Analysis Of Chris Mccandless In Into The Wild, By Jon Krakauer

“If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.” ―Maya Angelou. Jon Krakauer’s true story titled Into the Wild is about a man who decides to throw away his old life and escape the rules of conventional society. Twenty-two-year-old Chris McCandless came from a well-to-do family in Virginia and, without warning, abandons everything. He changes his name, loses contact with his family, gives away his car and all his money, and begins a two-year long journey hitchhiking to Alaska where he eventually dies of starvation. Although it may seem as though Chris McCandless is immature or reckless, he is actually rather admirable for his ideals because they allow him to live a life he is happy with. First, McCandless

One example of this is how McCandless is always shown as underweight and hungry. Jan Burres says, “He was a nice kid. … And he was big-time hungry. Hungry, hungry, hungry” (Krakauer 30). This is just one of the many people who comment on McCandless’s small weight. This shows that McCandless was constantly hungry, but he still did not decide to go home. He enjoyed living this way. Also, he encountered many unpleasant events in the wild such as “a crown [falling] off one of his molars” (Krakauer 164) and “fly and mosquito hordes” (Krakauer 166). These events were months before his death, so he could have decided to go home before it was too late, but he does not. He chooses to stay in the wild despite the hardships because that is what makes him

If he were living normally, he would most likely become bored and depressed. In a letter to his brother, McCandless writes, “I know that I could not bear the routine and humdrum of the life that you are forced to lead. I don’t think I could ever settle down. I have known too much of the depths of live already, and I would prefer anything to an anticlimax” (Krakauer 87). This means that McCandless would rather live an exciting life and would hate to live a normal one. In addition, in a journal entry, McCandless writes, “It is the experiences, the memories, the great triumphant joy of living to the fullest extent in which real meaning is found. God it’s great to be alive! Thank you. Thank you” (Krakauer 37). This excerpt shows that McCandless sincerely is at peace with himself and the world because of where his ideals have taken him. For this, McCandless should be admired for his views for allowing him to live his best life.
In conclusion, McCandless is not a reckless individual who perishes due to arrogance. Instead, he is admirable because his ideals have allowed him to live with true happiness. He waits long years and even breaks his values temporarily in order to achieve his goals. He also endures hunger, exhaustion, and nature’s most challenging hardships to attain his happiness. Chris McCandless does what most people in normal society are too afraid to do. He does everything possible, including giving