ipl-logo

Chris Mccandless Essay

693 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The life of chris mccandless

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.The food he gathered was not enough to sustain his life. But, it was the unhygienic conditions in which he stored the potato seeds and his personality that caused his death. Many have described Chris to be incompetent and stubborn. He thought he could survive the harsh Alaskan bush, because …show more content…

The snow begins melting and brackish rivers start flowing. This makes is hard to get around, While, there is more game and plants to survive off of, a person has to know what to eat. Chris did a great deal of studying upon arriving to Alaska. But, he didn’t study enough. Chris McCandless died of swainsonine poisoning caused by consuming wild potato roots covered in Rhizoctonia leguminicola, a type of fungus. This caused Chris to have difficulty eating and drinking.Making him weak and unable to feed himself or barely move. Since Chris had been starving he ate a large amount of these seeds. In his journal Chris used any energy he had left to write “BUT IN THE WEAKEST CONDITION OF LIFE. DEATH LOOMS AS A SERIOUS THREAT”. The poisoning had taken over him and starvation was on it’s way. Chris would have had a chance of surviving if he had brought a useful map. But, his stubborn personality ruined his chance. Just six miles away from the bus was a Park Service cabin. With the last of his energy he could have made it and saved himself. In early August he writes a note hoping to get help. This note uses his real name, showing he is realizing how close death is. Chris’s body enters starvation and began consuming itself. Someone in his state would experience hallucinations, skin discoloration, and extreme sensitivity to cold. Soon he would be unconsciousness and wouldn't

Show More
Related

Compare And Contrast Mccandless And Adam Shepard

865 Words | 4 Pages

In April 1992, McCandless hitchhiked from Carthage, South Dakota, to Fairbanks, Alaska. He then hikes along the snow-covered Stampede Trail, McCandless came upon an abandoned bus. He stayed there for 100 days and later died of Starvation, possibly brought on by

Read More

A Rhetorical Analysis Of Into The Wild

920 Words | 4 Pages

He understood that Chris was a well educated and arrogant man, leading him to be full of himself, while ill equipped. Gallien described “[his] gear [as] exceedingly minimal for the harsh conditions of the interior” (Krakauer, 1997, p. 6), and rather than listen to the advice of others, Chris moved forward with his plans. He clutched onto the knowledge he gathered from the society he ran from, in a weak attempt to find individuality, which resulted in his death by starvation and late realization that “happiness [is] only real when shared” (Krakauer, 1997, p. 129). It’d be easy for someone to accept starvation as a cause of death in such a scenario, but Jon saw beyond that, allowing the reader to analyze Jon ’s own analysis of the journaling that Chris did.

Read More

Is Chris Mccandless Crazy?

1216 Words | 5 Pages

This statement, made by Shaun Callarman, pertains to Chris McCandless’s trek into Alaska that ultimately led to death by starvation. Since the recovery of Chris’s body, there has been much speculation about the prevention of Chris’s death and the possible causes. Despite Callarman’s plea of craziness, there have been both eye-witness accounts showing that Chris was sane and prepared when leaving for the Alaskan wilderness, many natural

Read More

Christopher Mccandless Life Analysis

630 Words | 3 Pages

Perspective of Christopher McCandless’s Life Callarman’s argument to Christopher McCandless’s is relatable and understanding, but he does not see the full picture. Christopher McCandless had everything in his life: money, material, family, prestige etc. but the only thing he wanted to fully experience is the outside world, to get out of his comfort zone and see how nature really feels like. I would agree with Callarman’s argument because he was arrogant and unenlightenment, but I also would disagree because he died doing what he loved and a place he wanted to be.

Read More

Christopher Mccandless: A Tragic Hero

765 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More

Chris Mccandless Argumentative Essay

788 Words | 4 Pages

He wasn’t afraid of not coming back alive. So when he went into the wild in Alaska, Chris felt like he was for sure going to come back and publish the book that he has written throughout his journey to show others that taking risks like this is totally okay. Unfortunately for Chris it wasn’t okay. I believe that he did not intend to “kill himself” for going into the wild with basically nothing.

