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Chris Mccandless In Into The Wild, By Jon Krakauer

897 Words4 Pages

In Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, Chris McCandless completely abandons the society in which he resides and goes off the grid. More specifically, he leaves his family, belongings, and societal expectations behind to pursue his purpose in life: head towards Alaska. After the death of McCandless, Krakauer delves into people’s opinions on his voyage; Many criticize what he did, saying that he was arrogant as he went into the wild completely unprepared. However, others praise McCandless’s courage and respect what he did. Although many believe that Chris appears to be an arrogant narcissist, he truly renders an admirable hero, because he went on a risky journey into the unknown with few resources to escape the oppression he faced – something many …show more content…

Many people may believe that Chris was dramatic in regards to abandoning his family; however, he was in reality treated very poorly: “On the days we did not pick up signals of slamming doors and elevated voices fast enough, Chris and I were damned to bear the brunt of our parents’ latest battle” (The Wild Truth). Both Carine and Chris beared the burden of having to listen to their parents’ abusive fights. More specifically, Billie McCandless even deemed Chris a scapegoat, blaming the abuse she endured on him: “ ‘I’m sorry, kids, but when I got pregnant with Chris, I got stuck with your father’”(The Wild Truth). Not only did Chris have to live through this abuse, but he had to live with this false guilt that he was the reason for this abuse. Clearly, the McCandless home did not possess very nurturing or supportive qualities, but rather proved to be quite dangerous. Many people who face situations similar to this may fear escaping. However, Chris, obtaining many hero-like characteristics, removed himself from this cruel environment. Additionally, it was clear that McCandless did not find joy in conforming to societal expectations: “The meaning he wrested from existence lay beyond the comfortable path: McCandless distrusted the value of things that came easily” (Krakauer 184). Evidently, McCandless had his mind set– he knew that his purpose in life strayed away from this conformist society. Similarly, many people know what they want to do with their life. However, these people differ from McCandless immensely as these people often never end up pursuing their dreams due to the fear of straying from the conformist society. Chris McCandless renders an admirable hero, because he acquired the courage, which many people lack, to both escape his oppressive household as well as pursue his purpose in

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Going out into the wild all by yourself can be nerve wracking and lonely. Jon Krakauer makes Chris McCandless seemed like a noble person who took the initiative to try to go out and live into the wild. The book Into the Wild written by Jon Krakauer, is about a teenager named Chris McCandless leaving society and traveling to Alaska by himself with nothing else but a bag of rice and a small .22 caliber gun. Chris is heroic because he went to Alaska by himself without any knowledge of Alaska and didn’t know any of the dangers of Alaska. One way Krakauer make Chris seem noble is when Chris is about to enter Alaska he tells Gallien “ I’m goin’ to get on up there live off the land,go claim me a piece of the good life” (Krakauer 4).

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In Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, he focuses on one main person, Chris McCandless. Krakauer explains most of Chris's life and even, at times, puts his own input into the pages of this book. Chris McCandless (a.k.a Alexander Supertramp) was from Chesapeake Beach, Maryland. Chris had a father, Walt McCandless, a mother, Billie Mccandless, and a younger sister, Carine. Chris's obsession with nature and high-risk activities was believed to start when "Walt took Billie and his children from both marriages to climb Longs Peak in Colorado."

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Into the Wild Essay In 1992, 24 year old Christopher McCandless abandoned his possessions and decided to hitchhike to Alaska and invent a new life for himself. Chris had just finished college and many thought he was going to further his education but instead he took a fatal trip into the wild. There are many questions still unanswered to why he felt he needed to go on this trip and people will never know the real reason why Chris McCandless hitchhiked to Alaska by himself with insufficient equipment.

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In the book “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer, Chris McCandless had many decisions to leave his old life behind and start over. Chris’ decision to leave was justified for the following reasons. When he suddenly disappeared, it made it easier for him to let go of his past and focus on what he wants to do in the future. McCandless could make all his own decisions, nobody had a chance to tell him that he could not leave and certainly did not allow anyone to find out where he was going. Finally he didn’t agree to social norms.

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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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We have all made mistakes, for some they are small mistakes that do not impact anyone. For others, they are of mammoth proportions and have a preponderant impact on how people think, or say about them. In the book Into the Wild it tells about the journey of Chris McCandless who died in the Alaskan wilderness. Chris McCandless was definitely one of these people who made a big mistake. People around the globe have mixed feelings about this twentieth century adventurer.

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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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Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is a biography that follows Chris McCandless and his journey through the wilderness while finding himself along the way. Chris McCandless died in the August of 1992 after a four month journey through places like Mexico and Alaska. Krakauer investigates his actions and analyzes his identity after his death, trying to find meaning within his seemingly unnecessary expedition. Chris McCandless constructs his personal identity as a man who wanted to be challenged and inspired by his actions and interests with people he met on the road, and his beliefs and values as a stubborn person. Chris McCandless’s actions are unusual in many ways; for one, he graduates college with honors, but instead of pursuing a career,

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Throughout the novel Chris repeatedly did things that endangered his own well being. Even though it is illegal and even after he got ticketed for doing so, Chris hitchhiked across the country. Chris also burned most of his money along with his birth certificate and assumed a fake name while travelling. When Chriss’ body was found in Alaska, It took quite some time before he could be identified because he had not told his family where he was going and had no identification. Chriss’ lack of responsibility could have been due to his determination and bravery which would have made Chris throw caution to the wind more often than he should have.

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1376 Words | 6 Pages

Into The Wild portrays a man who went on a fatal unforgettable journey through the alaska wilderness. Chris McCandless was a man with great courage and the ability to live on his own made him more of a hero going on his fatal journey. Many would say he was foolish or not thinking right, but that is not the case. The case here is simply a man with courage wanting to fulfill is beliefs through his journey. One may ask what is courage.

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1125 Words | 5 Pages

Chris McCandless abandoned the modern world and chose the wild because he believed that he could improve himself through living in the wild, and found the true happiness of the life. McCandless abandoned his wealthy family because of his complicated relationship with his father, and he was ashamed with his father’s adultery. Therefore, McCandless believed that human relationship was not the only thing that forms happiness, instead a man’s connection with the nature brings joy as well. He also believed the habitual lifestyle was not what people were meant to do, and people shouldn't have more possessions than what they need. For this reason, McCandless traveled with little effects.

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646 Words | 3 Pages

I agree with the author that Chris McCandless wasn’t crazy for going out into the wild. He wasn’t a loner; he chose to be on his own. But Chris could easily make friends. He had the right to travel. All he was trying to do was get away from the corrupt world.

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“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.

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664 Words | 3 Pages

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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703 Words | 3 Pages

By changing his identity and leaving society, he felt he was shedding the fake elements of his past and evolving into a person he wanted to be. Chris McCandless did not depart on his transcendental quest to die, he ventured into the wilderness to kill the disappointments of his

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