The hint of what was concealed in those shadows terrified me, but caught sight of something in the glimpse, some forbidden and elemental riddle that was no less compelling than… In my case-??and, I believe, in the case of Chris Mishandles-??that was a very different thing from wanting to die” (Krause 156).
This description makes the readers picture a great visionary in the eyes of society, someone who was willing to take risks and was unbound by earthly desires. It makes them admire Uncleanness’s bravery as well, which is, of course, evoking emotion. Ex. 2: Krause focuses on many admirable things Mishandles does, but one important one, helping the homeless and destitute, really stands out. Krause comments, “Mishandles would wander the seedier quarters of Washington, chatting with prostitutes and homeless people, buying them meals, earnestly suggesting ways they might improve their lives” (Krause 113).
This really tugs at people’s hearts, making them look up to Chris. Many see these examples of kindness and wish they could be more like Mishandles. In all effect, this puts Chris at a higher standard with other people. *Strategy 2: Focusing on how depressed everybody was when they learned Chris was dead. Ex. 1: Of course, the main example of this would be when Caring Mishandles learns that her beloved brother, Chris, was found dead. According to Squeaker’s information on her reaction, “Carbine’s eyes blurred, and she felt the onset of tunnel vision. Involuntarily, she started shaking her head back and forth, back and forth…
Then she began to scream… Caring curled up on the couch in a fetal position, wailing without pause… She remained hysterical for the next five hours” (Krause 130). This really makes readers angry at Chris Mishandles. They think he was a jerk for leaving his family, and they further fume about how he could have saved everyone so much pain if only he’d been prepared and not so arrogant about being able to survive. Ex. 2: Another extremely depressing example of appealing to pathos is when Krause describes the reaction of Ronald Franz, a man who grew extremely close to and fond of Chris when he helped him out in California.