Chris Mccandless Ideology In Into The Wild

We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at stars

An Examination of Chris McCandless as an Admirable Individual Through Ronald Franz

The novel Into the Wild written by Jon Krakauer follows the story of Chris McCandless, a young man who headed out into the Alaskan wilderness and met his untimely demise. Chris’ story surfaces a controversial topic, being whether Chris is admirable or reckless for attempting to complete this feat. People who met and listen to Chris’ ideology would not agree that he was a lunatic; rather they would presume that Chris McCandless was courageous for living in a way that was so ill considered. Chris discovered his own lifestyle and inspired people to follow his footsteps and discard their materialistic

Due to societal norms, no one who is educated and in their proper mind would leave a life of comfort and stability only to be found hitchhiking and living off the land. Alexander was different, he wanted to find a life he loved and when he found it he would live his life to the fullest. This led for nearly two years of isolation and living off the land, with few human interactions. Lucky for Ronald Franz, Alex interacted and formed a relationship with him that changed his life. Alex’s story is much like Everett Ruess, a young man who heads out into the wilderness “living out of a backpack on very little money, sleeping in the dirt, cheerfully going hungry for days at a time” (90). Much like Ruess, Alex left his family and friends behind in order to find a better place for himself. Alex lived on whatever he could carry on his back and scavenge from cities or towns nearby to his camps, and through this he met Ronald Franz. In the time Alex and Franz spent together, Franz found Alex to be more and more like a son to him. This could have been caused because Franz had lost his son and wife due to a car accident caused by a drunk driver. Alex encouraged Franz to live a life like his own, while Franz never took Alex completely seriously in the idea, until after Alex life. Franz went out and lived in Alex’s old campsite as soon as Alex left and would sit out waiting for him to come back. Once he found out Alex was dead from hitchhikers, he was devastated and imminently “turned [his] van around, drove back to the store, and bought a bottle of whiskey. And then [he] went out into the desert and drank it. […] Hoped it’d kill me, but it didn’t” (60). This was also the time that Franz rejected his religion, which was a peculiar notion, as he had not done this when his wife and son were killed. Alex influenced Franz so much that he changed his lifestyle to match Alex’s, which shows how much of