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Chris Mccandless Being Selfless Essay

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Nina Hagen once stated, “Do some selfless service for people who are in need. Consider the whole picture, not just our little selves” (“Selfless Quotes”). To be selfless, a person must put others needs and well-being before their own. Nina stated just that. Chris McCandless frequently did exactly that. The majority of people that hear or read the story of McCandless overlook the fact that Chris could be, in fact, selfless even when it didn’t benefit him. Even when he must go without. Chris McCandless wanted to have an adventure and learn what it’s like to be away from the conforming ways of society. He wanted to escape the evils of his life and the world. He never meant to hurt anyone with his actions; even though his father suggested this. “How is it … that a kid with some much compassion could cause his parents so much pain?” (Krakauer 104). Chris wanted to escape his abusive father and the poison of his life at home. No one can truly be at fault for wanting to find freedom in a way that they feel and know is best. McCandless was forced to make one of the hardest decisions of his life to save himself. He chose to leave his …show more content…

Burris even gave McCandless supplies which included: some knifes, “long underwear and other warm clothing she thought he’d need in Alaska” (Krakauer 46). Even getting him to accept this was a troublesome battle. Some readers may interpret this as Chris being extraordinarily selfish and inconsiderate, however, others might see his reaction as a side effect of the defenses he has constructed to safeguard his heart. Chris refused help even when it would most definitely benefit

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Despite Krakauer 's honorable attempts to portray Chris as someone who is relatable and should be pitied, Chris is portrayed as careless and inconsiderate. Krakauer 's biased diction end up showing Chris as stupid and egotistical. In the beginning Krakauer starts off make Chris a relatable person however after the first few pages Krakauer turns Chris into a superficial rich entitled person who thought he was able to do anything without repercussion. There are many instances where Krakauer reveals Chris as such. Chris may have been innocent in his ideals but that was his mistake, “For most of the sixteen-week ordeal…McCandless more than held his own.

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He made a lot of mistakes based on arrogance. I don’t admire him at all for his courage nor his noble ideas. Really, I think he was just plain crazy,” shows that Shaun believes Chris had no common sense in his doing for leaving society for the wild. I agree with Callarman’s position of thinking “ he had no common sense” and that he was “bright and Ignorant” because Chris thinks he did not have much to offer in his society, ditched all his possessions to take a trip into the Alaskan Wilderness and did not have much common sense or survival skills. Chris McCandless was very courageous for ditching all his possessions to take a trip in the wilderness.

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In Fact Chris never gave up on his goal, as noted on Page 75 in the book Krakauer tells us “Chris cheerfully announced that he had “Recast” his goals and next intended to walk around the world living out of his backpack.” Ever since he had everything handed to him, he always wanted to live somewhere where he could find truth. In all honesty, Chris gave people gifts, in the book it says, “Alex insisted on giving Gallien all he had, and that if he didn’t accept it he would throw it away. ”(Krakauer 3) Chris felt that anything that he got from his past life would just be a distraction and he did not really need it. Lastly getting along with people, never giving up on his goal, and giving people gifts are reasons why being faithful kept Chris McCandless going on with his Journey till it led to his

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He was not only careless with the feelings of others, but also with his well being. He didn’t seem to know what would be awaiting him in the wild because he didn’t bring many supplies or do too much to prepare, which is what set him apart from a typical adventurer. Chris McCandless was an ignorant narcissist, which was made clear through his recklessness. Chris’s narcissism was shown through his inconsideration for how others around him were

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Chris McCandless was found September 6th, 1992 by moose hunters. The pungent smell of his decomposing body led them to find the bus. There was an S.O.S. note explaining Chris’s dire conditions, attached to the front door. After, arriving in Fairbanks, Alaska in 1992, young McCandless lived on the abandoned bus close to Denali National Park. Choosing to live in isolation for 4 months, he survived off small animals, potato seeds, a large bag of rice.

