The inspiration another influence can have on someone’s life is immeasurable and intense; changing whole life paths. This phenomenon is exemplified by Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. In this novel, the main character, Chris McCandless assumes a new identity, hitchhikes to Alaska, and eventually succumbs as starvation claims his life in the Alaskan bush. This morbid ending does not stop many young people from connecting to his charismatic ideas and following in Chris’s footsteps. The legacy that Chris left on the minds of America is a more lasting one than he could have ever imagined. Some people who read Chris’s story as adolescents have minds so malleable and impressionable that they often believe everything they are told is the truth. Twenty-four-year-old Christopher McCandless was the exception. Chris was a strong- willed adventurer who disappeared after graduating college to go on …show more content…
McCandless was a huge advocate for valuing the relationships he had with people. “Chris would talk to me [childhood friend Gillmer] about that kind of thing… He was always questioning stuff in the same way… He was a really good guy” (Krakauer 113). Chris’s knack for making friends left a trail of affected people in his wake on his journey into the wild. This young man is also an example of how many people need to fall in love with nature again. He was so captivated by scenic views, terrain, and wildlife and that love undoubtedly struck a chord in any across the population. Many mountaineers say that the happiest moments in their lives are when they are standing at the top of a mountain that had never been climbed. Christopher McCandless had countless “top of the mountain moments” and thanks to him a whole generation longs for meaningful relationships not just with people but also with beautiful