Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Chris McCandless KO
After experiencing my first few weeks here, I've decided to formulate a plan resulting in my expulsion. The dread of returning to a school day to day formulating itself off of strict codes and time schedules is too much. School begins the same everyday : a vision of seemingly cloned students confined by extensive and explicit rules limiting their unique expression. Each class is confined by similar strict rules which take hold of the students, limiting a students range of learning. True education is not found reading textbooks, it is found through experiences. Why confine to the stresses of high school and college when one could ease him or herself into the wilderness learning more by experiencing natural information and beauty? However, I do not blame these people for what they experience everyday. They have either adapted by choice or have been forced to adapt. I cannot adapt. I was forced here by my parents in order to gain what they believe is a excellent education. They want me to focus strictly on my studies in order to get my Kingswood Oxford Diploma. I can not possibly spend years of my life all for the honor of receiving a piece of paper. As I began, it is inevitable that I will have left here by the next week.
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Great post, I like the anger he shows towards the school. There is one main suggestion I have about his character, which is that I don't think he would excuse the students and say that he doesn't blame them. In the book, he shows contempt for anything short of absolute denunciation of the norm. If it were mine, I wouldn't have him so accepting. I view his character as a very unforgiving one; he even went so far as to cut all ties with his family because he held them to such a high moral standard. On the whole, good piece. It is mostly accurate to his character except for that one tweak.
ReplyDeleteHi Alex,
ReplyDeleteAs Phoebe notes, you do a good job revealing Chris' disdain for the conformity KO breeds. You show that he values experiential learning over classroom learning. He says that real learning doesn't happen from reading textbooks, but remember that Chris was a reader who simply valued learning on his own terms. Yes, he did stick mostly to reading fiction and guidebooks on his travels, but he does place value in books. Try to go into even greater detail revealing what Chris values in life and why KO doesn't provide that.