Chris McCandless was a peculiar young man who explored the wilderness of Alaska. Many people would consider him courageous as he died doing what he loved, on the other hand some feel he was foolish and unprepared. Inspired by literature and seeking escape from his rocky relationship with his family, Chris wanted to live off the land in the cold Alaskan winter. Jon Krakauer explores what led to McCandless’s death and explains the actions that led him into the wild. In my opinion, Chris seemed more foolish than courageous, since he was escaping his problems back home and was highly unprepared for what he was tackling. One of Chris’s main reasons for living off the land was his parents. His father had another family with a different woman,
Jon Krakauer's Into The WIld glorifies the journey of a young man, Chris McCandless. In efforts to make his life better by living in solitude, McCandless traveled all across America for two years exploring all different places to find a challenging, yet hospitable, place for him to leave. Chris took this step in his life to escape family issues and harassment and successfully lived for two years as Alex McCandless traveling through the West, South, and making his way to the Alaskan wilderness where he unfortunately faced his downfall. In August of 1992 on the Alaskan Stampede trail, Chris died of starvation, and Krakauer tracked his footsteps and journey after three years to understand Chris as person and why he made the decisions he made.
Chris was seeking anything but society in his journey to the wild. He was trying to live on his own
this is an example on how Chris’s life changes when he leaves his house to
Many criticizers of Chris McCandless believe that he was so naive and ill-prepared for his adventure to Alaska that it was what ended up costing him his life in the end. Some would disagree with that opinion and say he was courageous and admired that he followed his dreams and ambitions. In the author’s note of “Into The Wild” Jon Krakauer states, “Some readers admired the boy immensely for his courage and noble ideals; others fulminated that he was a reckless idiot, a wacko, a narcissist who perished out of arrogance and stupidity” (Authors Note). In my opinion, McCandless was prepared for this adventure, knew what risks he was going to face, and therefore wasn’t naive about his journey.
McCandless set off into the Alaskan depths to test himself, to find himself, and to free himself from society’s values. Because of Chris’s radical ideas and his purpose in life to push him into the unexplored, he believed that life is not about the materialistic
Although numerous may argue that McCandless’s family problems served as primary motivation for his journey, there is more evidence showing that it was the literature he read while he was in college. Various events led Chris McCandless up to the start of his journey into the wilderness, but it was literature that served as the primary reason. That being unusual, McCandless lived according to “I felt in myself a superabundance of energy which found no outlet in our quiet life” (Krakauer 15). McCandless wanted to go out and explore for himself a life in which he got a glimpse of in the literature he read.
Living in the wild is not in any sense an easy tasked. Though Christopher Johnson McCandless lasted 113 days alone in the Alaskan Wilderness. The origins of the motivation behind this great expedition appear a little shaky, but to Chris, they were completely justified. Chris died around August 18, 1992, he died quite ironically as he had given “all the money in his college fund to OXFAM America, a charity dedicated to fighting hunger.” (20), yet he himself died of starvation.
In this unit, my classmates and I read Into the Wild and discussed on the few reasons why Chris McCandless may have gone to Alaska. I have developed an understanding on why he may have gone into the wild and I believe that the reason is because of his family situation. McCandless never had a trustworthy family and with his father hiding secrets behind their back made the situation worse. Going into the wild was his only escape from the disgrace of the world. Despite his reference to Tolstoy, Emerson, Thoreau, and London, it is only reasonable to believe that the actions he took for going into the wild was because of his personal life with his family issues.
Over the course of our lives we come and go through many rough obstacles which ultimately define what kind of person we will be for the rest of our life. While reading Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer many mixed emotions ran through my mind, the main one; what was Chris McCandles? After reading in depth about his family background and amazing adventures I found my answer. Chris McCandles is a dreamer, he is rebellious, and lastly, brave. Dreams are meant to be conquered no matter how impossible they might seem.
First sentence…..hook? In the novel Into the Wild author Jon Krakauer reveals that Chris McCandless is a hero for abandoning his family and society to run off into the wilderness to sacrifice himself in order to find his true self, his primordial being. Krakauer develops this revelation by presenting a balanced perspective by introducing his family history considering his wealthy upbringing, his mistakes of improvising his time in the wild, and his accomplishments of feeling self-worthy, however, he indulges the reader’s right to make up his or her own mind about Chris McCandless even though Jon Krakauer is biased. ”This is a story of a young man, of his energy, his idealism, and the arrogance that ultimately kills him.
“Into The Wild” by Jon Krakauer is the story of Chris McCandless’s life and journey. In 1992, this young man, Chris, from an average family in the East Coast decided to cut off contact with his family and give up all his possessions so that he could hitchhike into the Alaskan bush. A main reason many believe Chris went into the wilderness was because he was in search of his identity. From reading this book I have come up with my own opinion of what type of person he was. The conclusion I have reached about Chris is that he was a distant and ill-prepared person who had a very strong will.
Some people would use the word reckless and arrogant to describe Chris McCandless. This is what I think of Chris McCandless, that he was courageous and adventurous. Why some people would think that Chris McCandless was reckless and arrogant is because they look at him as if he just ran into the wild not knowing anything. This is just not a fair way to judge him. He was actually very intelligent he graduated at the top of his class at Emory university.
The Alaskan Bush is one of the hardest places to survive without any assistance, supplies, skills, and little food. Jon Krakauer explains in his biography, Into The Wild, how Christopher McCandless ventured into the Alaskan Bush and ultimately perished due to lack of preparation and hubris. McCandless was an intelligent young man who made a few mistakes but overall Krakauer believed that McCandless was not an ignorant adrenalin junkie who had no respect for the land. Krakauer chose to write this biography because he too had the strong desire to discover and explore as he also ventured into the Alaskan Bush when he was a young man, but he survived unlike McCandless. Krakauer’s argument was convincing because he gives credible evidence that McCandless was not foolish like many critics say he was.
The government structure to most show a positive and secure appeal to people who abide by it. What about the people who don’t abide by it and think that way? Chris McCandless is a good example to this, he is a solid character in the book “Into the Wild”. McCandless shows no attachment to the government and actually despises the way that it works. Chris also believes people have to achieve their own ultimate freedom as he shows oppressive actions towards the government as he lives his life hitchhiking, testing to the IRS, changing his name, and removing his tracks.
Christopher McCandless or Alexander Supertramp should be admired for his courage and noble idea to drop everything and go into the wild, with nothing but a backpack and in it was a book of Tolstoy, a book about native plants and berries, a .22 rifle with 400 rounds of ammunition, a writing implement, a journal, a camera, a 10 pound bag of rice, a small cooking utensil, matches, a knife, and some fishing twine and a hook, and the few clothes he had on his back. Chris was trying to find himself by leaving everything behind, yes Chris might have been a little reckless,but you have to be a little reckless to go into the wild and hitchhike around the world. This quote support that 's Chris was just living and trying to find himself was, “... McCandless pitched his tent in the puny shade of a tamarick and basked in his newfound freedom. (Krakauer 27)” this is saying that McCandless was happy to finally be by himself and start life in the