PL HURRRY ITS TIMEE We do talk about Christopher McCandless in Alaska. We talk about him a lot. We can’t help ourselves. Mostly the discussion is in response to the book, and mostly it is not favorable because of the way McCandless stars as a romantic hero. Krakauer described McCandless as searching for something beyond his privileged but disappointing middle-class existence. “It would be easy to stereotype Christopher McCandless as another boy who felt too much, a loopy young man who read too many books and lacked even a modicum of common sense,” Krakauer wrote. “But the stereotype isn’t a good fit. McCandless wasn’t some feckless slacker, adrift and confused, racked by existential despair. To the contrary: His life hummed with meaning and purpose. But the meaning he wrested from existence lay beyond the comfortable path: McCandless distrusted the value of things that came easily. He demanded much of himself—more, in the end, than he could deliver.”

What effect do the first three sentences of this paragraph have?
A.
They provide evidence that McCandless is a sad but inevitable casualty of his misguided ideals.
B.
They set a mood of obsession and excitement.
C.
They establish the “voice” of the Alaskan community that has been annoyed by all of the publicity surrounding Chris McCandless.
D.
They support the idea that Chris McCandless has become somewhat of a hero figure for Alaskans.
E.
They establish a tone of disgust and resentment for the paragraph.