Read More

Into The Wild Chris Mccandless Essay

667 Words | 3 Pages

Chris McCandless from the book “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer is a character who is extremely well liked by all. His smarts give him the ability to hold conversations with a variety of different people. Chris does not use his knowledge in a negative way that causes people to think that he is arrogant, it just comes out of him naturally, leaving many people impressed by the young boy. Through his character, I learned how much intelligence can truly add to one's personality. Chris is subconsciously phenomenal at speaking with new people due to his wide range of knowledge.

Read More

Into The Wild Analysis

871 Words | 4 Pages

This clearly shows us that Chris did not have much common sense. If he had better survival skills and common sense he probably would have known not to eat that poisonous berry. It was his dream to be in the wild and he decided to pursue it. I respect his decisions and I personally believe it was a good decision other than the fact of him dying. He made the infinitive decision to do all of this so why stop

Read More

Arrogance In Into The Wild

1054 Words | 5 Pages

He wanted to ditch his old life so maybe he was trying to cut off ties to the world as well. If you take that the wrong way his death may seem like suicide suddenly, but from many other papers that is not implied. The majority think that it was just an unfortunate few events that led to his death. If Chris would have taken a few more resources his life possibly would have lasted longer than it did, and using his story wrote an inspiration book. But he died, so there’s no reason to play the game of “what-if” because it could go an infinite number of ways.

Read More

Unprepared In Into The Wild

747 Words | 3 Pages

People believed that he ate potato seeds that were possibly poisonous (Hedysarum Alpinum) due to it being a resource around and he was starving. Chris wouldn’t have known they were poisonous but he most likely wouldn’t have eaten them if he would have accepting money, food, or have been better prepared. They think the seeds cause his stomach to weaken then eventually his body weakened, at one point he was too weak to leave the bus to try to go find food. If Chris would have saved some of the $24,000 or kept his map he would have had a better chance of

Read More

Chris Makes A Lot Of Mistakes Based On Arrogance

787 Words | 4 Pages

Chris had his reasons to be there he wanted to get away from everything and he wanted to free. I believe that he also did what he did because of his past with how his dad would abuse him which could have led him to have mental problems. In one of the quotes of chris states that “don’t hesitate or allow yourself to make excuses. just get out and do it you will be very very glad you did it” this what he wanted to do and he went after it and did it. In the end of the book it shows how Chris felt like he had done what he was somewhat ment to accomplish and it also shows that he was happy with the outcome even though he died.

Read More

Argumentative Essay: 'To Build A Fire'

674 Words | 3 Pages

Argumentative Essay In “To Build a Fire,” the story of an unnamed man traveling along the Yukon Trail with a dog is told. Throughout the story, the man’s death is foreshadowed. The husky that he is traveling with has a natural instinct and understands, seemingly more than the man, that traveling the Yukon Trail in the freezing cold temperatures is extremely dangerous. The man soon learns how cold it is when he spits.

Read More

Thesis For Into The Wild

1003 Words | 5 Pages

He got rid of majority of his supplies in order to survive which causes him to die a few months into his journey. He doesn’t think about seeing his parents and his parents having to live with the fact that they will never see their son again. Chris had a very interesting desire of surviving in the wilderness. There could’ve been another way to achieve this goal which I think makes him

Read More

Argumentative Essay On Into The Wild

915 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More

Compare And Contrast Mccandless And Mccunn's Venture Into The Wild

638 Words | 3 Pages

McCandless and McCunn's ventures into the wild had similar intentions and strategies. Although, the outcome of their ventures were slightly different. Both men displayed a certain degree of common sense. They were both friendly, curious, responsible, educated and intelligent men. Having fairly average lives, with big aspirations for their future.

Read More

More about Chris Mccandless Essay

Open Document