All 3 Uses of
enigma
in
Into the Wild
- I do so in the hope that my experiences will throw some oblique light on the enigma of Chris McCandless.†
p. ii.6 *
- When they flew away, they took McCandless's remains, a camera with five rolls of exposed film, the SOS note, and a diary, written across the last two pages of a field guide to edible plants, that recorded the young man's final weeks in 113 terse, enigmatic entries.†
p. 13.9enigmatic = mysterious and seeming unexplainable
- In 1973, Bill posted an enigmatic letter alluding vaguely to plans for an extended trip and then disappeared without a trace; to this day nobody knows what became of him.†
p. 77.3
Definitions:
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(1)
(enigma) something mysterious that seems unexplainable
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
The word may also be seen in the proper noun, Enigma Machine. It refers to an encryption device used by Nazi Germany during the second world war. Britain eventually learned to unencrypt messages sent with the machine, but kept that ability a secret.