McCandless Project

For my project I decided that an interesting thing to do would be to sit at a different table a lunch for a day.  I did this experiment on Thursday in the cafeteria of my school.  I decided to sit with some kids that I felt like at first site I would have absolutely nothing in common with them.  The kids at the table were whispering to each other and being pretty awkward because they had no idea who I was.  I can assume that their whispers were about me and they were along the lines of, "who is that kid?" or, "why is he sitting here?"  During the experiment I felt pretty awkward and I felt like I did not really fit in with the kids I was sitting with.  Although I did feel like I was kind of starting over and could do what I wanted to, I felt as if I needed to blend in and impress the people I was sitting with although I did not even know them.  I was not surprised at all by the peoples reaction to me sitting at their table, they did exactly what I expected.  I expected their not to be much talking and a little bit of just people looking around avoiding eye contact, and thats what ended up happening only a few conversations at the table and a lot of awkward watching and waiting on either me to leave or other people to start a conversation.  I was kind of surprised by my reaction mainly because I thought I would go and blend right in at that table and kind of be someone to start the conversations but I was the opposite I just sat there and ate my food.  I was honestly pretty happy lunch was over because it really was an awkward experience.

Symbolism

1.  "Plastic People" is a symbolic way of saying that people follow the way everyone tells them to and they are basically fake, and do not act how the are meant to act.  They do exactly what others tell them and they have none of their own opinions.

2.  In the story the symbol "plastic people" is used directly and indirectly multiple times.  It occurs many times through Chris McCandless being frustrated with why he must follow the rules and expectations others set for him and why others do not think about it the same way he does.  For example when he leaves, his main reason to leave is because he wants to go on adventures to find his true self, and to prove to himself he is not just one of those plastic people just like everyone else he knows.

3.  Some evidence of this comes multiple times in chapter five.  First it says,"...contempt for the bourgeois trappings of mainstream america"(Krakauer 39).  This quote is saying that majority of the towns and cites in the United States are the same old everyone has a job and a family and works to get money to support their family and all of the typical things in life.  The idea of plastic people is shown again in chapter 1 when Gallien and Chris are getting to know each other.  The quote says,"Alaska has long been a magnet for dreamers and misfits, people who think the unsullied enormity of the Last Frontier will patch all the holes in their lives"(Krakauer 4)  This relates to the idea of Plastic People in the book Into The Wild, because its about people trying to go from being a plastic person themselves to then finding there inner selves and patching all the holes in their lives and finding their true personality. 

Winning isn't everything but making an effort to win is.

1.  I chose this quote because I thought it connected to me since a I love sports and I typically don't mind losing as long as I know I tried.  I am not saying I don't enjoy winning, I just don't feel as bad about losing if I tried my hardest.  Not only does the quote,"Winning isn't everything but making an effort to win is" connect to sports but I can also relate it to being in class.  All though I may not understand something, if I am trying as hard as I can to solve the problem I am somewhat satisfied.

2.  This quote connects to me because I tried to do as well as I can in everything I do from athletics to education.  For example, say my soccer team is being blown out four to zero, I still try as hard as I can all the way through until I hear the final whistle.  In the end I will be happy to say that the team we played against was just better than us.

3.  If I lived by the idea of, "Winning isn't everything but making an effort to win is" I think I would probably be the most stressed out person in the world.  Because I would feel as if I have to be perfect in everything I do and thats not possible for anyone to ever do.