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I think Chris McCandless felt unfufilled in his life of privilege, and wanted to go out and experience life how he wanted to for awhile, and live freely. Chris may even still be alive today, had he been more prepared. Chris McCandless has always been a bit of a rebel. His spiritual awakening, has led him to quit society. He

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Chris McCandless may seem like a typical boy who hated his family and wanted to get away, but in reality he was so much more. He was in a sense, a paradox, because he had such conflicting emotions. He cared deeply for many people and always tried to help anyone he could, yet he was a hurt individual who was somewhat self-destructive. Chris was a transcendentalist who was trying to find peace and truth in the wild, not a psychopath, but an emotionally scarred man who learned something very valuable and found what he was looking for before he died. Above everything else, Chris was trying to find truth in nature because he felt like he had been lied to his whole life, while living in society.

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Above all Chris McCandless was an arrogant man. He refused many offers of help he got under the ground of that it was cheating. His arrogance led to him taking unnecessary risks which led to him encountering many hapless events. A quote from Into the Wild, his sister Carine said, “ Chris didn’t think twice about risking his own life, but he never would have put Buckley in any kind of danger (Krakauer 128). This really shows that without a person to keep a handle on him, to give him a conscience about what he was putting himself into, he was really the only one credible for his ultimate demise.

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Christopher McCandless, the protagonist of the novel and film Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer, is not your average guy. Driven by his minimalist ideals and hate for society, he challenged the status quo and embarked on a journey that eventually lead to his unforeseen demise. A tragic hero, defined by esteemed writer, Arthur Miller, is a literary character who makes an error of judgment or has a fatal flaw that, combined with fate and external forces, brings on tragedy. Christopher McCandless fulfills the role of Miller’s tragic hero due to the fact that his tragic flaw of minimalism and aversion towards society had lead him to his death.

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Even some people thought that McCandless was mentally unstable that was not the case. To begin with, Chris McCandless’ self-reliance embodies him because of his need to live off nature. On his journey into the wild, Chris relied on himself and nature to survive. He was disciplined when it came to what he needed, and didn’t have to communicate with others all the time. In the

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Chris had a huge impact on everyone he knew, but he would not let them influence him or his decisions at all. He rebelled against his family because his father was too controlling. Later on, when any of his companions told him not to go to Alaska, or tried telling him to do anything that he did not want to, he would totally ignore them, and change the subject. As Krakauer writes in chapter 6, “McCandless…relieved that he had again evaded the impending threat of human intimacy, of friendship, and all the messy emotional baggage that comes with it. He had fled the claustrophobic confines of his family.

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Christopher McCandless’s was a young wise man and stubborn guy that was intelligent he knew the right answers to respond which got himself out of things but also got himself into difficult situations that were not processed right. McCandless was raised in a upper middle class family in Annandale Virginia by parents Walt and Billie. He had eight siblings which one he was super close to named Carine and the rest were half siblings from his dads first marriage. Growing up Chris had a rough childhood with his parents problems and the affairs they had. McCandless would question himself why people would treat each other bad he would try to make a sense of the world.

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Even this, however, does not constitute an ethical transgression on McCandless’ part. If Into the Wild proves anything, it is that McCandless is not suicidal, making any hurt caused by him completely unintentional. Chris spends large parts of his days ensuring that he will have enough food by hunting (164), reads about edible plants before going into the woods so that he will know what to consume (160), and ultimately, leaves a note which asks for help when he realizes he can no longer make it out of on his own (12). He has every intention of coming out of Alaska alive, which means that any emotional harm caused to his relatives is entirely accidental. McCandless never intends to hurt

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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

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What really drove Chris McCandless into the wild? I believe the top three of the countless reasons that drove McCandless into the wild was the emotional damage from his parents, rebellion of the youth & risk taking tendencies, and his hubris and detestation against authority and/or someone telling him what to do. Some may believe that Chris McCandless went into the wild because of his literary heroes Leo Tolstoy, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau , and Jack London but the real reason he left everything was because of those reasons. In this essay I will elaborate on why I believe those are the reasons that drove McCandless into the wild.

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