Abstract: This paper analyzes the American non-fiction book —Into the Wild. The first part of the paper will talk about the theme of the book—the meaning of life is to explore it as deeply as possible. We can see from the book that McCandless come from a rich family and he was always the top student through his school life. Yet neither made him happy. As a result, he entered the wilderness to seek for the meanings of life. Wilderness is often regarded as an isolated, deserted place. However, crowded city cannot represent the sense of fulfillment and gratification, either. People feel lonely too when they are occupied by odd work, stuck in boring parties, surrounded by partners who they don’t love. Actually, people find their life meaningful only when they are doing things that they like. The second part of the paper will analyze the meanings of wilderness for several significant characters in the book, including McCandless and his father, Everett Ruess, and Jon Krauer. McCandless’ father had an impact on McCandless’ love for nature. As a marginal person who had a complex and contradictory character, McCandless had to live by himself to think deeply, and without doubt, the wilderness was the perfect place for recovery. Everett Ruess is a young man who had a short life but lived truly. There are a lot of similarities between McCandless and him. Jon Krauer, the author of this book, told his own experience as a maintainer when he was young to help people to understand the meanings of wilderness for people like McCandless and him. In addition, I will talk about the meanings of wilderness for me – to make me become braver and live happily -- in this paper, including the reason why I went to Alaska and what the wilderness of Alaska has brought to me.

Key Words:  wilderness, meanings of life, nature